06/16/2026
SAP data lifecycle decisions should not be based only on how old the data is.
Some records may be inactive but still audit-critical. Some documents may need long-term retention. Some transaction history may rarely be used, but must remain easy to retrieve for finance, legal, customer service, or compliance teams.
The real question is not just “how old is this data?”
It is “what business context determines how long this data must be retained, where it should live, and how easily it must be accessed?”
For employee records, retention may be tied to termination date. For batch records in pharma, it may be tied to the lifetime of the drug or product. For financial records, it may depend on audit and regulatory requirements.
That is why effective SAP data lifecycle management needs context-driven policies, not generic rules.