Why Third-Party Backup for Microsoft Office 365 Environments
As organizations migrated employees from office sites to remote work environments in the wake of the pandemic, they had to re-think how Microsoft’s email and productivity apps are served up, whether on-premises or as a service.
After all, SaaS-enabled Office 365 (now Microsoft 365) offers many benefits: fast deployment, anywhere accessibility to data, Microsoft-managed patches and updates, and subscriptions that are often cheaper than software licenses and include technical support.
While Microsoft offers native tools for backup and retention, there are gaps. For example, according to one Microsoft MVP, it’s the responsibility of organizations to correctly configure retention policies. If your organization is new to Office 365 (and to configuring retention policies), there may be a tendency to over- or under-retain data or to accidentally delete data.
In addition, ransomware is an increasing threat as cybercriminals target not just production data, but now backup data, too. A third-party backup can act as an insurance policy to keep your data safe.
For these and other reasons, it’s important to consider third-party backup of Office 365 to protect your business data.
The Shared Responsibility Model: Microsoft + YOU
It’s also important to understand that, when it comes to security, Microsoft—like other cloud service providers—offers a “shared responsibility” model. In this model, Microsoft ensures that the Office 365 infrastructure is operational, and their customers’ data is accessible. Your responsibility is to protect your organization’s data.
IDC explains the shared responsibility model this way:
|
Microsoft |
Your Organization |
| Cloud Infrastructure (uptime, SLAs) | Office 365 Business Data (access and control of data residing in 0ffice 365) |
| Basic Data Replication (data center to data center redundancy, Recycle Bin for short-term data loss recovery) | Enterprise-Level Backup and Retention (copy of data stored outside the environment and granular and point-in-time recovery) |
| Data Processing (data privacy, regulatory controls, industry compliance certifications) |
Data Ownership (ultimate responsibility of data for internal legal and compliance teams and corporate and industry standards) |
| Security for Physical Infrastructure (security, app-level security, logical security, and for user/admin controls) | Security for Data (protect from internal and external threats |
IDC further underscores the importance of third-party backups:
“Despite O365 becoming the center of business productivity, a backup and recovery strategy is an afterthought. Fewer than a quarter of O365 users have dedicated third-party data protection for O365. As data footprint in O365 environment proliferates, businesses need to realize that regardless of where the data is, it is the user’s responsibility to protect it. Without a dedicated backup and recovery strategy, enterprises are exposing O365 data to risks such as ransomware, data deletion, and compliance exposures, hindering their resiliency and business continuity.”
Veeam: The #1 third-party backup for Office 365
A Microsoft Partner and the leader in backup solutions, Veeam provides a single, easy-to-use platform for modernizing backup, accelerating hybrid cloud, and securing your Office 365 data.
Installed in more than 133,000 businesses, Veeam Backup for Office 365 eliminates risk and ensures that you have complete control over your Office 365 Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, and Teams data. Back up Office 365 to any location—on-premises or in the cloud. Efficiently protect your data from gaps and security threats, quickly restore Office 365 data, and holistically meet legal and compliance requirements. Advantages include:
- “Set it and forget it” ease – Veeam’s open and simplified platform complements a broad ecosystem of partners, making it easy to integrate Veeam Backup for Office 365 into any environment. Its “set it and forget it” approach enables simple, flexible, and reliable backups so your IT team can focus more on driving business value.
- Budget-friendly subscription model – Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365 uses a simple subscription model that aligns with your Office 365 consumption. It’s available in one- to five-year annual subscriptions which include support for Exchange Online, on-premises Exchange, SharePoint Online, on-premises SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Teams
- Hassle-free licensing – Finally, the Veeam Universal License (VUL) offers a flexible way to protect cloud, virtual, and physical workloads in different locations. One license protects one VM, one server, one cloud VM, one application server, a three-pack of workstations or 250GB of NAS, making licenses easier to manage while avoiding the additional fees that other vendors may charge.
Logicalis: Your Microsoft and Veeam third-party Office 365 expert
As a Microsoft Gold Partner, Logicalis can help you understand what Office 365 can do “out of the box” and determine whether or not it meets your backup needs. And, as one of 33 Veeam Accredited Service Partners of 10,000 in the U.S.—and a recently announced 2020 Veeam Growth Partner of the Year—Logicalis can help ensure that you have the ability to scale backups, integrate with the Microsoft environment, enable a simplified digital experience, and ensure you achieve cost efficiencies.
We’ll start with a customized executive-level workshop to understand your challenges and then, as part of a proof of concept, build a sandbox that allows you to get into Veeam Backup for Office 365 and see how it works in your environment. If you decide to adopt the solution, there’s nothing more for you to do!
Bottom line, consider the advantages that an enterprise-class, “set it and forget it” subscription backup service can add to your Office 365 environment—and how it can enable your team to spend time on innovations that drive business for your organization.
Contact us for more information or to schedule a workshop. We’re happy to help ensure that your Office 365 data is efficiently preserved and protected.
Travis Reboulet is the Veeam Partner Manager for Logicalis, responsible for supporting short- and long-term growth objectives that drive customer value.