It’s difficult to know if you need to use a separate backup solution if you use Office 365 or Google Workspace? Some say you do and others say no need. Even home and small businesses can lose data so here is why you may wish to consider using a backup system if you are in the cloud.

Some sites try to convince you you need a backup because:

• Microsoft 365 default retention periods for storage of deleted data are not long enough.
• A rogue administrator or hacker can delete data in Microsoft 365.
• Your data could become encrypted by ransomware on your desktops.
• Microsoft 365 doesn’t provide the ability to quickly (or at all) restore data.

These statements and partly true but there are some ways around these limitations. Microsoft’s position on data is that “it’s your data”.

As a platform, Office 365 is secure, but your data is not backed up in the way that most organisations require. The weakness in 365 is how complex it is to understand how to recover data. Exchange Online in particular is notorious for being complex when restoring deleted items.

Having a backup system in place gives you more options for recovery, makes it easier to recover data as well as many other benefits.

Veeam Backup for Office 365 stores backups in any location you choose. One option is Microsoft Azure itself but you may want to consider storing your data on-premises or in an alternate cloud provider. Using an alternate provider, like KeepItSafe provides long-term vaulting, and regulatory compliance. Azure, charges a premium for its storage, whereas KeepItSafe focuses on data protection and data management while offering more aggressive pricing.

Savvy IT professionals are taught to backup Office 365 in case a recovery or disaster recovery situation arises. A key capability is Veeam’s ability to recover data at very granular levels. It can recover SharePoint slide libraries, documents, libraries and lists. Veeam Backup for Office 365 provides complete recovery for Office 365 email too. It supports direct restoration of mailbox items to an on-premises Exchange mailbox. The restoration process can also store mailbox items to a file or export them to a PST file. It can also provide granular recovery of OneDrive for Business, something at which Microsoft is particularly weak. Veeam for Office 365 can also recover accounts, files and folders.

KeepItSafe is an ideal destination for Office 365 backups. It not only reduces your need to reinvest in on-premises infrastructure, it can deliver full disaster recovery of the Office 365 environment. In the case of a disaster or your business exiting the Office 365 cloud, KeepItSafe can instantiate the servers required to host those applications until it can create an on-premises set of systems.

More info Keep it Safe | More info Office 365 Backup via SkyKick