Protecting SharePoint Data- Acronis Backups and Version History in Microsoft 365

SharePoint Data is crucial, so let’s look at backing it up…

If you are using SharePoint as your main service for processing and storing your data, the data you store there is nothing short of vital. All your precious collaborative efforts, project management, and document storage in one place, without it your business may not even be able to operate, and it certainly wouldn’t be able to operate as efficiently prior to data loss.

Data loss can occur for a multitude of reasons, due to human error, cyber threats, or technical failures. This is why it is ESSENTIAL to keep your data safe and secure by as many measures as possible, backups have been around since computers began and they are still as important as ever.

There are robust solutions at hand, backing up your SharePoint data with Acronis seems like a good choice and making the most of version history within Microsoft 365 also helps drastically.

It’s important to understand how these mechanisms work to protect your precious data. Another thing to consider is how quickly you can rectify any problem you have with the data, as they say, time is money!

Microsoft 365 Implementing Version History

Microsoft 365 offers an awesome built-in feature known as version history, which can be a lifesaver, especially when working on critical documents. Version history automatically saves versions of your documents as they are edited, allowing you to revert to a previous version if necessary. Version history also lets you know who’s been making the changes to the document, so you have an element of traceability there also!

Activation

Version history is available in SharePoint and OneDrive within Microsoft 365 but may need to be activated or configured to meet your specific needs.

Automatic Versioning

Once enabled, every time a document is edited and saved, a new version is created automatically. This allows for detailed tracking of changes and the ability to revert to earlier versions without manual backups. So, say you accidentally pasted over a line in a excel spreadsheet and lost some data, you can revert to the old file and find what cell information was replaced.

Collaboration 

 With version history, multiple team members can work on a document simultaneously without the fear of overwriting critical information or losing previous versions of the work. The autosave feature can catch people out sometimes and having version history with traceability can ensure your data is not compromised.

But doesn’t Microsoft back it up?

Microsoft certainly do, so yes, It is worth mentioning that realistically you don’t need a solution like Acronis to back up the Microsoft SharePoint data, as Microsoft has countless measures in place already to ensure your data is safe, so if you are using Microsoft SharePoint and you don’t have the facilities to run Acronis backup in the background, your data should still be secure and backed up properly from Microsoft itself.

Microsoft is a brilliant software company and used to working with sensitive data, and will have tonnes of redundancy measures in place, so if you aren’t using SharePoint already, maybe that’s a reason to consider it!

However, you can never be too sure and if your SharePoint data really is important, then it is absolutely advisable to get a 3^rd party backup solution to take care of the unlikely event that Microsoft’s own backup systems fail and render your data lost. This leads us onto a software solution that we identified works brilliantly with Microsoft 365.

Acronis Backup

Backing Up SharePoint Data with Acronis

Acronis is well known for its comprehensive backup solutions and data security software, offering a secure and efficient way to take care of your important SharePoint data. The method is simple but powerful, essentially creating a mirror image of your data in the background, constantly backing up the data so that it can be restored at any moment, ensuring business data integrity at all times.

Initial Setup

The first step involves setting up Acronis to work with your SharePoint environment. This setup is a one-time process that, once done, provides ongoing protection without the need for constant monitoring. Linking up your 365 with acronis is a fairly simple process providing you are familiar with acronis and their interface, we have many companies inside of our acronis tenancy so adding new companies in is relatively simple at that stage, for a new acronis install it may be a little complicated to setup if you were to do it directly, but you could get in touch with acronis for help with the process.

Automated Backups

Acronis allows for the scheduling of automated backups. Whether you need daily, weekly, or monthly backups, you can set the frequency according to your business needs, ensuring that your data is always up to date. I think its important to have a good set of backups to choose from throughout the day, so if any data is lost It will only be a couple of hours’ worth of data at any given time.

Secure Storage 

Backed-up data is stored in secure, encrypted Acronis Cloud Storage, providing peace of mind that your data is safe from both physical and cyber threats.

Efficient Restoration

 Should the need arise, restoring your data from an Acronis backup is a simple process, ensuring minimal downtime and disruption to your business operations.

Version History

Users can easily access the version history of a document, view different versions, and restore any version with just a few clicks, ensuring that no valuable data is ever truly lost.

What can First Base Solutions bring to the table?

While the processes of using Acronis for backups and implementing version history in Microsoft 365 are designed to be user-friendly, navigating the setup and optimisation of these tools can be daunting and very confusing for non-technologically minded users. As a managed service provider, First Base Solutions Ltd offers expert assistance in configuring these solutions to best suit your business needs. Our solutions are actively maintained in the background, so you can work on your business, knowing that your SharePoint data is comprehensively protected, and support is there if so required.

A combination of Acronis backups and version history in Microsoft 365 provides a safe and secure method for retaining your essential SharePoint data, having multiple backups is always better than relying on one.

First Base Solutions Ltd is ready to assist in implementing and managing these solutions, but understanding their importance and functionality is down to yourself and allows you to make informed decisions about your data protection strategy. After all, we are committed to making sure the solutions are right for you, and you can only make informed decisions when you are informed! If you do require these software solutions necessary for your data and your business, please get in touch, we will do our best to assist you with the process.

Check out our other blogs as we are constantly discussing pressing topics and informing customers about other IT related information.