Why backup data in the Cloud?

Common misunderstanding with Microsoft 365

Who is responsible for the data in the Microsoft Cloud? Microsoft 365’s applications suite enables sharing and collaboration between users. While uptime and access are the responsibility of the cloud provider (in this case Microsoft), protecting and recovering the data is an organisational responsibility (you the user).

DID YOU KNOW?

• Microsoft maintains the service of Microsoft 365, but users and businesses are responsible for data protection and recovery.
• Microsoft 365 retains deleted items in a temporary recycle bin (30 days only), before it is permanently deleted.
• OneDrive and SharePoint have up to 30 days of versioning, if the feature is enabled.
• Dropbox versioning ranges from 30 to 120 days maximum.

Microsoft is the cloud provider – they are responsible for the cloud uptime and access of the platform. The owner of the data (which is the tenant) is responsible for securing and backing up their data.

Microsoft 365 data retention

Microsoft 365 Data Handling Standard Policy states how long a user’s data is retained once it is deleted.

How can data loss occur?

• Accidental deletion of data
• System faults or prolonged outages
• Deactivation of Accounts with staff leaving the business
• Administrative errors
• Internal or Malicious deletion
• Security breaches – hacking, virus, malware or ransomware

There are generally two instances of customer data deletion:

Active Deletion:

• The tenant with an active subscription and an administrator or a user deletes the data. Or a user is deleted by an administrator

Passive Deletion:

• The tenant subscription period expires.

Customer data includes all the content created or provided by users or IT administrators. This may include text, image files, sound, video, and the software deployed and stored in the data centre when using Microsoft 365 services. Microsoft will retain data that has been actively deleted for 30 days at most. Once the tenant’s subscription ends in a passive deletion, the data is only retained for a maximum of 180 days. Once the maximum retention period for any data has lapsed, the data is unrecoverable.

Data retention and recovery

For some organisations or industries, data may need to be retained for specific periods of time due to compliance regulation or legislation.

Take action now

We have been called in to help a number of businesses after the data has been lost. It’s heart breaking when they realise a misunderstanding has caused the business pain – often impacting financially.

The solution

Speak with Tech Precision and utilize a purposed built third-party backup service. Ensure your data is retained and can be quickly restored if required. The backed-up data remains in a data centre outside of Microsoft. By storing data in a separate, independent environment, businesses can be confident that the data is safe and accessible, even during Microsoft service downtime.

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