The university’s Box cloud-based storage and collaboration service will be retired effective at the beginning of the next fiscal year, July 1, 2027. This change is being driven by budget reductions and the availability of more capable alternative solutions. In particular, Microsoft OneDrive storage is both better integrated into common Office tools than Box and is now an appropriate place to store the higher-risk data that used to need to be in Box.
The university offers two alternative solutions for cloud storage and collaboration: Google Workspace and Microsoft OneDrive. UMD Google Workspace’s Google Drive is appropriate to store data up to Level 2 (Moderate Risk) per the university’s Data Classification Standard. Microsoft OneDrive can be used for selected higher-security data, including some cases up to Level 4 (Restricted), which includes HIPAA data, and in the coming months, will be configured to allow for general storage of Level 3 (High Risk) data.
No immediate action is required. However, we encourage you to begin reviewing the data you store in Box to determine whether it must be moved or may be deleted pursuant to the university’s Records Retention Schedule. Reviewing your files now will help UMD’s compliance efforts and reduce the time and energy needed to transfer files that are no longer needed. For questions about records retention, please email recordsretention@umd.edu.
Guidance and assistance for moving data out of Box will be forthcoming as migration planning continues. DIT has set up a webpage about the change: Box Retirement and Data Migration. As additional details become available, the webpage will be updated with information about the migration process and tools to help.
We recognize that this change may be inconvenient for university community members and appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we transition to other storage and sharing solutions.
If you have any questions, please contact the IT Service Desk.
-- Adapted from an email to all UMD faculty and staff sent October 2, 2026 and signed by Jeffrey K. Hollingsworth, Vice President and Chief Information Officer --