Kantar Cuts Storage Costs by 40% Using Microsoft 365 Archive for AI-Ready Data

Kantar, a global leader in marketing data and analytics with over 30,000 employees across 90 countries, has successfully reduced its storage costs by 40% while improving the performance of its AI initiatives through strategic implementation of Microsoft 365 Archive. The company's journey reveals important lessons for organizations looking to balance cost optimization with AI readiness.

The Challenge: Growing Storage Costs and AI Readiness

As Kantar rolled out Microsoft 365 Copilot across its organization, the company faced a critical challenge: while moving content to Microsoft 365 enabled better AI capabilities, it also significantly increased storage costs. More importantly, the influx of outdated, cold, and stale data threatened to pollute Copilot's outputs and reduce the effectiveness of AI agents.

The company needed a solution that would maintain the security, compliance, search, and rich metadata capabilities of Microsoft 365 while reducing costs for inactive data. This became particularly crucial as Kantar recognized that for Copilot to deliver meaningful insights and support collaboration, it needed clean, centralized, and relevant data.

The Solution: Automated Microsoft 365 Archive Implementation

Kantar adopted Microsoft 365 Archive, a cold data storage tier that enables organizations to keep inactive or aging data within SharePoint at a lower price compared to standard SharePoint storage. The implementation included:

• Automated Site Identification: Every month, Kantar's system identifies sites that have been inactive for more than 6 months
• Owner Notification: Automated emails inform site owners about their eligibility for archival
• Opt-Out Process: Sites are automatically archived unless owners take action to keep them live
• Scalable Approach: The company implemented a minimum viable policy (MVP) and iteratively improved it over time

To date, Kantar has archived more than 40,000 sites, representing nearly 100 terabytes of data. This massive cleanup has significantly reduced storage costs while maintaining all the valuable security and compliance features of Microsoft 365.

Results and Impact

Kantar's implementation has delivered impressive results:

• 40% reduction in storage costs through the use of Archive tier pricing
• Improved AI performance by ensuring Copilot accesses only the newest and most accurate company information
• Minimal user disruption with fewer than 1% of archived sites requiring reactivation
• Enhanced data quality through systematic removal of outdated and duplicate content

The company's aggressive, opt-out approach has proven effective at scale, demonstrating that users are generally comfortable with automated data lifecycle management when properly implemented.

Looking Ahead: File-Level Archiving and Advanced Management

Kantar is already planning its next phase of optimization. The company is piloting file-level archival through a private preview, with plans to roll it out to all site owners in 2026. This will enable individuals to archive large or unused content, particularly videos, more effectively.

Additionally, Kantar aims to transition from its custom-built process to SharePoint Advanced Management to identify inactive sites and prompt owners to archive them. This shift will provide more sophisticated tools for managing the data lifecycle while reducing the maintenance burden of custom solutions.

Key Lessons for Organizations

Kantar's experience offers several valuable insights for organizations considering similar initiatives:

1. AI Readiness Requires Data Cleanup: Simply enabling AI tools isn't enough; organizations must ensure their data estates are clean and relevant
2. Automated Processes Scale Better: Manual data management doesn't work at enterprise scale; automation is essential
3. User Communication Matters: Clear notifications and opt-out options reduce resistance to automated archiving
4. Iterative Improvement Works: Starting with a minimum viable policy and improving over time allows for faster value realization
5. Cost Optimization and AI Performance Can Align: Reducing storage costs through archiving can actually improve AI tool effectiveness by removing noise from the data

As organizations continue to adopt AI tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot, the importance of data quality and cost-effective storage will only grow. Kantar's success demonstrates that with the right approach, companies can achieve both objectives simultaneously, creating a foundation for successful AI adoption while managing costs effectively.

For more information about Microsoft 365 Archive and data lifecycle management, visit the Microsoft 365 Blog.