SysCloud’s Microsoft 365 Backup Solution

How Does SysCloud Backup for Microsoft 365 Work?

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Backing up Office 365 data is crucial for ensuring data protection beyond the limitations of Microsoft's native tools:

Native retention policies in Office 365 are designed for compliance, not for comprehensive data recovery, leaving gaps in protection. 

A third-party backup solution like SysCloud provides automated, continuous backups for emails, files, and other Office 365 data, ensuring easy and reliable recovery.

Implement SysCloud to safeguard your Office 365 data, providing full protection against accidental deletions, ransomware, and other data loss risks."

Microsoft 365 has become an essential tool for workplace productivity, with over a million organizations relying on its suite of applications to manage everything from emails to collaboration documents. However, with the widespread adoption of MS365 comes an increased risk of data loss. Statistics show that nearly 70% of businesses close within a year of experiencing significant data loss, with the global average cost of a data breach being around $4.45 million. 

Despite its robust infrastructure, Microsoft’s responsibility doesn’t extend to backing up your data. According to their services agreement, the responsibility of ensuring data security falls on the user, with Microsoft advising the use of third-party cloud backup solutions. As highlighted in their Services Agreement (Section 6. b): 
“We strive to keep the Services up and running; however, all online services suffer occasional disruptions and outages, and Microsoft is not liable for any disruption or loss you may suffer as a result. In the event of an outage, you may not be able to retrieve Your Content or Data that you’ve stored. We recommend that you regularly backup Your Content and Data that you store on the Services or store using Third-Party Apps and Services." 

Given this, IT administrators must take proactive steps to back up their organization's MS365 data to avoid any disruptions that could lead to significant business impact. This article explores the critical reasons why admins should prioritize backing up MS365 data. 

Human error is the leading cause of data loss within organizations. Whether it’s accidentally deleting files or intentional sabotage by a disgruntled employee, the consequences can be dire. According to Verizon’s 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report, 68% of data breaches involved a non-malicious human element. For example, an employee might unintentionally delete critical documents on OneDrive while managing storage or removing duplicates. Without a reliable backup solution, these files could be lost permanently. 

In the case of malicious intent, the impact can be even more severe. A comprehensive Microsoft 365 backup solution ensures that multiple versions of files are recoverable, minimizing disruption to operations. 

In January 2024, Microsoft disclosed a significant security breach by Russian state-backed hackers, known as Midnight Blizzard, who compromised the company’s network in November 2023. This breach allowed the hackers to access emails and documents of senior executives and employees in security and legal teams. Although Microsoft stated that customer environments were not affected, the incident underscores the importance of robust security practices, including regular backups of Microsoft 365 data to mitigate the risks of ransomware and other cyberattacks. 

By adding the advanced ransomware recovery feature to your Microsoft 365 backup, SysCloud automatically monitors and scans data being backed up for ransomware.

Microsoft has the provision for downloading and syncing your OneDrive data to a desktop – and vice versa – through a tool called OneDrive Sync Client.

Although you can use this feature to access your Microsoft 365 files and data from anywhere, store and sync them, there are vulnerabilities associated with its usage.

In case your desktop gets affected with malware or virus, the OneDrive Sync Client – if it were configured to sync immediately – could immediately infect your OneDrive files on the cloud, spreading quickly and corrupting your data.

eDiscovery is primarily designed for legal compliance and retention- to identify and retrieve archived organizational data to be used as evidence for legal cases- not for regular backups. 
Even though you can create hold and search for data in the mailboxes and Sites, the eDiscovery tool is meant only for archiving and retrieving business data.   
Moreover, it cannot be used for holding, searching, or retrieving OneDrive data. Without a dedicated backup solution, organizations risk facing data loss and inefficient recovery during critical times. Implementing a comprehensive backup system ensures that all data can be quickly restored, minimizing downtime and safeguarding business continuity. 

When an employee leaves your organization, the IT administrator would ideally back up the Microsoft 365 account data and reuse the license.

Even though you can take a manual backup by using the Sync Client to transfer and save it in a different location, you cannot restore it back into a Microsoft 365 account with the same sharing permissions!

Besides restoring an account data with its sharing permissions, a third-party backup solution can provide cross-user restore – place data into any user’s account, usually the manager’s account for easy retrieval.

One more fact to consider: if that ex-employee is the sole owner of a file, you might lose it forever!

SaaS outage are more common than you think. For example, in July 2024, one of the largest outages in Microsoft's history left millions unable to access key services like Outlook and Teams. This outage, attributed to a DNS configuration error, severely impacted productivity across businesses worldwide. 
Imagine being unable to access any data during the downtime? 
During an outage, access to vital business data stored on Microsoft 365 can be temporarily lost, hindering productivity and potentially leading to missed deadlines or business opportunities. In the case of prolonged or unexpected shutdowns, the data stored in the cloud could be at risk of permanent loss.  
Having a robust backup solution for Microsoft 365 data ensures that businesses have an independent and reliable copy of their data, which can be quickly restored in the event of Google outages which are not uncommon. 

Third-party apps integrated with Microsoft 365 can pose significant security risks. These apps often require extensive permissions to access data, and if compromised, they can serve as a gateway for cybercriminals. A study revealed that 67% of apps connected to Microsoft 365 have high-risk permissions, potentially leading to data breaches or unauthorized access to sensitive information. Regular backups of Microsoft 365 data are essential to mitigate these risks and ensure business continuity. 

Microsoft 365's flexibility allows users to access their accounts across multiple devices, which enhances productivity but also introduces security risks. If a device is lost or stolen, unauthorized individuals could gain access to sensitive business data. According to Forrester Research's 2023 State of Data Security report, lost or stolen devices contribute to 17% of data breach incidents. Without a proper backup solution for Microsoft 365, any data deletion from these compromised devices could result in permanent data loss, putting your organization at significant risk. 

In a collaborative environment like Microsoft 365, multiple users often work on shared documents and files. However, this convenience comes with the risk of accidental overwriting or deletion of important data by employees. For example, a user might inadvertently overwrite a crucial report or delete a shared document, causing significant disruption to ongoing projects. Without a proper backup solution, recovering the original version or deleted files can be challenging, leading to potential data loss and decreased productivity. A reliable backup system ensures that previous versions of documents can be easily restored, safeguarding your organization against such accidental mishaps. 

There are several options in Microsoft Outlook to back up emails: email forwarding, email export, and auto-archiving using IMAP settings. Even though you can use any of these features to back up your emails, you have to go through the tedious task of setting it up – which might include a lot of steps – and even manually enabling the backup every single day if you are using the export option.

In addition to being complex, it is also not a reliable option as there are various other issues like outages and data restore complications.

Given the risks of data loss from accidental overwrites, deletions, and other scenarios mentioned, relying solely on native Microsoft 365 retention tools may not be enough. A third-party backup solution like SysCloud provides comprehensive protection by securely backing up all essential Microsoft 365 apps, including Outlook, OneDrive, and SharePoint. SysCloud leverages Amazon Web Services (AWS) for fully automated cloud-to-cloud backups, ensuring that administrators can easily recover data, protect against ransomware, and maintain compliance. 

Learn more about SysCloud backup for Microsoft 365. "

Watch this video to learn how SysCloud’s Microsoft 365 Backup works.

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10 Critical Reasons to Backup Microsoft 365 Data Immediately!

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You think your OneDrive &amp; Outlook data is safe in the cloud? Think again! Data loss can easily snap a business. Create your Office 365 Backup today!

An in-depth article on the different reasons why it is critical to back up Microsoft 365 data.

10 Critical Reasons to Backup Microsoft 365 Data Immediately!

Reasons to backup Office 365

Accidental/intentional deletion of data by users

Ransomware attacks

Vulnerabilities of OneDrive sync app

Limitations of eDiscovery

Limited storage and email retention

SaaS outages and shutdown

Threats from third-party apps

Lost or stolen devices

Employee overwriting data

Outlook native features

SysCloud backup for Microsoft 365

How does SysCloud backup for Microsoft 365 work?