While many businesses do not like to think about worst-case scenarios, the reality is that an interconnected world leaves everyone vulnerable to some extent. This is where cybersecurity is essential. The start of any cybersecurity discussion is going to involve the realization that no business is 100 percent safe as long as they use the internet. By starting from this understanding, companies are going to do everything they can to put up their defences.
For businesses that use Office 365, this is no different. One of the top priorities has to be cybersecurity. This is where Office 365 backups come into play. There are a few points that everyone should keep in mind while they are using Office 365.
The Responsibility Rests with the User
First, those who use Office 365 need to remember that they are solely responsible for taking care of their backups. No responsibility sits with Microsoft. Too often, companies assume that by using Office 365, Microsoft is going to take care of the backup process. This is not the case.
Of course, by using SaaS through Microsoft, this corporation is going to handle a few tasks. For example, Microsoft is going to handle all of the maintenance it takes to keep the various services on Office 365 up and running. This does not include backups. Any data that people put on Office 365 needs to be protected. Any replicas that Microsoft creates are its property, not that of the user. To make copies to be used as backups, a robust backup and recovery strategy is required.
The Cost of Data Loss
Many companies neglect to create backups simply because they do not realize just how costly this can be. Remember that even small data breaches can cost companies millions of dollars.
Losing data can cause businesses to grind to a halt. The actual cost of data loss includes the cost of any downtime. For example, even a single hour of downtime can cost a company hundreds of thousands of dollars. Given that many situations involving downtime last longer than an hour, it is easy to see how this adds up to millions of dollars quickly.
Furthermore, companies also need to remember the hit their reputation is going to take. It could be hard to win back the loyalty of customers after a situation like this. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent these situations from happening.
Closing Backup Gaps
There are bad actors out there who seek to leverage cyberattacks to hurt individuals and businesses. Just like any software that uses the cloud, Office 365 has its backup gaps as well. Therefore, users need to take steps to close them.
This is the goal of retention policies. The purpose of any retention policy is to close these gaps. Those who meet compliance requirements when it comes to data privacy, retention, and data protection need to make sure they are creating adequate backups as well.
Even in the era of cloud computing, there is still a role for the on-premise server. This is a commonly forgotten data source when it comes to Office 365. Even though companies can save a lot of time by forgoing much of this hardware, it may still be a good idea to keep enough on-premise hardware to serve as an extra backup for the data that ends up on the cloud.
Trust the Trained IT Professionals with Secur01
At Secur01, we place the needs of our clients first. We know that many companies are still learning about the cloud and its benefits. That is why we assist our clients in shifting to technological solutions that are right for them. We also provide our clients with the most vigorous cybersecurity measures on the market today to protect their data from harm. If you would like to learn more about how we can help your business with all of this and more, please give us a call today. We would be honoured to show you why we are one of the fastest-growing firms in the industry.
