Why is it Essential to Back Up Your Microsoft Office 365?

Microsoft Office has undoubtedly taken the world by storm, moving businesses and some of their most sensitive data into the cloud. In 2019, Microsoft Office was reported to have over 200 million active monthly users all across the globe, and it has consistently grown since then.

This really doesn't come as a surprise, thanks to the ease of use and raw value that the tool offers at its price point. In fact, a lot of businesses are quickly moving to that platform instead of having to run their own servers for SharePoint, Exchange, and file storage.

The issue is that several businesses don't think about data protection and assume that data protection and backup are part of the plan. A lot of them are left surprised when they discover that Microsoft actually doesn't provide a clearly defined backup strategy for Office 365, even though the platform is essentially a communications solution instead of a data protection service.

This really doesn't mean that Microsoft doesn't provide any data protection capabilities; there are a couple of features and tools in the Office 365 suite that together make what you'd call a baseline toolkit for safeguarding your Office 365 data.

Nevertheless, if your business depends on having a backup and recovery strategy in place, these tools are not sufficient to cater to all your needs. In this article, we will cover why you need an effective backup strategy for Microsoft Office 365.

Reasons to Back Up Microsoft Office 365

Making sure your Microsoft Office 365 backup is handled correctly is imperative to your data's security and determines if your organisation can move ahead with regular operations while your employees are working remotely. Companies that take their Microsoft Office 365 backup lightly become vulnerable to various possibly detrimental scenarios.

1.     Malicious Intent and/or User Error

As per Data Center Knowledge, human error is one of the primary reasons for the loss of data. People working in your company might delete a file stored on OneDrive because of various reasons:

• Malicious Intent: Disgruntled employees might delete or sabotage critical files. By the time the damage is discovered, it might be too late to recover or revert it. Conversely, a Microsoft Office 365 solution would have several iterations of a single file. This will make it easy for you to restore it.
• Removing Duplicate Files: Despite OneDrive's collaborative feature, employees create duplicate files for several reasons, such as sharing outside their department or their domain. In some cases, they might unintentionally delete the original file when deleting duplicates.
• Accidental Deletion: When employees get a notification that they're running out of space, they might start to clear up space by removing files that are old or don't seem very important. They might even delete emails that might have critical attachments of data. This type of data could get lost forever unless they back up Microsoft Office 365 data.

2.     Internal Security Threats

If you think of a security threat, you probably think of viruses and hackers. Nevertheless, companies experience internal threats and they happen more frequently than you would think. Companies fall victim to threats presented by their own employees, both unintentionally and intentionally.

Access to contacts and files changes quite quickly. Thus, it can be tough to keep an eye on those you trust the most. Microsoft has no way of differentiating between an ordinary user and a fired worker trying to remove critical data before exiting. Additionally, certain users unknowingly create major threats by downloading compromised files or unintentionally leaking user credentials to untrustworthy sites.

3.     External Security Threats

Like ransomware, viruses and malware have seriously damaged organisations all over the words. This doesn't just damage the company's reputation but also risks the security and privacy of customer and internal data

External threats can pave their way through attachments and emails, and it is not always sufficient to educate users on what to keep an eye out for – particularly when the infected messages sound so authentic. The backup and recovery functions of Exchange Limited are insufficient to handle severe attacks. Regular backups are going to make sure a different copy of your critical data is uninfected and that you are able to recover soon.

4.     Managing Hybrid Emails Deployment and Migration

Backups are vital for all migration processes and work as a safety net in case any data is lost or compromised while transitioning. In the event of staged migration, where you have to create new Outlook profiles for all users, failing to perform a Microsoft Office 365 backup can damage the whole process.

Even if you use Exchange Hybrid migration, where newly migrated cloud mailboxes and on-premises mailboxes can coexist more strongly, backups are essential to safeguard in case something goes wrong. A strong Microsoft Office 365 backup eliminates the chances of high-level issues within your company during the process of hybrid email deployment and migration and makes sure that you continue to have a secure data copy.

5.     Retention Policy Confusions and Gaps

Microsoft does not provide backup services apart from SharePoint. This means that all the data can get lost without you being able to recover or retrieve it, leading to considerable downtime for management teams and employees as they attempt to understand what's left after an accident. Using third-party backup solutions like the Microsoft Office 365 backup from Celerity allows businesses to go back to a previous period before the accident took place, with all the data secure and available, meaning no downtime and no loss of data.

Last Few Words

Powered by Veeam, our robust backup solution eliminates the chances of losing your Microsoft Office 365 data. It encompasses protection for SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Exchange Online. Thus, you can stay focused on more essential tasks. Get in touch with Celerity today to learn more!