The importance of backup for Microsoft 365: protect your data and continuity

In the modern workplace, Microsoft 365 has become an essential tool for collaboration, communication and productivity. Businesses rely on services such as Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams for their day-to-day operations. But despite Microsoft's robust infrastructure, it's crucial to have an independent backup strategy for your Microsoft 365 data. In this article, we explain why independent backups are necessary and how they can protect your business from data loss and interruptions.

Misconceptions about backups within Microsoft 365

Many organizations assume that Microsoft automatically creates full backups of their data. Although Microsoft offers advanced securityand redundancy measures, it is important to understand the limitations:

Limited retention: Microsoft retains deleted items and versions of documents only for a limited time.
Data loss due to user error: (Accidental) deletion or overwriting of files can lead to permanent loss if not restored within the retention period. This is a common case of loss of files and even entire folders or directories.
Internal and external threats: Cyber attacks such as ransomware and malicious insiders can compromise or destroy data.
Compliance and legal requirements: For many companies, it is necessary to retain data for longer periods of time than Microsoft provides by default due to legal or compliance requirements.

Benefits of an independent backup strategy for Microsoft 365

An independent backup strategy for Microsoft 365 offers several benefits beyond what Microsoft offers by default.

1.Data loss protection
A reliable backup solution ensures that your data is safe even if it is accidentally deleted or overwritten. This includes emails, documents, calendar items and more.

Example: An employee accidentally deletes an important SharePoint library. Without a backup, this can lead to loss of crucial project information. With a backup solution, you can easily restore the data.

2.Cyber threat protection
Ransomware attacks and other cyber threats can encrypt or destroy your data. A backup ensures that you can recover quickly without paying a ransom.

Example: A ransomware attack encrypts files in OneDrive. With a backup, you can restore the files to a time before the attack and resume business activities quickly.

3.Long-term retention for compliance
Many industries require that data be retained for a certain period of time. A backup solution can help meet these requirements by keeping data for the long term.

Example: A financial institution must retain customer data for 10 years. A backup solution ensures that this data remains available regardless of changes to the Microsoft 365 retention policy.

4.Demonstrate copy of cloud data in a local data center
Some regulations require data to be stored locally. With a backup solution, you can ensure that a secure copy of your cloud data is available in a local data center, which helps with regulatory compliance.

Example: A manufacturing company must comply with specific data locality requirements. By storing a backup of their Microsoft 365 data in a local data center, they can demonstrate compliance with these regulations.

5.Secure, independent copy of your own data
An independent backup provides a secure copy of your data separate from the primary cloud environment, providing an additional layer of protection.

Example: By regularly backing up Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business and Microsoft Teams, a business ensures that a recent and secure copy of their data is always available, no matter what happens in the cloud.

6.Recovery capability for item-based data
A backup solution provides recovery capabilities for specific items such as user accounts in Entra ID, emails in Exchange Online, documents in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business, and chats and files in Microsoft Teams.

Example: An employee accidentally deletes an important e-mail from Exchange Online. With a backup solution, this particular e-mail can be quickly restored without affecting other data.

Reliability and compliance with laws and regulations

Backup for Microsoft 365 provides reliability and regulatory compliance by backing up Microsoft 365 data to a specially designed backup environment. Unwanted deletion of identities, emails, data, projects and chats is mitigated by flexible recovery capabilities. To meet most regulatory requirements, data retention defaults to seven years.

Implementing a backup solution for Microsoft 365

When choosing a backup solution for Microsoft 365, there are some important considerations:

Automation: Choose a solution that performs automatic, regular backups to avoid manual errors.
Granularity: Make sure the solution supports recovery at the document, mailbox or even item level.
Security: Backups must be encrypted to protect the data from unauthorized access.
Retention policies: The solution must be flexible in setting retention policies to meet your specific requirements.

Independent backup for Microsoft 365 is essential

While Microsoft 365 provides a reliable and secure environment, an independent backup strategy is essential to protect your data and business continuity. By investing in a robust backup solution, you can protect yourself from data loss, cyber threats and meet compliance requirements. Ensure your organization is ready for unexpected events and maintain peace of mind by knowing your data is safe and available when you need it.

Take the right steps to implement a backup strategy for Microsoft 365 and protect your business from data loss and disruptions.

This article was written by Eric Liket, portfolio manager at Valid.

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