The Evolution of Information Rights Management 

Evolution of Information Rights Management

A user brought this functionality to my attention. Unfortunately, the Evolution of Information Rights Management put me onto a wild goose chance. Sometimes, trying to keep up with Microsoft’s changes are a bit dizzying to say the least. 

I try not to be too editorial on this blog. I just want to give Quick M365 Tips so you can admin your M365 tenant so you can go along your merry way. Sometimes, it is more difficult than it has to be. This is where the frustration lies. 

What I will give you is an account of where I started and where I ended up….. 

The Problem 

A user of mine has several spreadsheets that contain macros and queried data. Most users who need these sheets need to be only able to view and filter the data. Currently, the only way it can be done is manually locking and unlocking the spreadsheets, thereby reducing its functionality. This is very cumbersome. 

He was looking for a solution  that will allow the users to have the limited functionality without the need to manually lock and unlock the sheets. Enter IRM (Information Rights Management). 

What IRM Was 

IRM used to be quite simple. You Configure it using SharePoint, install an IRM client on your computer and viola, start protecting Office documents (in this case, excel) and limit certain functions of the document depending on the user that is accessing it. 

But something happened and IRM changed… a lot. Now you must configure a whole bunch of things and remember acronyms like AARM, RMS and AIP. Do not forget Azure, SharePoint and Exchange Online. This article tries to explain it. 

What IRM is Now (Evolution of Information Rights Management) 

It seems the Evolution of Information Rights Management is now mostly a cloud service. It cannot be used until you activate the Rights Management Service. So you will need to go to Azure Admin first and then SharePoint Admin. Also, do not forget to install the AIP Service in PowerShell

You are going to get a lot of errors trying to get all of this set up. There will be several calls made to Microsoft support. They might be able to help you, maybe not. It really depends on when you installed it and configured your tenant and who you get when you call MS support! 

If you are an old pro with O365/M365 Admin you will probably look at this article and think “It is really not that hard” but you have evolved with the technology over the years. 

It you are trying to get IRL installed and configure on a relatively new tenant then you are going to have to do some research. The problem is, you must piece it together from several loosely related articles on MS’s site or various other forums and blogs, etc. 

And there is a very good chance you will not get it right the first time. Microsoft, you must do better than this. If you aren’t going to slow down whatever changes you make at least make better documentation! 

Oh, and just so you know, I still haven’t got IRL fully setup. Results pending…

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I am an IT professional with over twenty years experience in the field. I have supported thousands of users over the years. The organizations I have worked for range in size from one person to hundreds of people. I have performed support from Help Desk, Network / Cloud Administration, Network Support, Application Support, Implementation and Security.

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