SolarWinds Backup for Office 365 delivers cloud-first data protection for Office 365 Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint

SolarWinds, provider of IT management software, launches SolarWinds Backup for Office 365, designed to extend data protection services by helping ensure the retention and recoverability of Office 365 data.

Backup for Office 365 backs up and helps restore Exchange, OneDrive and SharePoint data, managed from the same web-based dashboard used to protect servers, workstations, and critical business documents. The need for effective and affordable tools to help MSPs reduce the potential impact of malicious external attacks or internal user error is growing. 

Related data retention, recoverability, and the ability to demonstrate regulatory compliance is becoming even more critical, as more businesses continue to adopt SaaS applications and shift resources to the cloud.

With Backup for Office 365, users are able to save administrative time by managing Office 365 backups alongside server and workstation backups, keep recoverable copies of Exchange data for seven years, and archive OneDrive and SharePoint data for one year. Backup storage in SolarWinds’ private cloud is included, with more than 30 data centers worldwide to help meet data locality requirements.

Users can often unwittingly (or purposely) delete important emails, or OneDrive or SharePoint files. If this happens, SolarWinds Backup offers the ability to search for, and recover what is needed. If employees leave and the company does not want to continue paying a subscription fee to store their email and shared documents, then the SolarWinds Backup for Office 365 offers an additional way to retain and access this data. If the enterprise must comply under regulations with data-retention requirements, SolarWinds Backup is designed to help retain and archive critical data.

With SolarWinds Backup for Office 365, users can manage Office 365 Exchange, OneDrive, and SharePoint backups from a single web-based dashboard. They can also view and manage backup status across customers, and several devices and data types. SolarWinds Backup also helps strike the right balance between automation and control. Users can manually select which accounts and mailboxes they want to protect, or automatically add newly created Office 365 accounts to the backup schedule.

“Backup for Office 365 has assisted us in making our clients feel more secure and comfortable with cloud solutions because they’ve regained control over their data backups,” said Kelvin Tegelaar​, CTO, Lime Networks. “This solution is easy to manage, is super-efficient, and gives our customers an extra layer of protection and continuity.”

“If you’re relying on storage to do the job of backup, you’re putting your data at risk. Anything from an overzealous email cleanup to a deliberate ransomware attack can leave you scrambling if your data isn’t safely backed up. Microsoft is focused on the availability of active email and data, but potential gaps exist around the recoverability of accidentally deleted or overwritten data that are only solved by an effective backup product,” said Mav Turner, group vice president of products, SolarWinds MSP. “Backup for Office 365 is designed for peace of mind; you retain control over the retention and recoverability of your customers’ data in Office 365 and can be ready to help them in their time of need. Your backups will run seamlessly in the background, and the only difference you’ll notice will be increased trust that your data is safe, no matter what.”

Orange uses embedded software to improve end-user experience on its ThousandEyes alliance

Orange partnered with US-based ThousandEyes, an Internet and cloud intelligence company, to deliver real time, end-to-end visibility on both its enterprise networks and the Open Transit Internet (OTI).

The ThousandEyes platform, combined with Orange expertise around data analytics, provides businesses and carriers with improved digital experiences delivered across the Internet to cloud service providers (CSPs), Internet service providers (ISPs) and content providers (CPs). 

Using the ThousandEyes platform, Orange is now able to continuously monitor the performance of certified ISPs and their connection to the Orange Next-Gen Hubs, OTI points-of-presence globally, and all major cloud service providers and content providers. This allows Orange to deliver on the promise of the Internet of Enterprises and OTI by providing performance measurements over Internet in 60 countries, and will continue expanding coverage in the coming months.

Orange Business Services, the global enterprise division of the Orange Group, intends to power this partnership to provide its customers with leading-edge enterprise-grade managed Internet, multi-cloud connectivity and SD-WAN visibility services.

Orange has already deployed the ThousandEyes platform successfully with customers. This includes a German industrial manufacturer, who used it to determine the best cloud connectivity solution in China. 

During a performance assessment of Office 365 and Microsoft Azure connectivity, Orange compared direct connectivity via its Orange Business Services Next-Gen Hub to an alternative solution over Internet. The results were clear: Next-Gen Hub provided up to three times more bandwidth and with more reliability, thereby delivering the best experience for the customer’s users in China.

A key Orange Business Services objective is to accompany its customers around the world in their cloud and SD-WAN transformation journeys, and the ThousandEyes platform is a critical enabler to optimize the migration phases. It allows Orange to monitor quality of experience at both the application and network level, and speed up troubleshooting in case of Internet-related performance issues. 

Customers will be able to gain insight into the internal and external dependencies that impact the end-user experience.