We know the majority of organisations in every sector rely on the applications and solutions within the Office 365 suite across every facet of their business. While Office 365 is certainly indispensable, it isn’t an entirely foolproof solution when it comes to data governance and security.

What many business leaders don’t realise until it's too late is that Microsoft only offers basic backup and recovery of Office 365 data. Here's how easy it is to suffer data loss across your Office 365 suite:

1. Retention policy gaps

Like every element of data governance, having clear outlines about what data a business keeps and how long for can be difficult to update and maintain as your technology environment evolves. Office 365 only offers limited retention policies for situational data loss. This falls short of the types of restoration most organisations need for their mailbox items. By having a reliable backup solution, retention policy gaps can be eliminated.

2. Accidental user deletion

Unfortunately, human error is one of the most common factors in data loss, particularly when it comes to Office 365. The most common of these errors is the accidental deletion of user data. When these deletions occur, they are replicated across every part of the network including SharePoint and OneDrive. Once Office 365 has deleted the data from all storage locations forever, or it’s fallen out of the retention period, you will seriously struggle to recover any data at all.

3. External cyber attacks

Across Australia during 2020, ransomware and phishing attacks grew exponentially with many high-profile companies suffering catastrophic damage to their reputation. In the event of a serious ransomware or malware attack, Exchange Online has only limited backup and recovery functions, which is why a separate backup copy of your data is the only way to quickly recover in the event of an attack.

4. Insider threats

Another common misnomer is that security threats are predominantly from external sources, when, in fact, the opposite is true. Whether malicious or merely careless, insider access to organisational data is a major risk. Microsoft has no way of identifying the difference between current employees or a terminated employee attempting to delete critical data. Other employees may accidentally leak credentials and passwords by downloading malware or accessing malicious links.

5. Data governance and compliance

Once again, in the complex world of data governance, there are still too many assumptions being made about the capability of retrieving emails during compliance and legal processes. We see organisations realising too late that their Microsoft solution isn’t robust enough to keep them out of trouble. To avoid large fines and penalties, and reputational damage of legal disputes, don’t take chances with Microsoft backup and recovery.

6. Hybrid-cloud migration

As hybrid cloud migrations become the norm in infrastructure models, the migration between on-premises exchange and Office 365 Exchange Online can create additional management challenges of exactly where data is being stored. The right backup and recovery solutions should allow you to install your data wherever you like, whether in public and private clouds or on-premises.

As a gold Microsoft partner, Datacom has a strong pedigree with Office 365. With broad capability across on-premises, private, and public cloud, tied with our strong local presence, Backup for Office 365 provides ongoing availability and compliance. Through this managed solution, supported by Veeam, we can give you peace of mind that your sensitive data is protected. Contact us today to determine if Datacom Backup for Office 365 is the right fit for your business.

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