Contents
Introduction
Optimizing the protection of data on Microsoft 365 applications is a priority for IT teams in 2021. End-user functionality and availability with regulatory and audit compliance can be a complex balance to strike.
In order to achieve this complex balance, it is important to understand the differences between Microsoft 365 and its alternative, Office 2021. Microsoft 365, being a cloud-based subscription service, offers continuous updates and improvements in data protection features. On the other hand, Office 2021 is a standalone product that requires a one-time purchase and may not offer the same level of flexibility in terms of security upgrades. By carefully evaluating the specific needs and requirements of the organization, IT teams can make informed decisions about which product will best serve their data protection objectives.
This article will look at the data protection functionality in-built in Microsoft Office 365 and the risks associated with failing to comply with data privacy laws. It will also look at ways IT can efficiently optimize data protection functionality and ensure that critical business data can be located and restored anytime.
Data protection functionality in Microsoft Office 365
Many businesses already using Microsoft Exchange Online are also embracing tools in the Office 365 suite, including OneDrive, Teams, and SharePoint. This means that most business data those companies hold is embedded within their Microsoft environment.
According to IDC, many organizations still take a passive approach to data protection. For those companies, backup and recovery are too much of an afterthought to be an effective strategy. IDC also found that only 25% of Office 365 users are running a data protection approach fit for modern purposes.
Failure to comply with data protection laws
Relying on free or default data retention settings in the Office 365 suite should not be confused with a holistic and effective data protection strategy.
By leaving themselves exposed without data backed up and recoverable instantly, the risk of ransomware and other malware attacks is heightened. This is because the user will lack the ability to go back to a point in time before the ransomware breach occurred and restore data held by the attackers.
Having an effective data protection strategy also guards against non-malicious threats to an organization’s data. Accidental deletion or lost devices present an equally difficult situation for IT teams without the right provision in place.
Optimizing data protection functionality in Microsoft Office 365
To optimize the protection of business and customer data in Microsoft Office 365, IT teams need to ensure that the data is backed up to be restored almost instantly if needed.
NAKIVO Backup & Replication for Microsoft Office 365 provides reliable and scalable protection for critical business data. In the event of a cyber attack or non-malicious incident, it enables emails, files, and folders to be restored almost instantly. This restore can occur to their source, or in the event of a lost laptop, to another specified location.
Backing up Microsoft Office 365 data with NAKIVO has the following advantages:
- Small, frequent backups: Capture only incremental data during each backup. This ensures optimized storage costs and maximum network performance for your end-users.
- Rapid recovery: NAKIVO promises almost instant recovery of Exchange email folders and files to OneDrive, SharePoint, and so on. This ensures user productivity is not impacted even in malware attacks, accidentally deleted data, etc.
- Advanced search capabilities ensure that auditors and compliance regulations can be rapidly satisfied. This saves time for IT departments and means that regulations with time-stamped deadlines can be met without risk.
- Scale and agility: Organizations can grow with Nakivo to add more users and complexity of backup requirements. All end-users and data can be covered in a single instance of NAKIVO.
The solution also enables rules to be created to wrap in the protection of different environments and automate recovery processes. Workflows can be created in line with data protection policies and recovery objectives. Click here to learn more about different functionalities in Microsoft Office 365.
Cost-effective and simple
Optimizing your Microsoft 365 data protection with NAKIVO is also commercially attractive. With flexible pricing options tailored to suit all business environments, NAKIVO Backup & Replication for Microsoft Office 365 is priced based on the number of Microsoft 365 users in an organization.
This billing model avoids buying unnecessary licenses. Subscriptions can be based on 1-4 year plans, and full functionality 15-day trials are available to try before you buy.
NAKIVO also enables customers to use on-premise hardware, tape or disk, or the AWS or Azure clouds for simplicity and flexibility. This enables customers to store backed-up data on their existing preferred infrastructure to reduce IT administration time and costs of new platforms.