Verified Backup As A Service
Microsoft keeps a deleted item in the recycle bin for about 30 days, extendable to 93 only with litigation hold enabled, then it's gone permanently. That's the shared responsibility gap: Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace keep their own infrastructure running, not your mailboxes and files recoverable on your terms. Backup as a Service closes that gap with an offsite, immutable, consumption priced copy you control.
Where The "It's Already Backed Up" Assumption Falls Apart
Every SaaS backup conversation we have with a Johannesburg SME running Microsoft 365 starts from the same five assumptions, and each one is wrong in a way that only shows up once data actually needs restoring. Here is where each one breaks down.
The Shared Responsibility Split
Microsoft and Google guarantee their own infrastructure: the servers stay up, the platform stays online, and uptime is real and well documented. Neither guarantees your mailbox or SharePoint library is recoverable once it's deleted.
The Deletion Window Nobody Checks
Microsoft 365 holds deleted items in the recycle bin for around 30 days before they're gone for good, or 93 days if litigation hold has been switched on beforehand. Most SMEs discover this window after they already need it.
WHEN RANSOMWARE REACHES BACKUPS
An attacker holding domain admin rights on your live network can often access a second copy stored on that same platform. An offsite copy is built specifically so admin access on your network doesn't extend to it.
WHAT YOU ACTUALLY KEEP IF YOU CANCEL
If you ever leave the service, your retained backups should still be your property, not something held hostage to keep you on the platform. Ask any provider about this part directly, because a vague answer is a clear red flag.
On their own, these are assumptions. Together they mean data that's gone the moment someone deletes it past the recycle bin window, a ransomware attack that reaches the backup as well as the live network, and, if you ever leave, no clear answer on whether your backups leave with you. We run an offsite copy your provider's admin access can't touch, and we'll tell you plainly what you keep if you cancel.
Everything Your Backup Coverage Includes Before You Need It
This is what gets switched on for every server, workstation, mailbox and shared drive we protect, not a feature you get later as a paid upsell.
Agent-Based Coverage For Servers And Workstations
A lightweight backup agent runs on every server and workstation we protect, capturing only the data that changed since the last scheduled run once the first full backup has seeded the repository.
API-Based Coverage For Microsoft 365 And Google Workspace
Mailboxes, OneDrive, SharePoint and Google Drive connect through the platform’s own backup API rather than an agent, so email management and file protection are covered without extra software on any device.
Data Encryption Before It Leaves Site, And Then Again At Rest
Data is encrypted before it ever leaves your network, then encrypted again once it is stored, so whoever holds the storage cannot read the contents even if that storage is compromised in any way.
Deduplication And Compression On Every Run
Repeated data across machines and backup versions is never transferred or charged for twice, which keeps storage both growth, and the bill, proportional to what actually changes.
Offsite Replication To A Genuinely Separate Site
The finished backup replicates into a data centre that is physically and logically separate from your production environment. This keeps everything secure.
Immutable Retention Even Admin Rights Cannot Touch
A portion of every backup is locked write once, read many for days, so an attacker holding admin credentials on your live network still cannot alter or delete that copy.
How We Prove This Backup Restores, Not Just Runs
A green tick on a completed backup job tells you the job ran, not that the data inside it will actually come back when you need it. This is the proof we hand over as standard, before you ever have to test it yourself during a real incident.
A Restore You Watch
We will restore a deliberately deleted mailbox item or file in front of you, on your own account, using the same recovery point you would rely on in a real incident, so recoverability is something you have seen happen rather than something we have simply described.
Immutability, Set Up And Shown
We will show you the immutability setting actually configured on your own backup repository: the retention lock, the number of days it applies to, and the policy driving it, not a generic screenshot lifted from a vendor’s features page.
A Written Retention Policy
You receive a written retention policy document stating exactly what is kept, for how long, and at what interval between daily, weekly and monthly recovery points, so retention is something you can check against, not a promise you have to take on trust.
Integrity Checks, No Assumptions
Backups are checked on a schedule to confirm the stored data is actually recoverable, a separate discipline from the full failover test that belongs to DR as a Service, and the integrity check history is something you can ask to review at any time.
How Pricing Works For Backup As A Service
Backup as a Service is billed on what you actually protect, not on a server you have to buy, rack and depreciate. Two things move the number: how much storage your backups occupy once deduplicated and compressed, and how many workloads, a Microsoft 365 tenant, a file server, a set of workstations, are actually covered. The retention tiers you choose and the length of the immutable, air gapped window also shape the price. Every quote follows a short review of your current data volume, not a fixed monthly rate picked off a price list.
01 Storage And Workload Count
02 Retention And Immutable Window
Who This Is For
This fits Johannesburg SMEs on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace who assume the platform backs up mailboxes and files long term, anyone retiring an ageing NAS or backup server, and anyone needing an immutable copy against ransomware. It differs from Backup and Disaster Recovery, which engineers a whole fleet's RPO and RTO promise.
How This Works
Frequently Asked Questions
How far back can we actually restore something?
Retention runs on daily, weekly and monthly recovery points, so you can roll back to a point before the incident, not just yesterday’s copy.
Can we restore one email or file, or does every restore mean rebuilding a whole system?
Every restore is scoped to what’s missing: a single email, a file, a folder, or a full mailbox or server image if that’s genuinely needed.
If ransomware hits our live network, can it reach and delete the backup copy too?
No. Part of every backup is locked immutable, write once read many, for a set number of days, so stolen admin credentials still can’t touch it. For keeping the whole business running through an attack, that’s DR as a Service.
What happens to our data if we cancel the service?
You keep access to your own data ; it isn’t held inside the platform as leverage to keep you subscribed.
Does this cover our Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace data, or only our physical servers?
Both. Servers and workstations run a lightweight backup agent, while Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace connect through their own backup APIs instead, so mailboxes, OneDrive, SharePoint and Drive data are covered the same as anything on a physical box. If your fleet is already covered under our Backup and Disaster Recovery bundle, this is usually already included.
See What You'd Recover, And What Your Fixed Price Would Be
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