Backup
Microsoft keeps 365 running. Keeping your data recoverable is on you.
Microsoft 365 backup is a separate, independent copy of your Exchange Online mail, OneDrive files, SharePoint sites and Teams data, stored outside Microsoft’s own retention tools. Storcom runs Veeam-based Microsoft 365 backup with retention you set, so you can restore what was deleted, encrypted by ransomware or left behind by a departed employee.
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Practice: Backup and disaster recovery
- Built for
- Organizations on Microsoft 365 that assume deleted mail and files are always recoverable
- What you get
- Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams
- Retention you set, not defaults
- Point-in-time and single-item restores
- Automatic backups, daily or more often
- Delivered from
- Geneva, Illinois, for Chicagoland and customers across the U.S.
Who is responsible for what in Microsoft 365?
Microsoft runs the service. Under its shared responsibility model, your data and its recoverability stay with you.
| Area | Microsoft | Your organization |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure and uptime | Runs the data centers, hardware and software, and replicates data so a hardware failure doesn’t lose it | Nothing beyond your own network and devices |
| Accidental or malicious deletion | Recycle bins and retention features, for limited periods | Getting data back after those windows close or after a purge |
| Ransomware and sync corruption | Some built-in version and restore tools | A clean, independent copy to restore from |
| Departed employees | Keeps a deleted user restorable for 30 days and their OneDrive for a retention period you set (30 days by default), then deletes the data | Keeping the mail and files you still need |
| Legal and compliance retention | Retention and eDiscovery tools you configure | Setting policy, proving it and producing data on request |
What gets backed up
Exchange Online
Mailboxes, archive mailboxes, calendars and contacts, restorable down to a single message.
OneDrive for Business
User files and folders, restorable to a point in time, including from before ransomware encrypted a synced folder.
SharePoint Online
Sites, document libraries and lists, including the files behind Teams channels.
Microsoft Teams
Teams, channels, settings and files, restorable when a team is deleted or changed by mistake.
Do you need Microsoft 365 backup?
If any of these sound familiar, Microsoft’s built-in retention alone probably isn’t enough.
- Someone deleted a folder or mailbox and it was gone before anyone noticed
- You remove licenses when people leave but still need their mail and files
- Ransomware on one laptop could sync encrypted files into OneDrive or SharePoint
- Legal or HR asks for data from months or years ago
- An auditor or cyber insurer asks where your Microsoft 365 backups live
- Nobody has tested restoring a full mailbox or SharePoint site
How it works
Connect
The backup service connects to your Microsoft 365 tenant with an application registration limited to the permissions backup needs.
Set retention
You decide how long backups are kept, based on legal, HR and compliance needs rather than Microsoft’s defaults.
Back up automatically
Backups run at least every 24 hours, or more often if you choose, with data encrypted in flight.
Restore and test
Restore a single email, a file, a full mailbox or a site to its original location or somewhere else, and test restores on a schedule.
Technology we deploy for this
Veeam backup and replication for virtual, physical, cloud and Microsoft 365 workloads, plus Veeam-based cloud backup and DRaaS that Storcom runs for you.
Microsoft
Microsoft Azure infrastructure and Microsoft 365, with Storcom managing Azure resources and backing up Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams.
Sources
- Microsoft Services Agreement (see Service Availability) Microsoft. Accessed .
- Restore a user Microsoft Learn. Accessed .
- OneDrive retention and deletion Microsoft Learn. Accessed .
- Overview of Microsoft 365 Backup Microsoft Learn. Accessed .
Frequently asked questions
Doesn’t Microsoft already back up Microsoft 365?
Microsoft protects the service against its own hardware and data center failures and offers recycle bins and retention features for limited periods. Getting back data that you, a user or an attacker deleted after those windows close is not covered. Under Microsoft’s shared responsibility model, protecting your data is your job. Microsoft also sells a separate, paid Microsoft 365 Backup service, which we can compare with an independent copy.
Can you back up Microsoft Teams?
Yes. Teams keeps its files in SharePoint and OneDrive and its conversations in Exchange, and the backup covers teams, channels, settings and files. You can restore a deleted team or channel, or recover individual files.
What happens to a departed employee’s Microsoft 365 data?
When you delete a user, Microsoft keeps the account restorable for 30 days, and their OneDrive follows a deleted-user retention period you set, 30 days by default. After that the data is permanently deleted. With an independent backup, their mail and files stay recoverable for as long as your retention policy says, without paying for a license just to keep the account alive.
Can we move backups from our current Microsoft 365 backup vendor?
Usually not directly, because each vendor stores Microsoft 365 backups in its own format. The common approach is to start fresh backups with Storcom and keep the old vendor’s backups, or PST exports of what you need, until their retention period ends.
Is Microsoft 365 backup data encrypted?
Yes. Data is encrypted in flight between Microsoft 365 and the backup repository. The repository sits outside your Microsoft 365 tenant, so deleting or encrypting data in Microsoft 365 doesn’t touch the backup copy.
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