However, such labor-intensive actions are justified in certain situations—for example, during an investigation into misconduct where data present at a specific point in time is analyzed and therefore retrieved.
What options are available for this in Office 365?
Office 365 offers several robust options for data recovery out of the box. Here’s an overview:
Cloud backup
Microsoft does not create backups of cloud data for individual organizations. For SaaS (Software as a Service) data (Office 365), Microsoft uses replication data centers that maintain at least two copies of the data—in most cases, even three or four copies—though this depends on the type of data (Exchange data has more copies than, for example, SharePoint data). Microsoft’s SLA is 99.99%, with financial penalties for failing to meet the specified availability.
Version Control
By enabling version control on document libraries and lists, it is possible to view, compare, and, if desired,restore previous versions of documents. By using document sets, it’s even possible to track versions for entire collections of logically related documents (such as meeting documents or contract management). You are essentially creating a “snapshot” of the state of your documentation at a specific point in time. This snapshot can be restored at a later time.
Recycle Bin(s)
When you delete an email item, document, list, or SharePoint site, it isn’t immediately gone. The item goes to your Recycle Bin and remains there indefinitely (Exchange) or for 90 days (SharePoint), or until you permanently delete it. Even after you’ve deleted it from your Recycle Bin, you can still have the item restored by your SharePoint administrator. Until the 30-day (Exchange) or 90-day (SharePoint) period has elapsed, the administrator can retrieve the document from the secondary Recycle Bin. Deleted SharePoint site collections can also be restored by the Office 365 administrator from the SharePoint admin center. Read here to learn how to restore these deleted items.
SharePoint Site Collections Restore
Microsoft creates backups of your Office 365 environment every 12 hours, which are then retained for 14 days. By submitting a service request to Microsoft, you can havea SharePoint site collection restored.
The restore is performed at the SharePoint site collection level and takes place directly at the URL used by the relevant SharePoint site collection. This means that the SharePoint site collection will be overwritten, which may result in data loss.
Enabling Backups in Office 365
As mentioned above, thefeatures included by default in SharePoint alreadygoa long way. However, Office 365 does not, by default, offer the ability to create “true” backups of data yourself, as is done on-premises. As noted earlier, Microsoft does this for you by creating backups every 12 hours.
To “actively” safeguard your Office 365 data yourself, you can use the following alternatives:
- Manually exporting data:
- Copy documents to local folders using “Explorer view.” The downside here is that the metadata and version history associated with the documents are not included;
- You can easily export lists and list items to Excel
- Calendars can be synchronized to Outlook; however, this option is no longer available for tasks.
Manually exporting data is a very labor-intensive and error-prone process. As a result, it is not a viable alternative to creating regular backups, such as those that can be made on-premises. - Creating backups with third-party tools:
If you still want more options when it comes to backup and restore and want to have more control over these processes, you may want to consider third-party tools.
Below is an overview of third-party tools that can be used to create Office 365 backups:
The capabilities for performing backups vary by product. Broadly speaking, this means you can automatically back up your Office 365 / SharePoint Online data and perform restores at various levels. For example, with Metavistech Backup for SharePoint, you can schedule backups, store them in a local environment or in the cloud (Azure), and restore data down to the item level.
AvePoint, CloudAlly, and CloudFinder also offer fully cloud-based SaaS solutions for backup and restore. This means your backup solution runs in the cloud, and you don’t have to worry about maintenance.
However, using these tools does involve additional licensing costs. For an exact price quote, you’ll need to contact the vendor.
Advanced Data Governance
Microsoft Advanced Data Governance (requires the Office 365 E5 license) allows you to retain data for a specific period or indefinitely, regardless of the employee’s identity. A mailbox on hold (litigation) means that the data remains stored in the cloud during that period. This is true regardless of whether the employee (or their account) is no longer employed by the organization. With Advanced Data Governance, it’s also possible to enforce mandatory data deletion. For example, an unused resume must be deleted within 4 weeks. Advanced Data Governance works across all Office 365 data locations (Exchange, SharePoint, etc.)
eDiscovery
With eDiscovery, data (active or on hold) can be collected for purposes such as an internal investigation. The search query is performed across all Office 365 data locations, and the results can be stored centrally. Delegated permissions are required both for the search query and for accessing the results.
Conclusion
Office 365 offers extensive built-in capabilities for recovering data in both the short and long term. However, not all data loss can be prevented this way. For example, you might discover after 90 days that an important document has disappeared, meaning you can no longer retrieve it from the Recycle Bin. Or version control for a library might be turned off, preventing you from reverting to a previous version.
To safeguard your data in these types of situations, creating manual exports is an option, but it’s recommended to use third-party tools.