Whenever you mention to business owners that they need to back up their Microsoft 365, they always seem a little bit confused. Most businesses think that they no longer need to worry about backup when they move their data to the cloud.
Indeed, if your data is now in the cloud, then Microsoft will handle some of the backup for you, and that leaves you thinking you don’t need to worry anymore – which is only partially true.
Microsoft Office 365 prides itself on providing dynamic, collaborative jobs for its clients. Industry-leading security measures and privacy, compliance, and accessibility support the robust functionality of the cloud productivity package.
Even so, it was shown that data loss and protection are still significant problems for most businesses migrating to the cloud.
Part of that concern can be alleviated by providing a backup of SaaS data along with the ability to restore that data quickly and easily to an application if the data is lost.
Furthermore, this post will examine some of the critical backup policies offered by Office 365, so you can determine where Microsoft’s backup and recovery responsibilities end – and where yours begins.
Equipped with this base knowledge, you should feel confident that you can fully protect Microsoft Office 365 data and use the power of the cloud without worrying about data loss.
Understand Microsoft Backup and Retention Policies
Data loss is often a significant concern for Microsoft Office 365 customers because Microsoft backup policies cannot guarantee complete and fast recovery of data loss. Even when data is being recovered, the process is long and complicated, and retention policies vary for each application embedded in the cloud platform.
We need to consider the following:
Retention policies and capabilities vary from service to service within Office 365, and new services like the Microsoft team often do not have similar safeguards available.
Policies are constantly evolving and tend to be very complicated. If you do not regularly monitor your organization’s data and do not take the time to understand the complex landscape, it is easy for things – such as critical data – to fall through the cracks.
Office 365 backup and retention policies can only protect you from data loss in minimal scenarios and can not take the place of third-party backup solutions.
Please note that Microsoft backups and retention policies are not substitutes for a complete backup and recovery solution.
More importantly, Microsoft policies are not designed so that customers have direct access to the backup data for easy recovery.
Microsoft is doing everything it can to establish safeguards for their customers not to lose data. But ultimately, Microsoft Office 365 does not specialize in backups and data recovery. After all, you are responsible for these activities to store your organization’s data in the cloud, i.e., to manage Microsoft backups on your own.
The proper Office 365 backup needs to provide on-premises backup solutions that allow businesses to own and protect their cloud data, including drive, mail, contacts, and calendar, thereby preventing data loss from disruptive events.
For the most part, a better option for most organizations seems to be cloud-based solutions for Microsoft 365. These Office 365 backups tend to be from companies that developed their Microsoft 365 support base solutions.
It is crucial to look for Microsoft Office 365 backup solutions that cover all the scenarios you’re looking to protect – and the services you need to be fully operative with no additional hitches in your workflow.
Therefore, many will remain in step with the available backup and restore options available. An increasing number of businesses are relying on cloud services to store their data. This can be easily achieved with the right third-party vendor specialized for Microsoft Office 365 backup, so be mindful when choosing the right one for you.