Office 365 OneDrive Backups: Do You Need Them?

In this blog, we’ll see that it’s not enough just to ensure that the files on your laptop or desktop are backed up to the cloud, but that you also need to make sure that those files are backed up as well. Having a robust approach like this ensures that whatever disaster strikes and affects your data files, you’ll be working again as quickly as possible.

Is OneDrive backup necessary?

Microsoft offers a OneDrive PC folder backup option. This allows you to automatically sync the folders on your Windows PC, or your Apple Mac, to your OneDrive cloud storage. These folders you have backed up on your PC can be viewed online, and in the OneDrive mobile app, so you can view and edit your files offline.

You can also view the version history for your documents so you can view and restore any older versions of your files within 30 days. In addition, if you have a Microsoft 365 subscription, OneDrive will automatically detect when there is a ransomware attack and help you to restore your files for up to 30 days after the attack occurred. 

So, how do you set this up? 

1. Open your OneDrive folder on your PC
2. Click Settings > Backup > Manage backup
3. A ‘Backup your folders’ pop-up will open – ensure that the folders you want to backed have been selected
4. Click ‘Start Backup’

If you’ve got an Apple Mac running macOS, then the steps are:

1. Click on the OneDrive icon
2. Click on the gear icon to open the OneDrive settings menu
3. Click on Preferences
4. Click the Backup tap
5. Click the Manage Backup button
6. If it’s the first time you’ve done this, you’ll be informed that OneDrive needs additional permission to manage the backup.

Once the setup has been completed, your files will be backed up, and you will be able to access your files from anywhere. 

Even though Microsoft offers this OneDrive PC folder backup option, you absolutely still need to have all this data backed up. In fact, Microsoft makes it clear in their services agreement that data stored in the cloud should be backed up. Your OneDrive files will never truly be 100% safe online due to the unlimited threats they face. So, having a backup in place means you will always be able to recover your files if your OneDrive account is ever compromised.

Here are some reasons why you need to back up your OneDrive account.

Prevents Downtime

It doesn’t take much for a data breach to occur. A small oversight can actually be the cause of a huge data breach that has catastrophic results. By ensuring that you have a secure backup and a recovery plan in place, you can avert any threats, whether internal or external, to the operation of your business.

Gives Your Business a Competitive Advantage

Having your OneDrive files backed up can give your business an advantage over competitors. By having a backup in place, it protects you from possible data loss but also helps you to get back to normal operations as soon as possible after a data breach. Companies who struggle to get back on their feet after a data breach will often end up losing customers to those who recover better and faster.

Meet Compliance Objectives

Many companies are required to keep certain business data for an extended length of time. This can be for tax purposes, to meet country-specific regulations or if you are part of a legal case and need to provide evidence. If you haven’t backed up your OneDrive and only have one copy of certain data, that could prove to be a big mistake. If that one copy were to get compromised, damaged or deleted etc., you could face serious consequences. If you are asked to provide data for a legal case, and you don’t have the data because of a data breach, you are unlikely to get any sympathy or flexibility as you should have had a backup in place.

Increase in Endpoints

Due to the increase in remote working, more business data is being used and managed across multiple devices and countries. The increased number of endpoints means there are more places where your data can be accessed, which means your company is at a higher risk of a data breach. By having a OneDrive backup in place, all devices can be protected, so even if a device does get compromised, all the data will still be safe and accessible.

OneDrive Backups Are Automatic

If a data breach occurs at your organization and you don’t have a restore or backup plan in place, you might find you can still recover some of your data, however, it is unlikely that you will be able to recover it all. You are likely to have to reset your system to make sure everything is working correctly again, and that may also cause some issues with the data. And for the data that can’t be recovered, you will have to redo the work, if that is possible. If not, it will be lost forever, and that could have serious consequences. However, by ensuring that you have a OneDrive backup, you know that your data will automatically be backed up and accessible. If a breach occurs, you will also be able to restore the files manually and recover the data you need.

What is the best way to backup OneDrive?

As we previously said, native OneDrive backup tools from Microsoft are not enough to ensure your OneDrive is sufficiently secure and backed up. The best way to back up your OneDrive data is to use a third-party tool, as they will provide you with a full backup and ensure your data is protected and truly secure should anything happen.

Here are all the features you have with a third-party backup tool:

• Back up your OneDrive items, which can include Calendars and Contacts.
• Have better data retention options. The data can be stored for as long as you or your organization needs for compliance reasons.
• Have point-in-time data restore options; this means you choose the version you want to recover.
• Separately keep your source data and backup data. Your backup data can be stored in the cloud of your choice.
• Have options to monitor data storage and usage.
• Have the same folder hierarchy of restored data as in your original files; this means you can restore your items exactly to the folders they were deleted from.

 In this blog, we’ve seen how you can automatically backup your Windows or Mac data files to OneDrive. However, we’ve also seen that more needs to be done to help you in the event of a disaster happening with your data; you need to backup that data stored in OneDrive. The best solution is a third-party option such as Backup 365 Complete.

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