Replication is not backup
Microsoft keeps your data highly available across its own infrastructure, so a hardware failure at their end never takes your email offline. That is a service-availability guarantee.
It does not protect you from the things that actually destroy business data: someone deleting a mailbox, ransomware encrypting OneDrive and syncing the damage, or a retention window quietly expiring.
Microsoft's own shared-responsibility model says it plainly: they are responsible for the service, you are responsible for your data.
Where businesses get caught
- A departing employee's mailbox is deleted, then needed months later for a dispute
- Ransomware encrypts local files that sync straight into OneDrive and SharePoint
- A permanent delete ages past the default retention window
- A misconfigured retention policy removes more than anyone intended
- A compromised account deletes mail to cover its tracks
What proper Microsoft 365 backup looks like
A third-party backup takes independent, retained copies of Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams data, held outside the tenant so a compromise of your Microsoft account cannot reach them.
The features that matter are granular restore — recovering one mailbox, folder, or file rather than everything — long or indefinite retention, and restores that are tested rather than assumed.
The compliance angle
For Ontario businesses under PHIPA or PIPEDA, or any firm with contractual retention obligations, default Microsoft 365 retention is rarely enough on its own. Independent backup with a defined retention period is the straightforward way to meet those requirements and to prove it later.
Want a second opinion on your setup?
A senior Borg ITS engineer will review your environment and tell you plainly where you stand — no obligation.