Microsoft 365 is a great productivity tool for small businesses. You can use it for everything from business communications to workplace collaboration. It also comes with a set of data recovery options if you accidentally lose your data.
While these native data recovery options are decent, they’re not enough to fully protect you. We recommend building your own detailed data backup plan to add to Microsoft 365 to maximise data integrity.
Keep reading to learn how and why your business needs a detailed data backup plan.
Risk of Data Loss
These are the 4 most common ways you could lose your data.
Accidental Deletion
Speed and agility are extremely important in today’s small business landscape. So, while it’s great that your team works fast, it also increases the risk of mistakes. An accidental click here, or the wrong command issued there, and your data is gone.
Multitasking and working fast both increase the chances of mistakes that cost you your data.
It’s even worse when your fast-working employees don’t even realise they’ve accidentally deleted an important file. The fact that their workspace is mostly digital makes it even harder to realise they’ve accidentally deleted something valuable.
The only way to minimise the risk of human error is with comprehensive backup measures.
Security Threats
Cyber threats like ransomware, phishing, and social engineering can steal or delete your data. These attacks represent a massive threat to small businesses because attackers know they normally don’t focus enough on cybersecurity.
Cyberattacks also grow in sophistication over time, becoming increasingly more dangerous. So, your cybersecurity should be an ongoing process rather than a one-off investment.
Attackers normally target sensitive data, like your financial information or your customers’ details.
Once successfully attacked, you don’t just lose your data. You also lose a good deal of your reputation and trust with consumers and partners.
Service Outage:
Microsoft 365 offers your business a good degree of efficiency and flexibility, but it comes at a cost. You become over-dependent on it. Microsoft 365 can suffer from technical problems ranging from technical failure to cybersecurity breaches or natural disasters, like fires.
When this happens, your business suffers from the disruption. One of the worst ways your business gets disrupted is you’re unable to access sensitive data. Due to this, you may be unable to deliver your services.
The best way to avoid this problem is to integrate an independent backup solution into your digital infrastructure. This backup ensures your business accesses vital data while Microsoft 365 is down.
Retention Policy Gaps
Microsoft 365 comes bundled with a set of data retention policies for managing data storage. The problem is that these policies are generic, so they don’t always align with your country or industry’s regulations.
For example, these generic policies may lead to the automatic deletion of data that’s deemed redundant or unimportant. Yet, you may still be required to retain that data under your local data retention laws.
So, there’s a gap between what Microsoft’s policies cover and what your business needs.
You need to close that gap with customised backup solutions. Create your own backup measures that align with your specific data retention needs to avoid potential legal liabilities.
This way you’ll ensure your business preserves valuable data and avoids potential legal liabilities.
The Cost of Data Loss for Small Businesses
These are the four worst ways your business suffers from data loss.
Loss of Productivity
Losing data when you need it doesn’t just inconvenience you, it damages your productivity. Even when your data is easily recoverable, you waste time and energy recovering it. Even at best your workflows and processes get disrupted.
This disruption hurts your ability to serve your customers and maintain project deadlines.
These disruptions cause other problems ranging from missed opportunities to reduced customer satisfaction. You can’t afford this loss in today’s productivity-focused business landscape.
A single disruption potentially impacts the overall momentum of your business and keeps you from achieving your goals.
Financial Losses:
Data loss causes potentially massive financial losses for your business. First, you suffer directly from losing important work-related files. You lose important data, like your project plans and financial records that disrupt your business’s operations.
For example, if you lose customer data, you’ll have to delay project execution, and sales processes, and disrupt your billing cycles. All of these delays financially damage your company.
Next, there’s also the cost of recovering your data. Whether you recover it manually or reconstruct it through technical software, you will lose money.
Lastly, you could suffer financial losses because of legal action in response to your mismanaging sensitive data.
Compliance Issues:
You’re legally obligated to adhere to the relevant data retention policies. The exact policies you’re obligated to adhere to depend on your industry and location. Failure to comply will result in potentially severe legal consequences.
These consequences include large fines and long-term reputational damage. The reputational damage is likely worse since it will decrease stakeholder confidence in your business.
The result is fewer consumers and partners willing to work with you.
Loss of Trust
Arguably the worst outcome of data loss is decreased stakeholder confidence. Modern consumers value data security and privacy. So, they expect you to protect their data once they hand it over to you.
When you fail at this, they lose trust in your business. This loss of trust can have massive long-term consequences for your business.
Fewer consumers will buy from you. Even fewer will recommend you to others. The ones that already buy from you will likely switch to your competitors.
Trust is a key differentiator in today’s business landscape, so you cannot afford to lose it through negligence.
Understanding the Difference Between Exchange and SharePoint Backups
You need a nuanced strategy for backing up Exchange and SharePoint.
Backing up Microsoft 365 Data: A Nuanced Strategy
Building a backup strategy for your Microsoft 365 data isn’t a simple task. You need a nuanced approach that meets your specific needs while recognising the advantages of both Exchange Online and SharePoint.
Both platforms are designed to provide tailored backup solutions to ensure your data integrity and availability.
Ideally, your backup strategy should make data recovery as seamless as possible to maintain business efficiency.
Exchange Online: Essential Communication Backup
Exchange Online is the foundation for business communications, including emails, contacts, and calendars. So, a good backup solution for Exchange Online should follow a granular approach so you can recover files as needed.
You’d also want to be able to recover deleted items, like emails. So, your backup solution should cover both malicious and accidental deletion to reinforce Microsoft’s existing recovery options.
That way you’ll build the most comprehensive communications infrastructure.
SharePoint Online: Collaborative Platform Protection
SharePoint Online provides a collaborative ecosystem for users to view, share, edit, and store work-related data. So, you need a comprehensive backup solution to handle the different types of files and documents, like presentations, word documents, and libraries.
For instance, you’d want version history to preserve document edits and potentially restore older versions of files. You also need granular recovery abilities to restore specific files, folders, or documents.
This flexibility will ensure your team can collaborate without interruptions or concerns for potential data loss.
Put together, these strategies provide your business with a detailed backup solution. You’ll also preserve your business’s operations and safely store your sensitive data.
The Critical Role of Microsoft 365 Backups in Ensuring Business Continuity
You need to invest in a comprehensive data recovery solution for your business’s Microsoft 365, especially your Exchange Online and SharePoint Online. Without it, you can’t protect your business from potential data loss.
Following this approach also ensures your business survives and quickly recovers from malicious and accidental data loss.
Recovery from Unforeseen Events
You need to swiftly recover from disruptions to ensure your business’s continuity. You can’t 100% prevent disruptions, so your best bet is to use reliable backups as insurance. That way you’ll quickly recover from potential losses and minimise disruptions.
As a business, your primary goal is always to maintain service delivery to customers.
Peace of Mind for Business Leaders
Knowing your data is secured and can be recovered at a moment’s notice provides a valuable sense of security. As a business leader, you can use this assurance to prioritise high-impact areas knowing your data management has a solid foundation
You need this peace of mind to invest in new projects or innovations.
Enhanced Security Against Cyber Threats
Cyber threats are one of your greatest challenges in today’s age. A comprehensive backup strategy won’t completely prevent cyberattacks, but it’s an effective additional layer of security that minimises damage.
Being able to quickly restore your data is one of the best ways to maintain operational continuity. So, using a high-quality backup solution prepares your business for new security threats in the best way.
Assurance of Compliance with Data Retention Regulations
You have to comply with data regulations to avoid legal penalties. One of the best ways to adhere to data retention regulations is with a detailed backup plan. Such a plan prevents data loss that could violate your legal obligations.
For instance, a detailed data recovery plan prevents you from losing vital customer data that you’re obligated to retain.
Being fully complied with data regulations also improves your organisation’s reputation when it comes to data security and integrity.
Taking Action
As a small business, your data is extremely vulnerable to accidental or malicious loss. The consequences of losing data range from financial losses to a damaged reputation and even legal action. Avoid these problems by investing in a detailed data backup and recovery plan for your Microsoft 365 data.
Of course, creating a detailed data recovery plan that meets your needs isn’t easy. If you’d like professional help, click here to contact PowerbITs for a free consultation.
