If you are wondering whether your Microsoft 365 data is protected by the provider – the answer is definitely yes, but maybe not to the extent you have in mind. In this article, I will present to you the problems that come with Office 365 and why you need to protect it with a dedicated Microsoft 365 backup. We will also discuss how to convince a non-technical to the necessity of such an investment.
How does Microsoft protect your data?
The first thing we need to know is how Microsoft protects your data within its service.
Microsoft provides some ways to retain your data, but in most cases, it won’t keep your files for long enough to comply with business or legal requirements. Confused? There is also an independent article about retention policies in Office 365, you can check this out later.
But this problem doesn’t occur with Office 365 E3 and E5 plans. With these enterprise editions of Office 365, Microsoft provides an additional tool to protect your data – Litigation Hold. It allows you to keep the files even indefinitely, you can set it up with the use of retention policies. But yet it shouldn’t be considered a backup of your data, because even if you store your files there for as long as you need, it is still the only copy of the file on there.
This is why Microsoft says in Microsoft Service Agreement that they recommend that you regularly back up the content and data you store on the Microsoft 365 services using third-party software.
Microsoft is a very reliable service provider with a 99% uptime guarantee for Microsoft 365, and this is why you don’t have to worry about the working environment, but Microsoft openly says that the responsibility for your data security lies on your shoulders. And many things in the modern IT world can make you consider adding another layer of protection for your environment – a Microsoft 365 backup.
Data loss and what could cause it
If the argument of providing an additional level of protection for your Microsoft 365 data isn’t enough, maybe if you learn more about the risks awaiting your data, it will make you reconsider creating a backup.
The main risk for your company files is data loss due to countless reasons. The most common of those are hacker attacks in the form of ransomware or simply malicious software. Ransomware attacks happen every couple of seconds and are projected to cost businesses 20 billion dollars by the end of 2021. Business downtime caused by ransomware attacks usually lasts for days. Especially when you don’t have a proper backup in place, which can help you get back on your feet within hours instead of days or even weeks.
There are also a few more scenarios where an Office 365 backup can help you protect your business data. Have in mind that those are less likely especially when your company is using Microsoft Office E3 or E5 subscription, and have well set-up retention policies.
Quite common situation is that the rogue admin, frustrated with the company, decides to take revenge and delete the company’s data. Without set security measures he can easily do that and in conclusion, lead to a situation where your files are lost beyond recovery. Another common scenario of data loss is accidental deletion of the file, it might not be lost, but it might be troublesome to recover it. With a proper backup, you can easily recover all of that data from a copy created before the event.
Security issues and backup as a solution
Minimize the Downtime window
All of those situations can occur and have an impact on your business. The reason we strongly recommend you use Microsoft 365 backup is to minimize downtime for your business. If we have to break it down more. It’s quite obvious that if your employees can’t work, you will not generate any progress on projects, or won’t even be able to work on them. Which will cost you and your business money. With a proper backup solution, you can minimize the downtime of your company
Simplicity and speed
But the main reason why you should use a third-party backup solution like Xopero ONE for your Microsoft 365 backup is simplicity. You have control over all the stored copies, how you create them, and restore them in case of disaster with just a few clicks in just one console. As I mentioned earlier Microsoft 365 Enterprise subscriptions provide the ability to retain and recover lost files, but the process of recovering those files isn’t simple or quick. Having a backup of your Office 365 data that Xopero ONE provides will allow you to quickly and easily recover whole Exchange mailboxes, individual items from OneDrive and Exchange within minutes or even seconds, instead of having to go through the mundane process of recovering them through tools provided by Microsoft.
You can test Xopero ONE for free – start your extended 30 days trial now.