Should you backup Office 365? Here's 6 reasons why you should

Office 365 is one of the leading business tools you can exploit to advance your business. However, this tool is not flawless thus, necessitating Office 365 backup solutions. But what could prompt you to turn to external solutions for backing up your valuable information on this platform? Below are our top reasons for backing up your data.

Accidental Deletions

Accidents happen everywhere, and have serious repercussions that can cripple your business operations. Just like all other systems, Office 365 has recycle bins where all deleted items rest before disappearing forever. When an admin deletes vital information accidentally or a rogue employee does it maliciously, you might find it in there. However, this is possible only if you find it within a limited time frame. Otherwise, you might lose everything.

Hackers and Ransomware

Hackers are on the loose and are hell-bent on sabotaging your business should they find an opportunity. They target all computer systems, including Office 365. Unfortunately, this system has its inherent vulnerabilities hackers can exploit. Moreover, well-meaning users within your business can accidentally corrupt their information with malware. When this happens, it’s complicated to recover the details because malware corrupts large amounts of files. Consequently, you will spend a long time in your recycle bin trying to locate and restore individual files. So, you need to back up your data to avoid such headaches.

Insider Threats

Insider threats are another reason to back up your Office 365 data. The reason is that some employees could delete information maliciously. For example, if you want to terminate an employee, some of them could delete or steal (to share) critical information in the system before exiting the company.

Moreover, untrained and careless employees can accidentally leak usernames and access codes to harmful websites they assumed were safe. This way, your data could be at risk. Don’t forget that some rogue workers can delete a file or email that incriminates them. Some of them do this to stop legal or compliance departments from catching them.

Legal and Compliance Requirements

Legal and compliance requirements are another reason to back up your data. You need to maintain sensitive data necessary for the above requirements. However, the lack of backup could easily cause their loss. Microsoft’s safety provisions are not sufficient to guarantee total retention to use in times of need. If your company needs to retrieve information to help in a legal suit and the data is lost, you could land in a legal ditch. Why? If you deleted a user or their account accidentally, you could lose their details as well. Consequently, you might end up paying fines and other penalties for failing to comply.

Insufficient Daily Backups

Also, you have to back up your data because Microsoft’s daily backups are insufficient. To exemplify, let’s assume you faced a ransomware onslaught at 3 PM today. If you were to recover anything, then you can only restore what the system backed up to 3:01 PM the previous day. Therefore, you could lose all the data in between the two timeframes. To save yourself all this trouble, you have to keep backing your data several times daily. This way, you might only lose info relating to work done within a few hours instead of a whole working day.

Crippling Inactive User Costs

Microsoft’s Office 365 requires a license to access information. Consequently, you can deactivate an employee’s account and restrict their access to your business’s data. This provision sounds excellent from the surface. However, we have a deeper problem with it that could compromise your data safety. The problems arise when you delete the former employee’s account because you would also lose all the company info they held. Additionally, you might incur unnecessary financial costs trying to pay for the licenses of sacked workers. However, if you use a third-party backup solution provider, you could safely recover sensitive data from dormant users before deleting it permanently.

Here’s how using external solutions to back your Office 365 data can save you avoidable trouble. Establish the Microsoft Office 365 backup today to rest assured that your data is intact in the era of cyberthreats.