Companies choose Microsoft 365 for its easy collaboration in a cloud environment, and the platform currently has 300 million commercial seats. The pandemic forced remote work, resulting in a huge wave of adoption of Microsoft Teams. Months after everyone was able to return to work, the growth has not waned. Software as a Service (SaaS) platform providers such as Microsoft 365 provides accountability for application uptime and the underlying infrastructure. However, managing and protecting vital business data is still the responsibility of the user company. (Source: Microsoft’s Shared Responsibility Model).
While some of the features built into Microsoft 365 can seem like backups, none of them reflect the standard definition of a backup. That definition defines a backup as “a separate copy of data that are stored in a separate location from which data can quickly and easily be recovered.” Here are a few reasons companies need to work with their managed services provider to protect data via backups.
Unintentional deletion: The most common cause of data loss in Microsoft 365 is accidental occurrences. A deletion in Microsoft 365, intentional or not, will be replicated across the network, and a backup would provide the ability to restore that user.
Retention policy gaps: Microsoft 365 retention policies were created to assist organizations with compliance regarding keeping or deleting content – be it to regulations, laws, or internal policies. But these policies are not backups and are hard to maintain, let alone manage effectively. A backup provides extended and more accessible retention – secured and stored in one location for easy recovery.
External security threats: We’ve discussed the rise of ransomware, and the criminals are only becoming more innovative and sophisticated. They continually evolve to find more ways to trick users into clicking a malicious link. A backup can quickly restore data to a point before the attack.
Internal security threats: When we think of things that threaten our company, we typically protect against external hostile forces. However, many businesses often experience inside threats, and a quality recovery process lessens the potential of critical data being lost or destroyed.
Managing hybrid deployments and migrations to Microsoft 365: Whether you are moving to Microsoft 365 or have a combination of on-site Exchange and Microsoft 365 employees, the exchange data should be handled and protected the same way, rendering the source location irrelevant when it comes to recovery.
Microsoft Teams’ data structure: The Teams backend application is much more complicated than people realize. Teams is not a standalone application, meaning the data and information created in Teams also live in Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive. With this additional complexity, guaranteeing that data is appropriately protected is essential.
While the above information relates to Microsoft 365 backups in particular, backups, in general, are critical for all businesses and organizations. There are many reasons for this, but as referenced above, ransomware attacks are among the most compelling.
When your company sustains a ransomware attack, the cyber criminals hold your data “for ransom” and can completely shut down operations and destroy a business. But they lose their power when you have a comprehensive backup in place because they cannot force you to pay for data you already have in your possession.
If you are looking for more information regarding backups, cyber security, or Microsoft 365, your first call should be to Alliance IT. Our team of experts is here to help you navigate the complexities of data backup and recovery.
