Microsoft 365 is perhaps the most widely used service in the business sphere. New features and functionalities are constantly popping up to help streamline user workflow and productivity.
Now, Microsoft Teams has entered the chat. It aims to serve as an enterprise communication tool containing everything you need to conduct business on a singular platform.
However, these new features bring with them uncertainty for your company. You have more data to manage than ever, potentially resulting in data storage and compliance issues.
Many organisations moved to Microsoft Teams in a flurry for remote work but were still oblivious to the need for Office 365 data protection strategies in their virtual workspace. Before basking in the flexibility of Microsoft services, companies must contemplate their plans for Microsoft 365 data loss prevention.
Here’s why backing up data on Microsoft applications is so important and the key characteristics your third-party data security and management solution should have.
Protecting Microsoft 365 Data
Whether it’s Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive or Email, there are a couple of things to note about data protection:
1. It’s your responsibility.
Microsoft may provide service infrastructure uptime, but the responsibility for your data is on you. There is no guarantee of data protection or recovery in the event of a loss. So if their server is down or gets wiped, you will no longer have access to corporate data kept on Microsoft applications.
2. Protecting & managing data is complex.
Did you know that new changes to the Microsoft infrastructure make it more complicated to back up data? Data protection and management can be challenging since the software distributes your data across various locations.
3. Insider threats can happen.
Straight from the horse’s mouth, 53% of organisations were victims of insider attacks in 2019 alone. Besides that, human errors such as unintentional overwrite and deletions also render data at risk. Microsoft services are not exempt from these data loss occurrences, which is cause for concern because this is where users access business data regularly.
If recovery through Microsoft is still feasible, it could be incredibly time-consuming and expensive.
4. Two copies do not suffice.
Implementing the 3-2-1 rule is a smart move for your data backup and recovery plan. This entails storing two copies of data in different locations while stowing the third copy to an independent, offsite location.
When it comes to Teams, you’d automatically have two sets of data stored separately. Entrusting a cloud backup provider with your third copy would be a good next step, especially if your Microsoft production data is lost or corrupted.
5. Losing data is expensive.
Your business may not experience a company-wide data loss catastrophe, but data “unavailability” issues are highly plausible. The cause infinitely varies, which is why organisations must ensure protection and recovery should the situation unfold.
It’s no secret that data availability is essential for day-to-day operations, and data loss could cost you valuable time and money.
Engaging a Third-Party Cloud Provider
That said, it comes time to evaluate the right contenders for cloud-based data backup and recovery services. A few things to consider include:
- Centralised data management: Select one location for storage of all SaaS data to enable efficiency and convenience.
- Simple integration: Implement a comprehensive solution that is easy to deploy, use, and run every day without capital expenditure.
- Scale for posterity: Understand how your provider can continue to grow and guarantee protection for Office 365 data in the future.
- Security & data accessibility: Your business’s data protection strategy should ensure unlimited access to an offsite copy of your Microsoft data 24/7.
- Compliance factors: Meet all legal and compliance requirements with Office 365 backup.
- Predictability in pricing: The best solution should offer extensive cloud service protection for various SaaS applications with upfront pricing. Otherwise, you might find some costly surprises as your data storage grows.
Aegis Cloud Office 365 Backup (COB) provides all-inclusive data protection and restoration of Microsoft data, including SharePoint, OneDrive, Email and Teams. Learn more about our backup and disaster recovery services.
