Microsoft 365 - OpenText Legal Hold Integration and Automation

Common Integration Use Cases Between Microsoft 365 and OpenText Legal Hold

1. Automated legal hold placement for Microsoft 365 content

When litigation, investigation, or regulatory inquiry is opened in OpenText Legal Hold, the system can trigger hold actions for relevant Microsoft 365 content sources such as Exchange Online mailboxes, SharePoint sites, OneDrive accounts, and Teams conversations. This reduces the risk of accidental deletion and ensures preservation begins immediately.

• Data flow: OpenText Legal Hold to Microsoft 365
• Business value: Faster preservation, lower legal risk, and reduced manual coordination between legal and IT teams

2. Custodian identification and synchronization from Microsoft 365 directory data

Microsoft 365 user and group information can be used to populate or update custodian records in OpenText Legal Hold. Legal teams can identify employees, departments, and collaboration spaces tied to a matter using directory attributes, mailbox ownership, and team membership data.

• Data flow: Microsoft 365 to OpenText Legal Hold
• Business value: More accurate custodian tracking, faster matter setup, and fewer errors in legal hold administration

3. Legal hold notices delivered through Microsoft 365 collaboration channels

OpenText Legal Hold can send hold notifications, acknowledgements, and reminders through Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Teams. This allows custodians to receive and respond to legal hold instructions in the tools they already use, improving response rates and reducing follow-up effort.

• Data flow: OpenText Legal Hold to Microsoft 365
• Business value: Better user compliance, improved acknowledgement tracking, and streamlined communication with employees

4. Preservation of SharePoint and OneDrive content under active legal hold

When a matter is active, OpenText Legal Hold can instruct Microsoft 365 to preserve documents, versions, and metadata in SharePoint and OneDrive. This is especially useful for project files, executive documents, and working papers that may otherwise be edited or removed during normal business activity.

• Data flow: OpenText Legal Hold to Microsoft 365
• Business value: Maintains defensible preservation of business records and reduces spoliation exposure

5. Teams conversation preservation for investigations and disputes

OpenText Legal Hold can be used to preserve Microsoft Teams chats, channel messages, and associated files for matters involving internal investigations, HR disputes, or commercial litigation. Legal teams can ensure that collaboration records remain available for review and eDiscovery.

• Data flow: OpenText Legal Hold to Microsoft 365
• Business value: Protects critical collaboration evidence and supports defensible review processes

6. Matter status updates and hold release workflows

When a matter is resolved in OpenText Legal Hold, release instructions can be sent to Microsoft 365 to remove preservation restrictions from specific custodians, sites, or content sources. This helps restore normal retention and deletion policies without manual intervention.

• Data flow: OpenText Legal Hold to Microsoft 365
• Business value: Reduces over-retention, lowers storage and compliance overhead, and speeds matter closure

7. Compliance reporting and audit evidence for legal and records teams

Microsoft 365 activity and audit data can be combined with OpenText Legal Hold matter records to produce evidence of hold issuance, acknowledgement, preservation actions, and release timing. This supports audits, regulatory reviews, and internal governance reporting.

• Data flow: Bi-directional
• Business value: Stronger defensibility, better audit readiness, and improved visibility across legal, compliance, and IT teams

8. eDiscovery readiness for Microsoft 365 content sources

OpenText Legal Hold can identify and preserve relevant Microsoft 365 repositories early in the matter lifecycle so downstream eDiscovery teams can collect from a controlled, well-documented set of custodians and content sources. This reduces collection delays and helps ensure completeness.

• Data flow: OpenText Legal Hold to Microsoft 365, with status feedback back to OpenText Legal Hold
• Business value: Faster eDiscovery response, lower legal review costs, and improved coordination between legal, compliance, and IT