Do you need to backup Microsoft 365?
Microsoft and its cloud services are now present in most business environments. It is a product capable of improving various aspects of work, in particular, collaboration and internal and external communication of the organization. Therefore, it is necessary to know what the Microsoft 365 backup process included in the package consists of, in order to take action to best safeguard and protect your business and customer data.
Microsoft 365 shared responsibility
As also reported by the Microsoft Office 365 Trust Center, the data protection and backup policy offered is limited.
Its main commitment is to ensure the availability of the service itself, keeping the infrastructure uninterruptedly active and switched on and consequently the productivity of its customers. This includes the physical security of its data centers and the protection of identity and access based on the user/administrator role.
Therefore, we speak of shared responsibility precisely because as far as the protection and storage of the company data itself, which is located in the Microsoft 365 cloud, is concerned, the burden falls on the user company.
Here's why you should choose to make an external Microsoft 365 backup
It should not be thought that data stored in the cloud cannot incur losses. In fact, they are subject to the same risks as on-premise data. As a result, it should not be underestimated that there are several situations in which this data can be lost. Here are the main cases:
- Accidental deletion: This is the most common cause that occurs for even just changes that later turn out to be incorrect.
- Confusion in retention policies: Data retention is the period for which data is retained, and the company is asked to comply with it by following certain policies, but management is very difficult.
- Insider threats: Although it is hard to think that this could happen, it is one of the most common cases. The risk that an internal employee could delete vital company data is very frequent.
- External threats: It is now well known that cybercriminals are increasingly trying to infiltrate corporate IT infrastructures with ransomware in order to attack them.
- Legal requests: It can happen that certain emails, even very old ones, files and other data are necessary during legal and legal compliance practices.
Microsoft 365 backup: total protection
Uploading your data to the cloud is like taking money to a bank: the data is yours, but up to a point! So, it’s important to have a copy of your business data at another provider and data center as well. Thinking that Microsoft 365’s cloud backup service is sufficient is wrong.
If you have a problem with a provider, so that you are protected, having a copy elsewhere is always good practice. For example, there may be legal and compliance reasons why the provider may suspend access to the data, without you having the opportunity for a quick resolution. Therefore, having access to a copy of your data is strategic.
In addition, if a migration were to become necessary, it would be difficult to export large amounts of data.
Conclusion
Microsoft can only offer recovery options that are limited in time and likely to contain outdated data. That’s why we strongly recommend activating an external Office 365 backup solution, now known as Microsoft 365, that allows for high-level and more accessible recovery.
Utixo, a primary partner of Microsoft Cloud Solution, provides cloud backup solutions (cloud2cloud). These include the complete management of backup-restore-disaster recovery processes in compliance with the GDPR. They take place, in fact, on platforms external to Microsoft and on European datacenters under European jurisdiction.
For more information and customized solutions, contact us.
