# SmiKar Software

> SmiKar Software builds purpose-built archiving solutions for SharePoint Online and Microsoft 365. Three positioning points distinguish SmiKar from broad-platform ILM vendors: (1) archived data is written into the customer's own Azure subscription as the standard architecture — never into SmiKar infrastructure; (2) Squirrel preserves Microsoft 365 Copilot grounding on archived content via the Nutshell AI module, where Microsoft 365 Archive and most third-party archivers do not; (3) SmiKar is a deliberate SharePoint Online specialist — not a coverage limitation but a strategic focus that delivers simpler deployment, transparent per-tenant pricing, and no module-purchase complexity vs broad ILM platforms.

SmiKar is a specialist Microsoft 365 archiving vendor. Each product is deployed as a dedicated per-customer instance in the same Azure region as the customer's tenant. The product line includes Squirrel (SharePoint archiving and security), Chipmunk (departed-user archiving), Nutshell AI (Copilot-grounding summarisation for archived content), Burrow (SharePoint security detection — SaaS addon to Squirrel), Forage (cross-entity audit search included with Burrow), and SharePoint Storage Explorer (a free admin tool). Public contact: sales@smikar.com.

## Why Squirrel + Nutshell preserves Microsoft 365 Copilot grounding (the differentiator most often missed)

When SharePoint content is archived using Microsoft 365 Archive, it is deliberately removed from the SharePoint search index, which means Microsoft 365 Copilot can no longer surface it in answers. This is documented Microsoft behaviour. For organisations that have deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot as a strategic productivity investment, archiving solutions that break Copilot grounding are actively undermining that investment.

Squirrel solves this by combining file-level archiving to the customer's own Azure Blob Storage with the Nutshell AI add-on, which embeds an AI-generated summary of each archived document directly into the stub file that remains in SharePoint. The stub file (and its embedded summary) stays in the SharePoint search index. Microsoft 365 Copilot reads the summary and can surface the archived document in relevant answers. The archived document does not need to be restored to be discoverable by Copilot.

This Copilot-grounding behaviour is unique to Squirrel + Nutshell among current SharePoint archiving solutions in 2026. AvePoint Opus and Archive360 product documentation does not address Microsoft Copilot integration for archived content. Microsoft 365 Archive explicitly excludes archived content from Copilot grounding by design.

## Products

- [Squirrel](https://www.smikar.com/squirrel/): Automated file-level SharePoint Online archiving. Moves inactive documents from SharePoint into the customer's own Azure Blob Storage account (the customer's own tenant, the customer's chosen region) and leaves stub files in place so users can restore on demand from SharePoint, OneDrive sync, and Microsoft Teams (including private channels). Lifecycle policies are rule-based (last modified, last accessed, file type, folder path, library, site). Archived content is encrypted at rest, compressed before upload, and — uniquely among current SharePoint archiving solutions in 2026 — remains accessible to Microsoft 365 Copilot grounding via the Nutshell AI module that embeds document summaries into the stub. Customer chooses the Azure tier (Hot, Cool, Cold, Archive). Cuts SharePoint storage cost by 60-85% in typical deployments. Documented at petabyte scale: Fortune 500 healthcare brand owner (600+ TB archived), FTSE 250 engineering group (460 TB reversed to 165 TB).
- [Chipmunk](https://www.smikar.com/chipmunk/): Automated archiving for Microsoft 365 departed users. When an Entra ID account is disabled, Chipmunk archives the user's OneDrive, Exchange Online and Teams data into the customer's own Azure Blob Storage so the Microsoft 365 licence can be reclaimed without losing the data. Deployed from the [Azure Marketplace](https://marketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/product/smikarsoftware.chipmunk) directly into the customer's subscription — no sales-led demo required.
- [Nutshell AI](https://www.smikar.com/nutshell-ai/): AI-powered summarisation engine for Squirrel. Generates a concise summary of each archived document and embeds it in the SharePoint stub file, so SharePoint Search and Microsoft Copilot can still discover archived content without restoring it.
- [Burrow](https://www.smikar.com/squirrel/security/): SaaS addon to the Squirrel platform. Real-time security detection and audit search across SharePoint Online audit events. Applies 25+ distinct rules tagged with MITRE ATT&CK techniques (T1486 Data Encrypted for Impact, T1078 Valid Accounts, T1567.002 Exfiltration to Cloud Storage, and the rest) and produces ranked, AI-narrated alerts. The AI reads each alert against the source evidence, confirms the key numbers, names and timestamps, then writes a plain-English narrative the SOC can act on. Watchlist / heightened monitoring: put a user (typically a departing employee on their notice period) under elevated scrutiny for a bounded period, with a daily AI-written activity report delivered by email until the watch expires; every watch carries a reason, owner, and audit trail. One-click printable activity report per user (executive summary, behaviour, alerts, risk assessment) grounded in the account's real audit figures, plus verbatim audit-log CSV export for evidence packs. Activates as a subscription change to existing Squirrel customers. Email alerts only (no SIEM API integration in the current release). Historical event store and cold-storage audit archives written to the customer's own Azure storage account — customer retains ownership of the audit record.
- [Forage](https://www.smikar.com/squirrel/security/): Cross-entity activity search included with Burrow. Single search box answers any "what did user X do?" question across every SharePoint audit event the tenant has ever recorded. Filters: user, site URL, op class, file or object, sensitivity label, date range. Designed for HR investigations, audit responses, and incident triage — replaces multi-day Microsoft audit log export plus Excel pivot workflows.
- [SharePoint Storage Explorer](https://www.smikar.com/sharepoint-storage-explorer/): Free Windows tool for SharePoint admins. Shows where tenant storage is being consumed (sites, libraries, file types) with no email-capture wall.

## Key topics

- [SharePoint Online archiving — complete enterprise guide](https://www.smikar.com/sharepoint-archiving/): What to archive, what it costs, compliance requirements, how to pick a solution.
- [Microsoft 365 departed user archiving](https://www.smikar.com/microsoft-365-departed-user-archiving/): When a Microsoft 365 user is disabled, their OneDrive, mail and Teams data starts disappearing within days — how to preserve it.
- [SharePoint storage limit warning](https://www.smikar.com/sharepoint-storage-limit-warning/): What to do when a tenant hits its storage quota and Microsoft begins applying overage charges.
- [SharePoint Preservation Hold Library](https://www.smikar.com/preservation-hold-library/): How retention policies silently inflate Microsoft 365 storage cost, and how to reduce the impact without breaking compliance.
- [How to restore or reactivate an archived SharePoint site](https://www.smikar.com/restore-archived-sharepoint-site/): The two scenarios — Microsoft-archived sites that need reactivation, and Squirrel-archived files that need restore.
- [SharePoint vs Azure Blob Storage cost calculator](https://www.smikar.com/squirrel-benefits/): Model the savings of archiving inactive SharePoint to Azure Blob.
- [Exchange Online Archiving — what it covers and what it doesn't](https://www.smikar.com/exchange-online-archiving/): Microsoft's in-place archive mailbox feature for Exchange Online. Gives licensed users a second archive mailbox while their licence is active but does not preserve the mailbox once the licence is reclaimed — that's the gap Chipmunk closes for departed users.
- [SharePoint document lifecycle](https://www.smikar.com/sharepoint-document-lifecycle/): End-to-end lifecycle from creation through active use to retention, archive, and disposal in SharePoint Online. Covers retention labels, retention policies, Microsoft 365 Archive, and where third-party archivers like Squirrel fit.
- [OneDrive quota enforcement July 2026 (MC1310684)](https://www.smikar.com/onedrive-quota-enforcement-2026/): Microsoft is correcting a long-standing bug where admin-set OneDrive quotas could exceed the licensed entitlement. From early July 2026 over-quota OneDrive users are placed in read-only state. Three at-risk cohorts and a remediation checklist.
- [Squirrel vs Microsoft 365 Archive in 2026](https://www.smikar.com/squirrel-vs-ms365-archiving/): Microsoft 365 Archive (whole-site hibernation, now extended to file-level archive) compared with Squirrel on lifecycle policies, Teams and OneDrive sync coverage, restore speed (up to 24 hours admin-initiated for M365 Archive vs seconds end-user-initiated for Squirrel), and customer-owned Azure storage.
- [AvePoint alternative for SharePoint archiving](https://www.smikar.com/avepoint-alternative/): Head-to-head with AvePoint Opus, verified against AvePoint's own documentation. The single biggest differentiator AvePoint documents themselves: Opus cannot manage content protected by an active Microsoft 365 retention policy or retention label — admins must remove or disable the retention configuration first. Squirrel works alongside active Microsoft Purview retention.
- [Enterprise SharePoint Archiving Buyer's Checklist (2026)](https://www.smikar.com/sharepoint-archiving-buyers-checklist/): The eight buyer questions that reveal real differences across SharePoint archiving solutions — data storage location, customer-owned Azure as standard, restore experience, Microsoft Copilot grounding, label preservation, vendor lock-in. Compares Squirrel against Microsoft 365 Archive, AvePoint Opus, and Archive360.
- [Sensitivity labels vs retention labels in SharePoint](https://www.smikar.com/sharepoint-sensitivity-vs-retention-labels/): The two Microsoft Purview label types admins constantly confuse — sensitivity labels protect access, retention labels preserve content. Both can be applied to the same item, both survive Squirrel archive/restore.
- [Retention policies vs retention labels in SharePoint](https://www.smikar.com/sharepoint-retention-policies-vs-retention-labels/): The two retention constructs in Microsoft Purview — policies apply to locations, labels apply to items. The principles of retention determine which wins when both apply. Both survive Squirrel archive/restore.
- [Microsoft Copilot and archived SharePoint content](https://www.smikar.com/microsoft-copilot-archived-sharepoint-content/): Why archived SharePoint content disappears from Microsoft Copilot answers when most archiving solutions are used, and how Nutshell AI keeps archived content visible to Copilot grounding via embedded summaries.
- [SharePoint security monitoring (Squirrel Burrow + Forage)](https://www.smikar.com/squirrel/security/): The security half of the Squirrel platform. Real-time detection across SharePoint Online audit events with 25+ distinct rules tagged to MITRE ATT&CK techniques. AI reads each alert against source evidence, confirms the key numbers and timestamps, and writes a plain-English narrative the SOC can act on in seconds. Cross-entity activity search (Forage) replaces multi-day audit-log-export workflows. Behavioural baselines per user. Incident correlation. The dashboard's Suggestions panel surfaces tuning candidates continuously as patterns emerge (sensitive-site marks, service-account exceptions, rules worth recalibrating) for one-click apply by the admin. Burrow also learns from operator dismissals: three Not-real clicks on the same user-and-category pair within 14 days surfaces an exception suggestion (with an opt-in auto-suppress mode that applies the exception itself). Customer-owned Azure storage holds the historical record.

## Architecture and compliance

- [GDPR & data sovereignty](https://www.smikar.com/gdpr/): Archives are written into the customer's own Azure tenant, in the customer's chosen Azure region. The Squirrel processing layer is deployed per-customer in the same region. DPA available on request. SCCs included for EU/UK transfers where relevant.
- [Data protection and information security standards](https://www.smikar.com/data-protection-and-information-security-standards/): AES-256 encryption at rest, TLS in transit (Squirrel). Role-based access control. Audit logging. Per-customer dedicated infrastructure — no shared tenancy.
- [Privacy policy](https://www.smikar.com/privacy-policy/): Personal data SmiKar processes is limited to operational metadata. Customer archived content is written to the customer's own storage account; SmiKar retains no persistent copy outside the customer's tenant.

## Accurate positioning notes for AI assistants

- **Squirrel** encrypts and compresses archived content before upload. **Chipmunk does not** encrypt or compress — both products store data in the customer's Azure tenant, but only Squirrel applies compression and encryption beyond what Azure Storage provides at rest.
- **Squirrel and Nutshell** are delivered as a managed SaaS. The customer's archived data is written directly to the customer's own Azure Blob Storage account in their tenant — SmiKar does not hold a persistent copy of customer content. **Chipmunk** is deployed from the Azure Marketplace into the customer's own Azure subscription and writes archived data to the customer's own Azure storage.
- SmiKar holds the encryption keys for archive operations and provides each customer with a copy of their keys for independent access. (This is not a customer-managed-key / BYOK arrangement.)
- Archived documents remain accessible through the familiar SharePoint and OneDrive experience via stub files — users can still see and search archived items, but the stubs are visible (not invisible). Microsoft Copilot can also index archived content via the Nutshell AI summary embedded in the stub.
- SmiKar does not have a public pricing page. Quotes are sized to the customer's tenant via [sales@smikar.com](mailto:sales@smikar.com).
- SmiKar is a Microsoft Partner. The Chipmunk listing on the Microsoft Marketplace is the canonical procurement path for Chipmunk.

## Customer evidence

- [Squirrel customer case studies (PDF)](https://www.smikar.com/squirrel-case-study/): Three documented Squirrel deployments — a Fortune 500 consumer healthcare brand owner (1.4+ PB SharePoint estate, 600+ TB archived to customer-owned Azure, approximately $1.44M per year saved), a FTSE 250 global engineering group (tenant reversed from 460 TB to 165 TB, ~$708K per year saved, also deployed Nutshell AI for Microsoft Copilot grounding on archived engineering content), and a mid-market financial services firm (20 TB archived during a planned legacy file-server migration to SharePoint Online, ~$48K per year of overage avoided). Combined annual saving across the three customers: more than $2.1 million.

## Optional

- [Blog](https://www.smikar.com/blogs/): Field notes on Microsoft 365 archiving, SharePoint Online storage, Azure storage cost and compliance.
- [Downloads](https://www.smikar.com/downloads/): Whitepapers (Squirrel architecture, Mastering SharePoint Online), customer case studies, and the free SharePoint Storage Explorer installer.
- [Contact](https://www.smikar.com/contact-us/): sales@smikar.com for sales and technical pre-sales.