SDS (School Data Sync)

Operating as part of the Microsoft 365 Education suite, the service reads roster data from a school's student information system (SIS) and uses it to provision user accounts, class groups, and section memberships across Microsoft 365 applications including Microsoft Teams for Education, OneNote Class Notebooks, Intune for Education, and Exchange Online. Data can be supplied through CSV file uploads, direct SIS API connections, or OneRoster-compliant integrations, with the service supporting common SIS platforms used in schools, multi-academy trusts, and higher education institutions.

Administrators configure synchronisation profiles that define which organisations, users, and classes are included, with options for scheduled or on-demand syncs. The service handles the ongoing maintenance of class rosters as students join, leave, or change groups throughout the academic year, removing the need for manual updates in each Microsoft 365 application.

It also supports role assignment for teachers and students, parent and guardian contact synchronisation, and integration with third-party applications through the Microsoft Graph API. School Data Sync is typically deployed by IT administrators in primary, secondary, and tertiary education settings that use Microsoft 365 as their core productivity and collaboration platform, and forms part of the underlying infrastructure for Microsoft Teams for Education class creation and assignment workflows.