Tip #12: Microsoft 365 Is Not a Backup

Microsoft’s job is to keep your email and files accessible. Your job, or your IT provider’s job, is to make sure that data is backed up. Those are two different responsibilities.

What to do:

• Ask your IT provider directly: “Do we have a third-party backup for our Microsoft 365 environment?” A simple yes or no is a useful starting point.
• If the answer is no, get one. Solutions like Datto, Veeam, or similar tools can back up email, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams data daily at a reasonable cost.
• Confirm the backup covers all key Microsoft 365 data, including email, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams chat/files.

Common mistake: “We’re in the cloud, so it’s backed up” is one of the most common false assumptions in small business IT. Microsoft keeps the service available, but that does not mean your business has a separate, long-term backup of its own data. If an employee accidentally deletes a shared folder, ransomware encrypts SharePoint, or a disgruntled employee purges their mailbox on the way out, Microsoft’s native recovery tools may only help within limited windows and under specific conditions.

Cloud availability is not the same thing as data backup. Microsoft keeps the platform running; a third-party backup keeps your data recoverable.

A dedicated Microsoft 365 backup gives your organization an independent copy of email, files, and collaboration data that can be retained for as long as your business requires.

How to know it’s done:

• You have an active third-party backup solution covering your Microsoft 365 tenant
• It runs daily and your IT provider receives success and failure notifications