This common misunderstanding stems from the mistaken perception that Microsoft guarantees not only data retention for a specified period and infrastructure uptime but also a complete backup solution. In fact, the responsibility for implementing an effective backup strategy rests solely on the customer. Despite this necessary introduction, it happens much more often than one might think to find oneself answering the question: “Is the protection offered by Microsoft sufficient, or is it necessary to implement a data backup? The answer is clear: backing up Microsoft 365 data is essential to ensure the security and operational continuity of the business. This statement is supported by a statistical fact showing that Microsoft Office documents rank first in the number of attempts to exploit vulnerabilities by cybercriminals, with a percentage reaching 80%. Despite this, a recent IDC study reveals that in 2024, 14.29% of surveyed companies continue to reject a proper backup strategy, preferring to rely entirely on the native capabilities of the solution. Fortunately, 35.5% of companies currently in this situation plan to adopt robust backup solutions within the next 12 months.
7 reasons to backup Microsoft 365
The need to back up Microsoft 365 data goes beyond just restoring lost or deleted files.
- Accidental deletion: the accidental deletion, modification, or overwriting of data can be catastrophic.
- Gaps and confusion in retention policies: Microsoft’s retention policies can be complex to understand and implement correctly, leaving data at risk of loss after the retention period expires.
- Internal security threats: the risk of internal threats, such as disgruntled employees deleting essential data, is real and cannot be ignored.
- External security threats: malware and ransomware can cause significant damage to data and the company’s reputation.
- Legal and compliance requirements: a robust backup solution keeps the company safe from legal issues by allowing it to restore data as required for legal and compliance purposes.
- Management of hybrid email deployments and migrations: the right Microsoft 365 backup solution should be able to handle hybrid email implementations, making the source location irrelevant.
- Teams data structure: the backend of Microsoft Teams is much more complex than many realize. With this additional level of complexity, ensuring that the data is adequately protected is essential.
Despite these reasons, along with the explanation of Microsoft’s shared responsibility model, it is common to encounter the belief that the seven vulnerabilities are merely a theoretical risk. Unfortunately, reality often proves the opposite.
Why choose to rely on a Managed Service Provider?
Backing up Microsoft 365 data is a smart business decision. A reliable backup solution eliminates the risk of losing access to and control over Microsoft 365 data, ensuring that it can be restored when needed. When resources are limited or you want your IT team to focus on strategic decisions for business growth, partnering with a Managed Service Provider (MSP) that offers managed Data Protection services is the ideal choice.
