WashU IT is making significant progress in its initiative to address data sprawl, supporting the WashU community through proactive new guidance on Box and OneDrive storage. Introduced early this year, this people-centered effort aims to mitigate unexpected cost impacts across the institution.
Beginning in July 2027, Box will directly bill cost centers for inactive data that exceeds communicated thresholds for both size and age. To ensure a seamless transition and prevent financial surprises for end users, the project team has identified large folders and old folders as the two primary criteria for targeted action. Content that meets both benchmarks may be flagged for billing.
To date, the project team has already partnered with 222 of the university’s largest Box users, whose accounts represent more than 9 petabytes of WashU’s total estimated 12 petabytes of stored data. Individuals meeting both criteria are being guided through evaluating their files, accounting for their storage use and deciding on one of three paths moving forward. Users can choose to delete unnecessary data entirely, migrate files to appropriate cold storage platforms or remain on Box and arrange to factor the ongoing storage into their departmental budgets.
This initiative heavily emphasizes a culture of collaborative stewardship. While retaining data intentionally within Box remains a completely valid option, university guidelines specify that these storage costs must be properly planned for. To ensure everyone is prepared, WashU has established a deadline of June 30, 2027, for all data cleanup, migrations or formal budgeting for intentional archival data to be finalized.
Looking ahead, WashU IT is actively developing a reporting tool to streamline this compliance process. Next steps include launching self-service reporting for end users, cost-center lead reporting tailored for distributed IT partners and executive directors and operational reporting to guide future expectations, notifications and billing workflows. In the meantime, monthly check-ins are underway to track progress, align necessary funding, and ensure data stewardship guidelines are met smoothly across all school and departmental units.