Why Microsoft 365 Backup and Recovery Works
In modern business, having a backup solution for Microsoft 365 will differentiate between protecting critical data and potentially losing it. While not the sole reason, backup and recovery solutions for Microsoft 365 are considered standard business practices. These solutions offer businesses a wide range of benefits, and we will discuss most of them in this guide.
Microsoft 365 backup and recovery solutions also improve the suite’s security. So if you don’t want to risk data loss, consider why obtaining a third-party backup solution for Microsoft Office 365 works.
With all that said, let’s begin.
5 Reasons Why Microsoft 365 Backup and Recovery Works
Businesses constantly seek the best backup and recovery strategy to protect critical business data. While many turn to in-house means to protect data, there are valid reasons why third-party tools should be the preferred option. This guide aims to explain why that’s the case.
Microsoft 365 Backup and Recovery Solutions Are Efficient
It’s common knowledge that the customer is responsible for backing up data stored in Microsoft 365. While Microsoft provides multiple ways to back up data, it’s far less comprehensive than third-party solutions.
For example, Microsoft lacks any means to back up data from multiple tenants from a centralized location. Third-party solutions, on the other hand, come with management consoles that make it seamless and efficient to back up data across the suite.
The benefits of having a centralized location to manage and monitor data across your organization are a big reason many businesses are switching from in-house and native backup and recovery tools to third-party data protection services.
Microsoft 365 Backup and Recovery Solutions Are User-Friendly
Customers must have seamless control over the way they handle their data. If you make it complicated, the chances for mistakes are increased. Unfortunately, this is yet another area where Microsoft’s native backup and recovery tools are lacking.
Simply put, Microsoft isn’t a backup solution; it’s a cloud service that improves collaboration and productivity across your organization. So it’s natural to assume the suite doesn’t come with specialized backup and recovery controls, unlike a third-party backup service.
For example, few features influence how long data is kept in the recycle bin. On the other hand, third-party solutions come with user-friendly interfaces that eliminate roadblocks and allow you multiple ways to backup and restore data in case it is permanently deleted.
These features are considered “quality of life” changes that the suite lacks. They enable customers to review backup history, set notifications and email alerts, and even access a user-friendly dashboard where they can handle all aspects of their data.
Microsoft 365 Backup and Recovery Solutions Enhance Automation
Automation is the obvious way to move forward. Automation simplifies work and, in our case, enhances data protection capabilities.
Many third-party solutions incorporate automation into their backup features. For example, you can modify automated Microsoft 365 backups depending on your organization’s needs. In addition, you can set the automation period for any number of hours or days.
What’s also interesting is the backups are automatically stored locally and in their data centers. So these solutions follow the 3–2–1 backup model, which provides organizations access to multiple point-in-time recovery files. The backup files stored locally can be accessed through the cloud anytime.
Microsoft 365 Backup and Recovery Solutions Protect Data Across the Suite
Microsoft 365 is a suite that comes with many apps. The suite includes basic Office apps and other productivity and management apps, such as SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, Outlook, Microsoft Teams, etc.
As one might imagine, it’s difficult to manually backup data from all of these apps. Moreover, developing a strategy that can backup entire account data takes time and effort unless you use third-party solutions.
These solutions specialize in protecting data from Microsoft 365. They look at the suite’s deficiencies and develop features to enhance data protection and data restoration. With these tools, businesses can regularly backup data across the suite and restore files whenever needed.
For example, you can back up an entire Exchange Online mailbox within minutes and without having to go through individual steps to ensure you’re not leaving out crucial data.
Microsoft 365 Backup and Recovery Have Longer Retention Policies
Microsoft’s native data retention policy is 90 days. After 90 days, the account is disabled, and you have a further 90 days to act before the data is permanently deleted. Permanently deleted files are irretrievable, putting you in a difficult position.
While businesses should handle account data before the 180 days period ends, that’s not the only retention policy issue you might face while using Microsoft 365. Email data also comes with a 30-day retention period.
But what if we told you there is a way to increase the retention period for data in Microsoft 365? Well, you can do that with third-party backup and recovery solutions. These solutions allow policy-driven file-level backup for cloud storage and retention.
You can modify the retention policies to give yourself more time when deleting files or even an entire mailbox. Moreover, you can retain data from deleted accounts, thus eliminating the issue we mentioned with the suite’s default retention periods.
Conclusion
A third-party Microsoft 365 backup and recovery solution works for a very fundamental reason. Namely, Microsoft 365 is not a backup tool but a cloud-based productivity and collaboration service.
Furthermore, we can compare the native backup and recovery features with that of third-party tools and conclude that Microsoft doesn’t offer enough. What’s also important to remember is that Microsoft leaves you with the responsibility of backing up data. It even encourages you to use specialized tools and online services to do that.
