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- Solutions
- Restructuring, Mergers & Acquisitions
- Becoming a Responsible Steward of Acquired Data
Becoming a Responsible Steward of Acquired Data
You didn’t just acquire a company. You acquired their past. From day one, you’re accountable for data you didn’t create, stored in systems you didn’t choose, and under obligations you didn’t define.
Most M&A migrations are built to move data fast. Legal teams need something else: a defensible way to preserve evidence, maintain chain of custody, and modernize without creating new risk.
Cloudficient helps organizations take control of inherited communication and collaboration data without disrupting legal holds, breaking context, or relying on fragile legacy platforms.
“Fast Migration” Creates Slow Risk
Traditional migrations treat inherited data like a transfer project. In M&A, that approach creates predictable failures.
Holds Get Endangered
Inherited legal holds and regulatory preservation can’t pause for integration. Any gap creates spoliation risk.
Context Gets
Lost
When identity, custodian history, and metadata disappear, discovery becomes incomplete, and defensibility suffers.
Legacy Systems Stay Alive
Archives and journal platforms can’t be retired until data has a compliant destination, keeping cost and fragility in place.
Unsuitable Data Forced into M365
Not everything belongs in Microsoft 365. Forcing journal, legacy, or regulated records into production creates long-term compliance headaches.
The Cloudficient Solution: Stewardship-First Migration
Cloudficient migrations treats migration as an act of stewardship.
Preserve what matters, route it to the right home, and maintain legal continuity throughout.
Business Outcomes
Maintain chain of custody during migration
Keep inherited legal holds intact from day one
Retire legacy systems with confidence
Reduce compliance risk and discovery gaps
Modernize faster without regret later
Ready to Migrate Inherited Data Responsibly?
See how Cloudficient helps organizations protect evidence, preserve compliance, and modernize safely during M&A.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is data migration riskier during M&A?
During M&A, organizations inherit data with existing legal holds, regulatory obligations, and historical context. Migrating this data without preserving metadata and identity context chain of custody can break, creating compliance exposure.
Can legal holds remain in place during migration?
Yes. Cloudficient ensure legal holds persist throughout the migration process so protected content remains defensible from source to destination.
Do all inherited data types belong in Microsoft 365?
No. Some inherited data such as journal archives, regulated communication, or long-term preservation records, should be stored in a compliant archive like Expireon rather than in production systems.
To learn more about why these data types are unsuitable for Microsoft 365 and how Expireon provides a compliant home for them, check out our Limitations of Purview Guide.
When can legacy archive systems be retired?
Legacy systems can be retired once data is fully preserved in a compliant environment, legal holds are maintained, and chain of custody is intact. Cloudficient enables this transition safely.
How does responsible migration reduce long-term risk?
Responsible migration reduces long term risk by preserving data integrity and legal context during migration, organizations avoid discovery gaps, compliance violations, and costly remediation later in the M&A lifecycle.