Why You Need to Backup Microsoft 365
By Gary Hill – A partner had a client who lost 10 years’ worth of contacts through a simple, everyday malicious attack. Keep reading to see how this disastrous loss ended up earning the partner a 40% increase in profits by having an Microsoft 365 Protection solution.
The client received an email from what appeared to be Microsoft indicating that their password had expired, and they needed to update it by clicking a link. Sure, a lot of folks know not to click these types of links, but there are also a lot that don’t. Making this risk even worse is that many users don’t have the software in place to protect against these types of frequent attacks. Unfortunately, once the attack has happened, there’s no turning back and the consequences are much more expensive than the backup tool clients should already have in place.
Once the client clicked the link, they typed in their existing email address and password as prompted. Then they typed in what they thought was their “new password” and clicked ”Submit.” The next screen thanked them for successfully changing their password and the client carried on with their work without thinking twice.
Months later the client went to compile an email to a contact they had not communicated with in some time. Typically the client, and anyone using Outlook, relies on the Outlook Autocomplete feature that fills in a familiar email addresses based on the first couple of letters you type. However, on this particular day, Outlook Autocomplete wasn’t filling in the client’s contact. The client clicked to the address book inside of Outlook and POOF! There was not a single contact listed!
Understandably so, the client was worried and reached out their managed service provider (MSP) to retrieve the lost contacts from where the client believed data was kept forever, inside the Microsoft Cloud. The MSP did their job and put in a request with Microsoft. Unfortunately, because the contacts were deleted after Microsoft’s 14-day retention period (which can be extended to a maximum of just 30 days with additional configuration), the data was unrecoverable and the contacts were lost forever. The client was devastated and the MSP felt terrible that there was nothing they could do to help.
Losing 10 years’ worth of business contacts, or any data, is unacceptable for clients. This type of limited retention and lack of backup could cost an MSP clients, and could impact their reputation and potential business growth. It’s imperative that MSPs spend time educating clients about the lack of backup and disaster recovery (BDR) tools provided by Microsoft. In fact, Microsoft recommends that users backup with third-party apps and services inside their Services Agreement.
We strive to keep the Services up and running; however, all online services suffer occasional disruptions and outages, and Microsoft is not liable for any disruption or loss you may suffer as a result. In the event of an outage, you may not be able to retrieve Your Content or Data that you’ve stored. We recommend that you regularly backup Your Content and Data that you store on the Services or store using Third-Party Apps and Services.”
Microsoft Services Agreement, Section 6b
Now, if this particular client had the leading third-party solution for )365 protection, Axcient x360Cloud, protecting their data from ransomware and other attacks, the contact list would be restored in a matter of clicks. x360Cloud provides clients with unlimited backups so there isn’t a retention period to worry about. Additionally, remoting into a clients’ computer is also unnecessary because x360Cloud is a SaaS to SaaS backup and restore solution. These features in addition to specific and mass restores, military-grade encryption and Axcient’s own SmartSearch, have earned x360Cloud and the Axcient Cloud the highest rating in the industry by SecurityScorecard.
Since the client lost his contacts and the MSP saw how devastating Microsoft’s lack of protection is, they’ve used the anecdote to educate clients. In doing so, the MSP has been able to grow service offerings by bundling Microsoft 365 Protection with Microsoft 365. Not only is the MSP providing full protection for clients, which gives them peace of mind and increases loyalty, but they’ve increased profits by at least 40%.
If you’re not educating clients about Microsoft’s Service Agreement and providing a secure solution for backup and disaster recovery, you could be putting your business at risk. Discover the x360Cloud solution below to see how security can increase your bottom line.
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