It seems crazy, but you should back up O365 data with a 3rd party provider

By Ryan Klund - Business Development Associate, SWICKtech

Sometimes when people envision the places where a company’s valuable data is stored, they’re thinking about financial books, custom CRM or ERP software built to keep customer or logistical data, or a locked server room way in the back of the office. The reality is that much of the most valuable data a company has is (for better or worse) kept in email inboxes, Microsoft Excel documents or OneNote archives.

Naturally, you might think that Microsoft would back up O365 data, but they do not. “Microsoft provides powerful services within O365 – but a comprehensive backup of your Office 365 data is not one of them,” says Veeam – a SWICKtech partner and Backup solution for O365.

For you data backup gurus out there, Office 365 doesn’t follow the classic 3-2-1 rule for backing up data; 3 copies of the data on 2 forms of media with one of the copies kept offsite.

Microsoft does however provide some basic tools to protect data from common types of damage. For example, Office puts deleted files in a folder where they can be recovered for a while – but there are many ways in which data can be lost and backups become necessary.

Here are four scenarios where Office 365 data can be lost without a 3^rd party backup solution

1. Malware – There is always the potential that threat actors are lurking within your system and you have no idea. Perhaps malicious software is deleting oft-used files without your knowledge or encrypting emails – making them unrecoverable without a backup.
2. Accidental deletion – A user might be cleaning out their inbox and permanently deletes some files rather than archiving them. Without a backup copy, getting these emails back could be difficult or impossible.
3. Employee Malfeasance – Imagine a terminated employee leaving his position and deleting important files on the way out. It is difficult to imagine, but a common occurrence none-the-less.
4. System Failures – Even Microsoft admits that occasionally a disruption might occur on their end and certainly we can have disruptions or outages within our own business. If critical data is needed during a disruption, a backup may be the only place to turn.

There are a number of 3^rd party backup providers to choose from, including Veeam as we mentioned earlier, SWICKtech can provide Veeam services as part of our O365 backup solution, set up to provide a custom solution for your organization’s needs.

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