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PPeter Grew 1 hour ago
Hey everyone, I want to share a crucial piece of info that many end-users (and even some admins!) overlook: Microsoft 365 doesn't fully back up your data.
The "Shared Responsibility Model" Trap
Microsoft has something called the Shared Responsibility Model. It basically means:
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Microsoft's Job: Keep the infrastructure running (the servers, the global network, the service uptime).
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YOUR Job (The Customer's): Control and protect your data—that includes recovering items lost due to accidental deletion, malicious attacks (like ransomware), or even internal data policy issues.
The built-in Recycle Bin and retention holds are great for short-term recovery, but they are not a true, long-term backup solution, especially if you need to restore something from six months ago or recover from a sophisticated attack.
The Best Solution: Third-Party Backup
For real peace of mind and full control, a dedicated third-party backup tool is the way to go. I personally recommend the Shoviv Microsoft 365 Backup and Restore tool. It's becoming hugely popular among M365 Admins because it fixes the weaknesses of native tools.
Learn: How to Export Office 365 Mailbox to PST?
Why Admins Love It (And Why You Should Care):
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Full Fidelity Backup: It backs up your entire mailbox (including Primary, Archive, and Public Folders) to a standard PST file that you control on your local storage.
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Automatic and Incremental: You can set it to run on a schedule (daily, weekly) and the Incremental Backup only copies new or changed data, making the process fast and efficient after the first run.
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Granular Restore: Admins can quickly find and restore just a single email or contact without having to recover the whole mailbox.
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Covers SharePoint and OneDrive: The Shoviv suite often includes tools like the SharePoint Backup which is vital for admins to move and protect complex sites, list permissions, and version history—the things Microsoft's tools often struggle with.
In short, if you want guaranteed recovery outside of Microsoft's limited timeframes, use a dedicated backup solution. It's the only way to meet your end of the Shared Responsibility Model.
Free Resources:
What backup methods is your company currently using? I'd love to compare notes!
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