Streamline ESG internal data collection

Important

Some of the functionality described in this release plan has not been released. Delivery timelines may change and projected functionality may not be released (see Microsoft policy). Learn more: What's new and planned

Enabled for Public preview General availability
Users, automatically - Sep 2026

Business value

This data collection feature empowers teams to centralize and scale ESG data collection by gathering structured inputs from internal teams and departments. Customers benefit from improved data accuracy, reduced manual effort, and clearer accountability across contributors. By standardizing submissions and enabling governed workflows, organizations can accelerate preparation for CSRD, GRI, and other reporting frameworks while increasing confidence in the completeness and auditability of their data. It also supports downstream calculations and reporting processes by providing structured, validated inputs.

Feature details

Under the streamlining data import, collection, and management product area, the data collection feature provides a structured and guided way for organizations to gather ESG information from internal teams and departments, ensuring that required data flows consistently from the people who own it. Practitioners can configure data owners, create targeted requests, assign reporting periods, set due dates, and optionally apply approval workflows to ensure data is validated before use.

This feature is specifically designed for internal data providers, such as facility managers, HR teams, and business units, enabling organizations to capture operational inputs that are not available through automated ingestion or external systems and are often collected manually through asynchronous, hard‑to‑track communications. It ensures that internal data needed for calculations, metrics, and compliance reporting is collected accurately and securely. External value‑chain data is handled separately through the ESG Value Chain Portal, keeping internal and external processes cleanly segmented.

Data managers can orchestrate collection at scale using data collection plans, enabling bulk requests, automated reminders, and clear tracking of submission status. Data owners receive an email link to a tailored MSM experience with the requests, allowing them to submit responses, add comments, and attach evidence or supporting documents. Approvers can review submitted data, evidence, and approval records in a unified workflow.

This feature is automatically available in the solution and can be accessed from the left navigation under the Data collection section.

Geographic areas

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Language availability

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