Email archive export expectations

Overview

PST exports are clumsy; journal or compliance export tooling is better for litigation scale. Define format, chain of custody, integrity hashing.

Scope

Date range, mailboxes, shared mailboxes, Teams chats if required—modern eDiscovery spans more than Exchange.

Performance

Throttle EWS/Graph to avoid throttling errors; run off-hours; use Microsoft Purview where licensed.

Integrity

SHA-256 manifest; write-once storage WORM if counsel demands; read-only permissions to export share.

Pitfalls

Short-staffed IT refusing searchable format—push mbox/EML or vendor neutral per counsel template.

Costs

TB egress and vendor professional services often exceed client expectation—SOW line item.

MSP role

Facilitate access and document admin actions; preserve logs of who searched what for ethics.

Retention

Align to document destruction policy after case closed—do not hoard forever casually.