Microsoft 365 has become one of the most widely recognized and used cloud-based productivity suites in the world. With widespread adoption across various industries and businesses of all sizes, Microsoft 365 — and the critical data it contains — fills an essential role to the daily operations of thousands of organizations.
With the rampant evolution of cybercrime, deciding how to protect data has become one of the most important decisions an organization can make. Sadly, Microsoft 365 is not immune to data loss or corruption — and Microsoft does not provide a native built-in backup solution to prevent it.
Many choose to utilize traditional or software-only backup solutions, meaning the entire backup process is self-managed. However, ongoing management, on-hand expertise, and infrastructure requirements can make this route difficult to operate, time-consuming, and costly to maintain.
So, let’s talk about the alternative: utilizing a backup service to protect your Microsoft 365 data. This choice, with 88% of enterprises either “very likely” or “almost certain” to make the shift to BaaS, is proving to be a smart, effective, and cost-efficient alternative to traditional backup.
To spread the word, we’ve created an e-book, “8 Benefits of a Backup Service for Microsoft 365,” which aims to educate readers on the many advantages of using a dedicated backup service for their Microsoft 365 environments. If you’re already interested, you can click the link above to read the full text now. If not, let’s touch on the first few benefits of adopting a Microsoft 365 backup service and paint a clearer picture of why this could be a prudent decision for your organization, regardless of its size or industry.
1. Simple Data Protection
Setting up a robust self-managed backup solution is hard. It requires an intense level of manual labor and expertise to evolve and maintain. Whether it’s configuration upkeep, constant monitoring, software updates, or so much else, IT teams handle the management, maintenance, security measures, and everything else within these systems. They require continual optimization, checks, patches, and updates. Even still, less than 25% of organizations fully recovering their Microsoft 365 data during a loss incident.
So, the question is simple. Why commit to so much when a backup service can handle it for you?
A dedicated backup service for Microsoft 365 is designed for simplicity. By automating and streamlining data protection tasks, a backup service integrates seamlessly with your Microsoft 365 environment, offering a user-friendly interface that requires minimal administrative effort. With the benefit of automated backups and regular updates, human error is almost entirely eliminated, and IT teams are freed to focus on other critical tasks.
Meanwhile, your backup vendor’s experts manage these complexities for you. Things like maintenance, scalability, security, and expertise are all handled by people who specialize in this field. At the same time, this information is communicated through an intuitive web-based interface that integrates seamlessly with your environment. That means your IT team can easily access backup customization, retention policies, and monitoring and analytics should they wish — all with minimal training.
2. Quick & Easy Setup
Setting up a traditional backup solution involves a series of intricate steps, including hardware procurement, software installation, configuring backup schedules, continual upkeep, and more. These processes are time-consuming and resource-intensive on their own, requiring specialized knowledge to do properly and contributing to significant upfront investments and downtime during setup. In the end, before your first backup is running, setting up a traditional backup environment means you’ve spent money endured downtime — which both happens to be precisely what you want to avoid.
As a refreshing contrast, a dedicated Microsoft 365 backup service offers a quick and simple setup, eliminating the need for physical hardware and allowing for rapid deployment. Through a single, intuitive interface, users are guided through the setup process. Simply log in, link the backup service to your Microsoft 365 environment, and create your first backup job within minutes.
No need to worry about connecting all the components. In just a few clicks, backups are configured and initiated. Set it, forget it, and move on — it really is that easy.
3. Time & Money Saved
Let’s face it, how much longer can IT departments face budget constraints, shrinking resources, and tight deadlines and still be asked to “do more with less?” Their jobs are not easy. Traditional on-premises servers and storage systems require heavy technical responsibility and costs, leading to significant financial and time investments. They are responsible for hardware, software licenses, and ongoing maintenance. Managing these systems is intense, often requiring a team of dedicated IT personnel for continuous oversight to ensure things are running smoothly.
With a simple, cloud-based backup service for Microsoft 365, a backup vendor handles hardware upkeep, maintenance, and updates of your Microsoft 365 environment. Without sacrificing time, money, or resources, IT teams are allowed to shift focus away from managing complex backup infrastructures to other business-critical functions — so that, finally, they can take a beath of relief.
But let’s take it a step further. Events leading to data loss — be it a cyberattack, ransomware attack, or natural disaster — do not come with a clear price tag. How much money an organization loses during one of these events is almost impossible to know until after the fact. In the end, organizations are faced with the uncertainty of cost when they choose to self-manage their backup solution.
With a backup service, that responsibility is shifted to the backup provider. What’s more, you only pay for what you use, turning those unpredictable expenses into a dependable subscription-based model. Through a cost-over-time model, the possibility of under- or over-investing in backup infrastructure is eliminated. Perhaps most importantly, organizations gain the peace of mind that that they can afford a disaster should it occur.
More Benefits of a Microsoft 365 Backup Service
As it stands, the need for robust protection of critical Microsoft 365 data is more important than ever. Traditional backup solutions, while effective, often come with complexities, significant time investments, and high costs. A dedicated Microsoft 365 backup service simplifies data protection, offering quick and easy setup, substantial time and cost savings, and comprehensive coverage for your business-critical data.
This blog has covered just a few of the many benefits a backup service for Microsoft 365 can offer. Want to learn more? The full e-book is packed with valuable insights and practical advice to help you make the best decision for your organization — so that your business can manage time efficiently, keep costs low, and maintain operations when it matters.
For the full list of benefits and how they can transform your data protection strategy, you can download our e-book 8 Benefits of a Microsoft 365 Backup Service.
