When it comes to O365 backup, most people think, “Doesn’t Microsoft take care of Microsoft 365 backup?”
However, it’s important to remember that SaaS platform providers, like Microsoft 365, take on the responsibility of application uptime and the underlying infrastructure, but it’s still the customer’s responsibility to manage and protect their vital business data.
It’s also worth noting that while many of the built-in features within Microsoft 365 can feel like backups, none of them adhere to the common definition of a backup, which is a separate copy of data that’s stored in a separate location that data can quickly and easily be recovered from.
We’ve collected five reasons why purchasing your own O365 backup solution is critical:
- Accidental deletion: This is actually the most common cause of data loss in Microsoft 365. If you delete a user, whether you meant to or not, that deletion will then be replicated across the network. A backup could restore that user, either to on-premises Exchange or Microsoft 365.
- Retention policy gaps: Retention policies in Microsoft 365 are designed to help organizations comply with regulations, laws, and internal policies that require that they retain or delete content; they are not backups. But even if you do rely on your retention policy in place of a backup, these retention policies are hard to keep up with, let alone manage. A backup provides longer and more accessible retention that’s all protected and stored in one place for easy recovery.
- Internal & external security threats: More often than you think, businesses are experiencing internal security threats. Ensuring an up-to-date Office 365 backup mitigates the risk of critical data being lost or destroyed. External security threats such as malware and viruses can also cause serious damage to organizations. A backup can easily restore mailboxes to an instance before the attack.
- Legal & compliance requirements: There are eDiscovery capabilities built into Microsoft 365, but a third-party backup solution is purpose-built to easily search within a backup and quickly bring back data to meet any regulatory compliance needs.
- Teams’ data structure: The Microsoft Teams backend is much more complex than many realize. Teams is not a self-contained application, meaning the data generated in Teams resides in other applications like Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive. With this added layer of complexity, ensuring that data is adequately protected is crucial.
At Aqueduct Technologies, we’re fortunate to partner with several leading 0365 backup vendors, which gives us the unique ability to work with our customers to find the best solution for their needs and ensure they never get blindsided by unexpected blackouts and other disruptions. To learn more about our offerings, click here.