Everything you need to know about Office 365 backup

Looking for a new way to communicate in the company, share files, and get more done? It might be time to consider using Office 365 – but don’t forget backup services.

Office 365 started a trend for businesses to switch over to this cloud-based service offered by Microsoft.

It allows for more options for businesses to collaborate and work using the accessibility it offers. Currently, there are more than 1.5 million businesses that use Office 36 worldwide.

There are some things to understand about Office 365 to help you with your business. Especially when it comes to how files get shared and backed up. To know what you need for your Office 365 backup, here are the details that you need to know about the service itself.

1. What is Office 365?

Office 365 is Microsoft’s collaboration suite offered as software-as-a-service (SaaS). It offers a variety of cloud-based applications that you can access anywhere. It covers the Office Suite programs like Word, Excel, PowerPoint as well as other cloud-based services like SharePoint Online and Teams.

It aims to be accessible to many and offers a lot of features for use every day, especially for business use. It makes collaboration easy while reducing or eliminating the pains for IT administrators.

2. How Does It Work?

Office 365 works by allowing users who have Microsoft Office to access its cloud-based services through a subscription.

One of these services is Microsoft Exchange Online. Businesses can receive email through Outlook with a higher capacity. Microsoft maintains the servers, from patch installations to spam protection.

SharePoint Online allows the sharing of files, presentations, video, and audio, creating a collaboration platform. This is perfect for working within your teams. It allows an easier tracking of files and workflows.

There is also the use of web versions of the Office programs like Word. This allows for work on the go, letting you access the Office applications anywhere.

3. How Much Does It Cost?

Subscriptions for Office 365 come in packages and suites ranging from personal and home use to business from small businesses to large enterprises. Depending on the specific applications and level of service, subscriptions to Microsoft 365 Business range from $6 to $22 per user per month.

The plans include Office applications like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Outlook, and OneNote. It also includes services like Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive for Business.

It also comes with additional features offered on their Office 365 Premium Subscription plan, including added data security features.

4. How Does Subscription Work?

The subscription works on a monthly basis. The collection process comes in monthly or annual intervals, depending on the subscription that you picked.

The charge for the subscription will appear on your credit card. If you’re not sure about the service, consider starting with the one-month free trial Microsoft offers. You can choose to cancel before the end of 30 days and your card won’t get billed.

5. Features of Office 365

The features that you can get from Office 365 is best summed up in these words:

It’s Microsoft Office with cloud services included.

Which means, you get to have the applications for Microsoft Office with more features.

The Office Suite applications are accessible offline if you managed to install them. Letting you use them without the need of an internet connection. Once you head online, you gain access to cloud storage for files and file sharing for team-based work.

SharePoint and Exchange are accessible online. This allows for easier collaboration using these platforms.

SharePoint works as a means to set up workflows, calendar of activities, projects, and tasks. These allow other personnel in the company to access them making organizing easier.

Exchange provides an intelligent inbox with a large space mailbox capacity. It also comes with a calendar system that captures events from emails. This system works in tandem with Outlook.

Another advantage is having the use of OneDrive for other files that you can store in. Acting as an extra copy of the files on your laptop.

Office 365 also offers some powerful data security features. when you back up your files into their database.

6. Limits of Office 365

Integrated into various workplaces and organizations, Office 365 shows its edge. However, it also comes with some disadvantages.

One is the maximum file size. The collaboration and file sharing services offered by Office 365 have a max file size limit of 250 GB. While this is not an issue for many businesses, there are others who tend to collaborate on larger file sizes. Consider this aspect if you are the type that makes use of larger files.

There are also risks of content duplication. Which occurs if everyone in the company is unsure of where to save their files in Office 365. This may cause problems and frustrations when it comes to synchronizing files.

Internet access is another factor. While it is an advantage, it can also be a setback at times as many of Office 365’s functions are only accessible with a stable connection. Another issue to keep in mind is compatibility with the devices that you have. Office 365 is supported on Windows 10 or later.

The biggest limit is that Microsoft offers no true backup and recovery for Office 365.

Office 365 does provide a Recycle Bin, just like your desktop. Just like your desktop, Office 365’s Recycle Bin has a number of limits that make it unreliable as a backup solution:

·      It only preserves data for a limited time.

·      Anything deleted from the Recycle Bin is lost forever.

·      There is no practical way to perform a bulk recovery of files from the Recycle Bin, so retrieving a large number of files is tedious at best and impossible at worst.

Office 365 does store your data on a minimum of 3 different synchronized copies, but these copies are often misunderstood. The replicas don’t exist to provide extra protection for your data – they exist to help Microsoft maintain the availability of the service. A deletion or corruption of any of your data is immediately synced to all replicas.

In the event you do lose data – whether due to human error, a cyberattack, or failure of the applications themselves – Microsoft takes no responsibility whatsoever for the recovery of your data, leaving you on your own. Your organization has likely agreed that Microsoft has no liability at all in the event of data loss in the terms and conditions you’ve agreed to.

Secure Your Office 365 Backup Today!

Many workplaces have made the switch to Microsoft Office 365, but many of them aren’t as aware of the data backup concerns as they should be. Many have never heard of Microsoft’s shared responsibility model, under which customers bear the sole responsibility for their own data.

Are you using or considering using Office 365 for your organization?

Visit us today! We offer data protection solutions, including those for Office 365. To know more on how we can assist you, feel free to contact us now to get started or schedule a demo.