How should IT handle old SharePoint data when every department wants to keep everything?

When an organisation moves from file servers to SharePoint, the question of what to do with older data often lands on IT by default. This article argues that retention is a business decision that IT should run as a service, rather than a storage problem IT solves alone. It recommends naming one owner for the retention policy, asking each department for the reason behind every retention period rather than a wish, and separating legal and regulatory requirements from simple preference. It describes a simple tiered model of live, reference, archive and delete, with clear rules for who can ask for archived material back. It suggests a short written policy, automated retention rules where your platform supports them, and an annual review. A worked example shows a firm agreeing seven years for finance records, filing project material by client rather than by year, and moving older years to cheaper archive storage with deletion dates. Common mistakes include confusing backup with archive, letting every department set its own rules, keeping personal data just in case, and ignoring version history. The answer draws on John Sansbury's The Journey to Service Excellence, including his point that without an owner and a policy you only have activities without control, and on guidance from the UK Information Commissioner's Office on storage limitation.