SharePoint Advanced Management (SAM) Integration

SPO Version Management integrates with SharePoint Advanced Management (SAM) to leverage Microsoft’s built-in site lifecycle policies — combining SAM’s classification intelligence with automated orchestration for version cleanup, archival, and governance.

License requirement: SharePoint Advanced Management is a paid add-on that requires a separate license (Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft Syntex - SharePoint Advanced Management, or equivalent). SPO Version Management works without SAM — but if your organization has SAM licensed, it can import and act on SAM’s policy data for richer governance decisions.

What Is SharePoint Advanced Management?

SharePoint Advanced Management (Microsoft documentation) is a Microsoft add-on that provides advanced governance capabilities:

SAM Licensing

Official licensing details: SharePoint Advanced Management overview

Without SAM: SPO Version Management still identifies inactive sites using Microsoft Graph activity data (Last Activity Date) and SharePoint’s LastContentModifiedDate. SAM enriches this with Microsoft’s own classification but is not required.

SAM Inactive Sites Policy

How Microsoft’s Policy Works

The SAM Inactive Sites Policy (Microsoft documentation) monitors site activity and:

1. Classifies sites as inactive if no user activity occurs within the configured period (default 180 days)
2. Sends notifications to site owners asking them to confirm the site is still needed
3. Exports a report (Content Management Assessment CSV) with all classified sites

Activity signals Microsoft monitors include:

• File views and edits
• Page visits
• Sharing actions
• Site navigation

How SPO Version Management Imports SAM Data

# Import SAM inactive sites report
# Auto-detects the SAM CSV in the Logs folder, or specify explicitly
.\Import-SamInactiveSites.ps1

# Or specify the SAM report path
.\Import-SamInactiveSites.ps1 -SAMReportPath ".\Logs\Report created by Content Management Assessment_20260402184309000.csv"

The import process:

1. Reads your AllSites.json (from the Data Sync)
2. Loads the SAM Content Management Assessment CSV
3. Matches sites by URL
4. Enriches each site with SAM flags: IsInactive, IsOwnerless, ConnectedToTeams, SensitivityLabel
5. Outputs a lightweight ArchiveAnalysis.json for the Dashboard

Dashboard Integration

After import, the Dashboard Archive tab shows:

SAM Site Ownership Policy

How Microsoft’s Policy Works

The Site Ownership Policy (Microsoft documentation) ensures every site has an accountable owner:

1. Detects ownerless sites — sites where all listed owners have left the organization or been disabled
2. Prompts for new owner assignment — sends emails to site members asking them to claim ownership
3. Escalates to admin if no owner is claimed within the configured period

Why This Matters for Storage Governance

Ownerless sites are often the largest storage consumers because:

• No one is accountable for cleanup decisions
• Version accumulation goes unnoticed
• No one responds to storage quota warnings
• Retention policies may be misconfigured

SPO Version Management flags ownerless sites in the archive analysis, enabling admins to:

• Prioritize ownerless + inactive sites for archival
• Identify sites consuming storage with no governance
• Correlate ownership gaps with version bloat

Integration Workflow

Without SAM (All Tenants)

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Data Sources (no SAM required)         │
│  • AllSites.json (SPO Admin API)        │
│  • Microsoft Graph activity reports     │
│  • LastContentModifiedDate              │
└────────────────────┬────────────────────┘
                     │
                     ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Import-SamInactiveSites.ps1            │
│  → ArchiveAnalysis.json                 │
│  → Dashboard: Archive Candidates        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

With SAM (Licensed Tenants)

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Data Sources (with SAM)                │
│  • AllSites.json (SPO Admin API)        │
│  • Microsoft Graph activity reports     │
│  • SAM Content Management Assessment    │ ← Additional
│    - Inactive flag (180-day policy)     │
│    - Ownerless flag                     │
│    - Sensitivity labels                 │
│    - Teams connection status            │
└────────────────────┬────────────────────┘
                     │
                     ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Import-SamInactiveSites.ps1            │
│  → Enriched ArchiveAnalysis.json        │
│  → Dashboard: Archive + SAM columns     │
│  → Prioritized governance decisions     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

How to Export the SAM Report

1. Go to the SharePoint Admin Center → https://contoso-admin.sharepoint.com
2. Navigate to Sites → Active sites
3. Click Content Management Assessment (requires SAM license)
4. Select Export report → downloads a CSV
5. Place the CSV in your Logs\ folder (auto-detected) or specify with -SAMReportPath

The CSV contains columns:

• URL — Site URL
• Is inactive — True/False (based on configured inactivity period)
• Is ownerless — True/False
• Last activity date (UTC) — Microsoft’s last detected activity
• Template — Site template type
• Connected to Teams — True/False
• Sensitivity label — Applied sensitivity label
• Email address of site owners — Current owner(s)

Decision Matrix: SAM + SPO Version Management

Complementary Microsoft Ecosystem

SPO Version Management leverages the full Microsoft 365 admin ecosystem:

This positions SPO Version Management as a governance orchestration hub that consumes data from across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem and executes actions through official, supported APIs.

Official Microsoft Documentation

Related Guides

• SharePoint Site & File Archiving
• SharePoint Governance Best Practices
• How to Reduce SharePoint Storage Costs
• Complete Guide to SharePoint Version Management