Lifecycle Management

Lifecycle Management automatically identifies SharePoint sites that haven't been used in a while and prompts site owners to confirm whether they still need them. This prevents your M365 environment from filling up with abandoned, unmanaged sites that are a security risk.

The Problem: Site Sprawl

Over time, every organization accumulates SharePoint sites that are no longer actively used:

• Projects that finished but their sites were never cleaned up
• Teams that were formed and disbanded
• Sites created for one-time events
• Test sites that were never deleted

These abandoned sites still exist in your M365 tenant. They still have members. They might still have sensitive files. They're just not being actively managed - and no one is watching them.

Lifecycle Management solves this by automatically flagging inactive sites and giving owners a simple way to confirm: "Yes, we still need this" or "No, archive it."

How It Works

Phase 1: Tracking Inactivity

Tenaxis monitors the Last Activity date of each site. This date is updated whenever users view, edit, or create content in SharePoint.

When a site hasn't had any activity for longer than your configured Inactivity Threshold (default: 90 days), it moves to the next phase.

Phase 2: Renewal Notice to Owner

When a site exceeds the inactivity threshold:

1. The site's lifecycle status changes to RENEWAL PENDING
2. An email is automatically sent to the site's owner(s):

   "Your SharePoint site [Site Name] hasn't been used in 90 days. Please confirm whether you still need it by clicking below. If we don't hear from you by [date], your admin may archive the site."

3. The email contains a Renewal Link - a unique, secure link the owner clicks to confirm the site

The owner has the Renewal Window (default: 14 days) to click the link and confirm.

Phase 3a: Owner Confirms (Good Path)

If the owner clicks the renewal link:

1. The site's lifecycle status resets to ACTIVE
2. The inactivity timer starts fresh
3. The owner sees a simple confirmation page: "Your site has been renewed"
4. Tenaxis records the renewal in the audit log

No login required for the owner - the link itself confirms their intent.

Phase 3b: Owner Doesn't Respond (Escalation Path)

If the renewal window passes with no response:

1. The site's lifecycle status changes to ESCALATED
2. Admin receives a notification that a site has been escalated
3. The site appears in the dashboard as needing attention

At this point, the admin must decide:

• Archive the site (soft-delete in Tenaxis) if it's truly no longer needed
• Manually reset the status if the owner was simply on leave or missed the email

Setting Up Lifecycle Management

1. Go to Settings
2. Scroll to the Lifecycle Management section
3. Toggle Enable Lifecycle Management to ON
4. Configure:

5. Click Save

Viewing Lifecycle Status

On the Sites List

The Sites list shows each site's lifecycle status:

• Sites with a normal status show as ACTIVE
• Sites awaiting renewal show RENEWAL PENDING (usually shown in amber/yellow)
• Escalated sites show ESCALATED (usually shown in red)

On the Home Dashboard

The dashboard shows counts for:

• Stale Sites - Total sites in RENEWAL PENDING or ESCALATED status
• These are also surfaced in the Quick Actions section when they need attention

Filtering by Lifecycle Status

On the Sites page, you can filter by lifecycle status to see only:

• Sites in RENEWAL PENDING
• Sites that are ESCALATED

This helps you quickly address the backlog.

Handling Escalated Sites

When a site reaches ESCALATED status, you need to make a decision:

Option 1: Archive the Site

If the site is no longer needed:

1. Open the site from the Sites list
2. Click Archive Site
3. Confirm

The site is soft-deleted in Tenaxis. It remains in Microsoft 365 but is no longer actively managed.

Option 2: Send Another Reminder

If you believe the owner missed the email:

1. Contact the owner directly (outside Tenaxis)
2. Ask them to confirm by clicking the original renewal link (it's still valid)
3. Or: manually reset the site's lifecycle status to ACTIVE in Tenaxis

Option 3: Assign a New Owner

If the original owner has left or is unavailable:

1. Go to the site's Members tab
2. Add a new OWNER
3. That owner can then receive renewal communications going forward

Risk Score Connection

A site with no lifecycle management tracking (i.e., lifecycle is not enabled, or the site's last activity is unknown) gets a higher risk score. Enabling lifecycle management and keeping sites renewed reduces overall risk scores.

Specifically, sites that are:

• RENEWAL PENDING - risk score increases (flagged as potentially stale)
• ESCALATED - risk score increases significantly (admin attention needed)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What counts as "activity" on a site? A: Any user action that SharePoint logs - viewing files, editing documents, uploading content, posting to lists. Reading a file counts. Just browsing the site may or may not count depending on SharePoint's activity tracking.

Q: Can I adjust the thresholds for specific sites? A: Currently, the thresholds (inactivity days, renewal window) are set globally for all sites in your workspace. Per-site exceptions are not yet available.

Q: What if the site owner's account has been deleted? A: Tenaxis will still send to the listed owner email. If it bounces, the site will escalate. This is a good reason to regularly check the Offboarding page and ensure departed employees are removed as owners before their accounts are deleted.

Q: Does archiving a site delete it from SharePoint? A: No. Archiving in Tenaxis is a soft-delete - it removes it from active governance in Tenaxis but doesn't touch the SharePoint site itself. The site continues to exist in Microsoft 365 until you delete it there separately.

Q: Can I disable lifecycle management for a specific site? A: Not currently - lifecycle management applies to all sites when enabled. If a site is a permanent fixture (like a company intranet), it will still receive lifecycle checks, but since it stays active, it will keep renewing itself automatically based on user activity.