Q: What is backup exactly?

A backup is a copy of your data that's taken at regular intervals during the day and then kept for a set period of time that you decide (indefinitely if needed).  It's stored somewhere completely separate to protect it.  If you ever need to retrieve data, you can use the backup service to restore a single item or everything from an earlier point in time.

Q:  Doesn't Microsoft365 back up our data?

The answer is yes, but with limitations.  Microsoft has a shared responsibility model where Microsoft owns the infrastructure and protects it from failure and other threats, but you own your data, and hence you are responsible for its safety. Certainly, out of the box M365 provides an excellent safety net for the most common situations where you might need backup.  Accidental deletion and overwriting documents is well catered for, and it is possible to restore entire document libraries and SharePoint sites. It's also possible to set retention policies to keep data, including deleted data, for however long you want.  However these cannot be considered true backup as they only reflect what exists in the system. 

Q:  Why should I back up our data?

Your client files and intellectual property are priceless and in most cases cannot be replaced. While cybercrime receives a lot of attention as a good reason to back up your data, the common scenarios we tend to see are due to human error and factors outside of your Microsoft service.

Q:  How do I back up our data?

We have sourced cloud backup service that will bring you the best value for money service.  Once you sign up we will set up the backup service for you.  It's a set and forget technology so there's nothing to do until you need it.  Community IT will support you to search and restore items from backup as part of a managed service package.

Q: What will be backed up?

• Email and OneDrive is backed up for users selected for protection

• SharePoint sites, Teams, Groups and Shared Mailbox data are backed up automatically (so documents and messages from non-backed up users, including guests, are included)

Q: How much will it cost?

Backup is charged at A$4 per user per month. Our recommendation is to back up staff accounts only, as SharePoint and shared mailbox data is automatically included. Depending on your risk appetite and budget, backing up volunteers is a valid option, but refer to the article Backup in Microsoft 365 (communityit.org.au) to consider if the default M365 service is sufficient.

Q: Do we need to pay extra for backup storage?

Each license grants 35GB of backup storage that goes into a pool. We will review your environment and your current storage use to make sure you have sufficient backup storage allocated at the time of installation. Over time your back up storage needs will increase and you may reach your quota. This can be managed by either purchasing more storage or unprotecting non-essential workloads.

Q: What happens to inactive/departed user data?

When a licensed user leaves the organisation you will need to choose whether to delete their M365 account or simply deactivate it. In both cases their backed up data will be retained indefinitely. If you delete their M365 account, then their backups are archived automatically. If you deactivate their account, then you will need to manually stop the backup continuing (to avoid continuing being charged).

Q: Where is our backup information stored?

All backup information is stored securely in Australian data centres. All backups are encrypted with industry leading encryption technologies, and all data transfers are encrypted and secure while "in flight".