E-mail, chat, virtual meetings and online storage: the cloud has had a significant impact on how companies work together. But who protects all the data that is shared and stored via the cloud from loss?
Thanks to the connection to the cloud, modern software solutions allow all files to be returned to the computer after just a few clicks in the event of unwanted data loss. Truly all of them?
It depends. Cloud providers such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google are responsible for the availability and operation of their infrastructure. In this context, customer data is stored redundantly (multiple times) to ensure that the failure of hardware or a data centre does not lead to data loss. However, you are responsible for the protection of your data and thus for an additional backup. This applies if you run your servers in the cloud (virtual servers), but also if you use complete packages such as Microsoft 365.
Cloud backup scenarios
Corrupted or accidentally overwritten and deleted files can be restored in cloud repositories such as SharePoint. However, this process is usually easier with an additional backup solution. This also applies to e-mails in an Exchange account. Retention periods are another important reason for backing up data from the cloud. After expiration, (accidentally) deleted documents and user data are deleted from the Recycle Bin – irretrievably. A backup stores data beyond these deadlines:
- Deleted data in SharePoint Online and OneDrive: When you delete documents from Microsoft’s cloud storage, they are moved to the Recycle Bin. From there, they can be restored for a certain period of time, usually 90 days.
- Deleted e-mails in Exchange Online: E-mails that are moved to the ‘Deleted items’ folder will remain there for 14 up to a maximum of 30 days.
- Data from deleted users: It is retained for 30 days and is then deleted.
Older deleted data can only be restored from a backup. This also applies if you want to reset an employee’s entire inbox to a previous condition. That’s why you should make sure that an automated data backup regularly saves important information from e-mails, ERP, collaboration tools, etc. This allows important business data to be restored months after it has been lost.
The most important thing: continuous backup
The safest way to store your company data over the long term is to use a backup. Ideally, this should be done automatically and also in the cloud. This means that the data is stored at regular intervals without any action on your part.
There are various providers for cloud-based backups, including those based in Switzerland. Retention period, backup frequency and data volume are scalable. Costs are usually calculated on the basis of the service purchased.
Whether you fall victim to a ransomware attack, your infrastructure is damaged by fire or water or your cloud data accidentally ends up in the Recycle Bin: in all cases, you can recover individual items or entire servers and are thus well protected against data loss.
Automatic and secure cloud backup
Swisscom’s Managed Backup frees companies from the effort of managing backups and recovery. The service includes the backup of physical and virtual servers, along with Exchange mailboxes (Microsoft 365).
Backups are created automatically every day. The data is stored in the secure Swisscom Cloud, in Swiss-based data centres. In the event of data loss, the KMU help desk will assist with quick, secure data recovery.
