Most people believe that their data is automatically backed up to the cloud because they are using cloud services. Well, every cloud service provider has a data backup and recovery plan, but in most cases, such native backups cannot cover you efficiently, especially if the data loss scenarios happened when nobody expected it.
Every organization needs to make plans for its Microsoft 365 backup schedules. Interestingly, the backup can be automated and made to run multiple times per day when you integrate a third-party backup solution. This article details some important tips on backing up and recovering Microsoft 365 data.
Essential Data Backup and Recovery Tips for Microsoft 365 Users
Inarguably, Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is an ideal workspace suite for businesses. It provides a handful number of important apps that simplify workflows, improve productivity, and facilitate speedy collaboration between team members.
As a business, there are many reasons to pick Microsoft 365. But while you’re doing that, you should make plans for backup and recovery to be on the safe side when sudden disasters occur. Here is some useful information to help you step up data protection for Office 365.
1. Don’t Rely on Microsoft’s Backup
Of course, Microsoft backs up the data you share across its Office 365 apps, and this backup is made available to you when you call for it. But the backup Microsoft does is not enough – it doesn’t run concurrently – let’s say daily or hourly – it’s a 12-hour backup, which means Microsoft backs up your daily every 12 hours (two times per day).
Before this excites you, the backup is a “full” backup, which means if it is restored, every current data you have will be overwritten with the old one in the backup file. This won’t help in situations where you need to restore just a single or a few files/folders that got missing. You can only benefit from this backup if your database got attacked by ransomware or some virus that affected many files.
Furthermore, Microsoft offers a two-stage recycle bin feature to allow its Office 365 users still have access to deleted files for up to 93 days. Deleted Office 365 data is stored in OneDrive or SharePoint; deleted email mailboxes can be recovered within a 30-day period, while individual emails have a 14-day period for them to be recovered from the trash bin.
2. Extend the Data Retention Period to 93 Days
You can increase the validity period at which files get automatically deleted from your One Drive and SharePoint. By default, the validity period is 14 – 30 days, but you can extend it further to up to 93 days, which is more than three months. This means that deleted files and data would remain in the “Trash” folder for up to three months and three days.
93 days is the maximum time you can choose. Also, it is important to note that files and data in the Recycle Bin folder get automatically deleted when the trash storage quota exceeds 50% for SharePoint and 10% for OneDrive. So, even if you extend the retention period, this storage quota rule still applies.
3. Third-Party Backup Tools Offer Better Configurations
While you may want to use Microsoft’s native backup and restore features, for as low as $9/month, you can get a third-party Microsoft 365 backup solution that would offer you more flexibility and features. You can run hourly backups and guarantee rapid restores using a third-party solution.
Third-party apps like SpinOne offer much more acceptable Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) than Microsoft’s native backup and restore policies. This way, your company can easily bounce back from a disaster or primary storage crash issues with almost zero downtime and near-zero data loss.
4. OneDrive Only Syncs Your Files
Many Microsoft 365 users think that OneDrive backs up their data to the cloud; it actually doesn’t. OneDrive synchronizes your data over the cloud, so you can access the files and data on any device where your OneDrive account is logged in. If a file is deleted from your OneDrive on another device, the file is deleted on every other device where the OneDrive account is logged in.
So, don’t be confident that OneDrive backs up your data and fail to make backups externally. Cloud-syncing is not the same as cloud backup – you should get a Microsoft 365 backup solution that actually backs your data to the cloud and grants you easy access to retrieve the data whenever you need it.
What More?
Microsoft Office 365 backup and recovery policy is good but not as flexible as most companies would want. Hence, these companies resort to external Microsoft 365 backup solutions that allow as much flexibility and customization as they need to satisfy day-to-day data protection needs. These essential tips should help you get the most out of the data you and your team *or employees) share on Office 365.