Most organizations have an assessment process, both from technical and compliance perspectives, that they must go through before authorizing the acquisition or use of a cloud solution. Some questions may arise during this process, such as the following:

• Is Microsoft 365 safe?
• Where is my data stored?
• Who has access to my data?
• What happens to my data if I decide to leave the service?

IT administrators, compliance administrators, legal representatives, and security officers typically have some or all of the responsibility for providing these answers to the business. It is imperative that everyone has a clear understanding of the principles by which Microsoft operates its data centers.

In this chapter, you will learn about two components available in Microsoft 365 that can help you answer these questions:

• Service Trust Portal
• Compliance Manager

As you'll see in this chapter, the Service Trust Portal and Compliance Manager will help both the business and operational sides of an organization address common concerns and questions when deciding on a Microsoft 365 strategy.

Let's begin!