A primary data storage system is connected with a separate and external active archive storage system to consolidate data and allow active archive data to be managed based on primary storage system events. The primary data storage system may be managed and maintained by an external entity, and may include a manager module such as a resource manager. The active archive system may include several tiers of storage in a hierarchical storage system and logic for moving data between and among the tiers. As data processing milestones are completed or the state of data changes, in projects stored in the primary data storage system, task milestone or state change events are detected. Event detection can trigger data movement in the active archive solution. One or more software modules implementing the present invention may detect the events and trigger active archive operations based on the events.