How can Microsoft 365 back-up provide peace of mind for your business?

Microsoft 365 (previously Office 365) has become the go to for a very broad spectrum of businesses, especially in recent years when there has been a switch to more remote working. In fact, it is now the most popular enterprise cloud service by user count. As a result, a  back-up for Microsoft 365 is vital and, more often than not, the most effective back-up is going to be a third party one. These are the ways in which ensuring you have this kind of back-up in place can provide peace of mind for your business.

  • You’ll have a safety net if there is accidental deletion. Even in the most advanced systems there remains the potential for human error and this can be very challenging when it happens – and often permanent. Where there is a back-up in place it will be possible to recover what has been deleted and avoid the disruption this can cause.
  • Protection against malicious acts. While every business likes to hope it will receive only support from employees there are unfortunately some occasions where disgruntled staff can take malicious action. If this takes the form of deleting business critical data then it could cause a lot of problems – but not if you have a third party back-up in place from which that data can be retrieved.
  • Safeguarding where external attacks are concerned. Hacking, malware and viruses continue to affect the small business community, with two thirds experiencing some form of cyber attack in the past couple of years. Where an attack is successful, often the only way to ensure recovery is if there is access to a recent back-up. Given the sophisticated nature of many of these malicious programmes it’s absolutely essential to back up independently. Where there is a back-up, systems can be restored quickly and damage can be minimised.
  • Resources for litigation and compliance. Whether it’s industry-specific rules on data retention or being able to access past data for the purposes of defending or pursuing litigation, back-ups are a vital resource. An external back-up can ensure you are meeting data retention guidelines for any litigation holds, as well as to meet standard compliance requirements.
  • Achieving the balance between automation and control. Using a third party back-up solution that integrates with server and workstation back-up will enable you to create reliable back-ups without ongoing manual effort.
  • A third party back-up means you can be proactive about recovery and better support your customers. If something goes wrong and you don’t have an external back-up then you’re going to have to take a Microsoft support ticket and wait in line. That could mean delays for your customers, loss of access to services or loss of sales. When you have created a third party back-up yourself you can be proactive about ensuring everything is back online and your customers experience is preserved.