Forum Discussion
Back-up tools for Office 365
Right, but where do you back stuff up to and how can it be recovered?
Not to put too fine a point on this topic, I continue to search for the "perfect" (or at least, near-perfect) backup tool for Office 365 tenants. Right now, I can find:
- Tools that deal with the two basic Office 365 workloads - Exchange Online and SharePoint Online
- Tools that backup to on-premises systems or cloud datacenters
- Tools that can handle some aspect of the integrated Office 365 apps, but not all
I think that the industry as a whole is still limited by the on-premises roots of the majority of backup tools. These tools work well in an on-premises environment but struggle in the cloud when they have to deal with issues such as:
- Greater data volumes (like Exchange Online 100 GB mailboxes)
- New ways of storing data (like Exchange expandable archives)
- New applications (like Teams, Planner, and Groups)
- New infrastructure challenges (like moving masses of backup data across the internet)
- New requirements (like data soverignity and GDPR)
- New technical challenges (like handling the wider use of encryption technologies inside Office 365 because IRM is much easier to deploy and use in the cloud, or the lack of a suitable backup API for most of the Office 365 data sources)
No backup vendor that I have spoken with in the last few years has good answers to these questions. Some, like AvePoint, have made a start to move from their on-premises roots to support the new applications. Most remain focused on the basic workloads and ignore the new challenges. Hence the reason why I challenge any backup vendor who posts here to proclaim the wonders of their tool. All have nice marketing material, few have good answers to the questions that I pose.
Tony, do you have enough evidence from you customers that a complex backup/restore solution for Office 365 applications (such as Groups, Teams, Planner, StaffHub) is really needed?
Or it is pure theoretical exercise in capabilities of various commercial backup solutions?
Thank you
Oleg
Hey Oleg Melnikov,
check out this free ebook for cloud backup. There you can find further use cases. Your mentioned cases are the top 2, so great Job! :-)
https://www.avepoint.com/unlimited-cloud-backup-ebook/
Also, there are sill technical glitches (even I recently had with Office 365) or rogue Administrator, which can also require a backup solution, just to name two further examples. But again, these are just examples and every company should evaluate themselve, if this is really something, which is happening in this company (and how often) and if they want to secure these use cases with a dedicated backup solution.
You're right that there is no viable target for something like Teams right now, but that's because Microsoft doesn't have an API to allow developers build something like a Teams to Slack (or another app) tool. It's an obvious and glaring gap at the moment that I have been pretty strong about when I have had the chance to talk to Microsoft on the topic.
- In case of components (mailbox, calendar, files) - there is a practical possibility to execute your rights for your data - there are plenty of tools that allow you to pick up your data and leave or move it to another service provider.
In case of more complex applications (Groups, Teams, Planner, StaffHub) - even if you will be able to pick up your data and leave Microsoft - where will you move it? There is no mapping or migration tool that will move your Teams for example to an alternative service provider’s application.
So the only practical scenarios where I can see one will need a full backup and restore capabilities for complex applications are:
1. User error (accidentally deleted or modified data in unreversable way);
2. Ransomware (shared data is encrypted due to attack on a computer of one of the users).
Any other real use cases? "a tenant's data is theirs" means the tenant owns the data, not Microsoft. It is just one way of saying this in English.
And re. the quote... without the ability to backup (or extract) the data from apps like Teams, it will be impossible for a tenant to leave Office 365...
Hey Tony and Oleg Melnikov,
since more an more companies are using Groups and Teams, this becomes more and more important for an cloud backup solution. Hence, with Exchange only you don't have a comprehensive solution. I haven't heard the requirement for Planner, StuffHub or Project Online backup not that often - so far - but this can change in the future.
TonyRedmond, I have to disagree with you point 3. Microsoft clearly states, it does NOT own your data. Microsoft is only data processor, but not data owner. This is also very important to know in regards to GDPR. However, this also makes clear, why customers need additional backup solutions, because Microsoft is not responsible for that. Please see the Office 365 Trust center if you've doubts:
https://products.office.com/en-us/business/office-365-trust-center-welcome
"With Office 365, it’s your data. You own it. You control it. And it is yours to take with you if you decide to leave the service."I think there are three aspects to consider here.
First, Office 365 is a more complex environment and I don't think ISVs who market backup products for Office 365 can claim that their products handle Office 365 when they really only handle a defined subset, such as Exchange Online or SharePoint Online.
Second, there is a trend inside Office 365 to move some work to new apps (for example, from email to Teams). The new apps are relatively recent, but don't they deserve as much attention as the traditional apps, especially in an era when compliance and data governance has become more important.
Third, Microsoft says that a tenant's data is theirs... but unless you can extract and move that data, can that claim ever be tested?
