One of the main reasons for moving your business data, whether emails, files, or chats, on Microsoft 365 is because Microsoft Data Centers' ultra-resilient infrastructure needs robust protection. For this reason, you probably think that your data is protected by using the cloud service, and you no longer need backups.
Indeed, your data while sitting in Microsoft 365 is incredibly secure, but that does not mean that your data is backed up appropriately by Office. The Microsoft End User Agreement explicitly states that you should count on a third-party Office backup solution that can back up your data thoroughly.
Prevent critical data loss in Microsoft 365
The solution is simple, back up Microsoft 365 to your Microsoft 365 accounts and maximize protection against permanent data loss. An all-in-one backup, recovery, and export solution covers Exchange Online Mailbox, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams.
To manage backups, you need to take into consideration multiple factors. Mailbox data protection needs to be ensured with the Office 365 backup solution for OneDrive data. Multiple managed service providers' backup solutions can help you with data loss when a human error can provoke data compromise user account.
The benefits of Microsoft Office 365 data protection are:
- Minimize potential downtime
- Protect critical business data
- Automatic, continuous Office backup with flexible recovery options
- Easy to implement
- Restore files and folders so you can get back to work faster
Why Microsoft 365 backup is essential
There is a belief among many business owners that they do not actually need a third-party vendor to manage their Microsoft 365 backup. Yet, without Office 365 backup, your organization's data is at risk for many reasons, and the incident can cost your business more than money.
Moreover, there is a misconception that Microsoft offers protection against stolen or deleted data, either accidentally or with malicious intent, but this is not the case.
Ensuring that your critical Microsoft Office 365 data is in the right hands is essential to the security of your data. It determines whether your business can continue to operate regularly while your teams are at home or abroad.
Companies that do not take their Microsoft 365 backup seriously are prone to potentially dangerous scenarios. And now, let's get down to the main point of this article – to present the top 10 reasons why you need a proper Office backup for your critical Microsoft 365 data.
1. Accidental deletion
Deleting files from the cloud storage removes them from all synced devices and networks, which means that once they are deleted, they will be deleted permanently. Accidental deletion of users and other information can result in significant employee downtime and critical data loss.
It is vital to recognize that cloud storage solutions, such as OneDrive, are not enough when this happens. While some might say that accidentally deleting Microsoft 365 users may be less common because Microsoft requires confirmation before deleting it, it still happens in many organizations.
2. Internal and external security threats
Internal security threats are an issue encountered by numerous organizations and can be catastrophic when a malicious insider receives critical or sensitive data. Even with proper employee activity, phishing endeavors are bound to be successful in some cases, unlocking the door for hackers to infiltrate and disrupt your organization's data.
Hackers can exploit these endeavors to “heist” employee login credentials for VPNs, email accounts, etc. After they get access, they can install malware such as ransomware to squeeze in your business.
It is why the Office backup should also include:
Reliability
- To quickly detects when an attack first occurs and identifies which files are infected
Comprehensive recovery
- Comprehensive recovery of a whole range of folders is as easy and fast as converting a single file or email
Copy of crucial data
- To keep up a secure copy of data in an independent, external location is an essential security rule
Prompt recovery
- Quick redemption can cause significant damage. To ensure business continuity, it is necessary to recover untouched data from point to time through IT quickly
3. Microsoft are good but not perfect
Microsoft provides some impressive working time figures for their services, but interruptions can occur. In an outage, you may not have access to your data which may be time sensitive due to deadlines or commercial pressures, by backing up a completely separate cloud provider.
If you delete a file or email, they will initially go to your Recycle Bin. Once you empty it, Microsoft provides an additional recycled bin to the administrator. All cleared data will be deleted forever, so if you need to recover a long-deleted email, you may not be lucky enough to comply.
4. End-to-end legal support should be ensured
To comply with eDiscovery and retention requirements and avoid expensive penalties, legal teams must ensure that all case-related data across your corporation is protected against accidental deletions and is readily available.
In Microsoft 365 environments, retrieving this data can be tedious and time-consuming, requiring significant IT costs and end-user downtime. Microsoft 365's higher-priced company plans offer some legal and compliance requirements retention options. However, they are limited to Microsoft 365 data only.
It is an area where Microsoft Office 365 crashes because legally restricted data may be found in other applications or on unsupported end-user devices.
5. Meet compliance requirements with flexible and unlimited retention
Unfortunately, Microsoft 365 does not fully meet your organization's retention needs and policies. Provides only 30-93 days maximum retention and keeps audit logs for six months.
Because Microsoft 365 provides limited retention, it is difficult for organizations to comply with regulations.
6. Manage hybrid email deployments and migrations
Backups are essential to any migration process and serve as a safety net if any data is lost during the transition. In the case of a step-by-step migration where new Outlook profiles need to be created for each user, the absence of a Microsoft 365 backup can ruin the whole process.
A solid Microsoft 365 backup eliminates the potential for high-level problems in your business during the hybrid email deployment and migration processes. It assures that you will permanently have an Office backup copy of your data.
7. Shared Responsibility model
The concept of Shared Responsibility implies that data protection responsibilities are shared between Microsoft users and Microsoft 365. Microsoft delivers the Microsoft 365 platform and services worldwide.
Microsoft 365 users, on the other hand, manage the security of their data. Microsoft 365 offers its users home data protection tools; however, if the user permanently deletes the data, they can only be restored with the help of backups.
8. Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams are gaining momentum and growth as distance work increases. It is currently the center of our productivity cosmos. Microsoft is structuring Teams as a user interface that integrates Office 365 services, such as SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business. The third-party backup solution can protect user error lost data.
This approach provides agile communication and real-time collaboration for Microsoft Teams. You need to protect the data in these locations, but that is not all you need to save. Teams have settings, configurations, and memberships that must be protected and renewable. A dedicated Office backup solution can protect data and these settings and related applications.
9. Hardware malfunction
The data stored in the email can be damaged without repair. It also applies to data stored on personal computers and email service providers.
10. Not being compliant with the 3-2-1 rule
Another critical thing to consider when considering whether you need a third-party backup is the 3-2-1 rule for backing up your work. According to this famous motto, you need three versions of meaningful work.
The first two of these three versions must be saved on two different media – one online and one offline on something like an external hard drive. Meanwhile, the third version must be stored off-site for third-party storage.
Conclusion
Implementing a third-party tool like this will require investment – both in terms of money and time. You will need to take the time to purchase, configure, optimize and manage this add-on tool yourself.
To figure out whether you need this level of protection, consider the potential drawbacks of not doing so – a robust backup solution capable of focusing on customer data to be fully protected. A managed service provider is an important data protection leader.
Because you will have to pay for a third-party backup solution, it is important to do your research to invest in one that offers the level of protection you need.
Lastly, check out how often you can perform an Office backup of your critical data using a service you consider investing in.
