At the center of daily operations for
medical, dental, financial, and SMB teams across Middle Tennessee is Microsoft 365. Email,
OneDrive files, SharePoint sites, Teams channels—you depend on them every
minute of the day.
As a security-first MSP serving healthcare and
compliance-driven organizations in Middle Tennessee, we see this
misunderstanding all the time. And the risk is real: one wrong click or
misconfigured retention policy can wipe out months of critical business data
with no way back.
The Myth: "Microsoft 365 Already Backs Up Everything."
Let's clear this up.
Microsoft 365 does an excellent job with:
- Redundancy
(Microsoft keeps its cloud online)
- High
availability
- Native
retention policies for compliance
- Basic
recycling bin recovery
But Microsoft is very clear: you are responsible for your
data.
This is the Shared Responsibility Model, and it
applies to:
- Exchange
Online (email)
- OneDrive
- SharePoint
- Microsoft
Teams
- Planner
/ To Do
- Archived
mailboxes / terminated employee data
If a user deletes data—intentionally or
accidentally—retention policies only help if they were configured in advance and
the retention window hasn't expired.
This poses a major compliance challenge for healthcare
practices, financial institutions, and any business required to retain records
for 6+ years.
Retention vs Backup: What's the Actual Difference?
Retention holds data for a window of time:
- 14-30
days for deleted OneDrive files
- 93
days for SharePoint sites
- Configurable
multi-year retention (if licensed and appropriately configured)
Retention manages lifecycle—it does not create
a separate, immutable backup copy.
Backup Separate, Independent, Recoverable Copy
A proper Microsoft 365 backup solution provides:
- Point-in-time
recovery (restores data from any date)
- Immutable
backups (cannot be overwritten by ransomware or bad actors)
- Cross-user
restore (pull data even from terminated accounts)
- Granular
recovery (single file, folder, or mailbox)
- Long-term
retention for HIPAA/PCI/FTC audits
- Independent
storage outside the Microsoft cloud
That last point is huge: if your Microsoft 365 tenant is
compromised, retention won't save you—but a backup stored in an independent
system will.
Why This Matters in Healthcare & Compliance
Healthcare and other regulated industries must prove:
- Data
availability
- Data
integrity
- Recoverability
- Retention
timelines
HIPAA and NIST both emphasize encrypted backups, tested
restores, and documented recovery procedures (aligned with HICP & NIST
800-66 guidance).
FTC Safeguards and PCI require the same—written policies +
verified backup testing.
Retention alone cannot meet these requirements,
because regulators expect:
- Evidence
of backup success logs
- Evidence
of restoration tests
- A
defined RPO/RTO
- Written
backup procedures
- Protection
from ransomware
So, if your practice or business relies only on retention,
you are one bad click away from a compliance incident.
How to Set RPO & RTO for Microsoft 365
RPO (Recovery Point Objective)
How much data can you afford to lose?
Example:
If your RPO is 4 hours, your backup must take snapshots at
least every 4 hours.
RTO (Recovery Time Objective)
How long can you afford to be down while recovering data?
Example:
If your RTO is 2 hours, your recovery plan must restore
files or mailboxes within that timeframe.
Quarterly Test Restores: The Step Most Providers Skip
Backups only matter if you can restore them.
That's why Johnson BTS performs quarterly restore testing
for compliance-heavy clients:
- Pull
random files, folders, or mailboxes
- Restore
from various dates
- Validate
integrity
- Document
results for compliance audits
- Update
the disaster recovery plan
HIPAA, NIST, and HICP all emphasize testing, not just
"having a backup".
And too many businesses discover during a crisis that their
backup:
- Didn't
include all users
- Didn't
run properly
- Didn't
capture SharePoint libraries
- Was
storing data unencrypted
- Couldn't
recover the needed version
Quarterly testing eliminates those surprises.
Real-World Failure Scenarios We See (Retention Won't Save You)
1. Employee deletes their entire OneDrive before leaving
Retention doesn't cover everything—and often doesn't apply
after 30-93 days.
2. Ransomware hits a synced OneDrive folder
Sync = ransomware spread.
Backup = clean versions to restore.
3. SharePoint admin accidentally deletes a site
collection
After 93 days, it's unrecoverable without backup.
4. Global admin account compromised
Attackers often delete or corrupt retention policies.
5. Email mailbox corruption
Retention cannot restore a mailbox to a healthy
point-in-time state.
6. Legal or audit requests for data from 3+ years ago
Retention is not long-term archival unless extremely
custom-tailored.
These incidents are common, not rare—and retention alone
does not protect you.
7. What a Proper Microsoft 365 Backup Solution Should
Include
A complete solution includes:
- Automatic
snapshot backups (2-6 times per day)
- Separate
off-platform storage
- Encryption
at rest and in transit
- Immutable
storage (cannot be altered)
- Support
for Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams
- Unlimited
retention or 7+ year archival
- Granular
recovery (single file to full restore)
- Self-service
or helpdesk-assisted restore options
- Automated
reporting for compliance
If your business touches healthcare, finance, or sensitive
data, these features are not "nice to have"—they're required for risk
reduction.
How Johnson BTS Protects Microsoft 365 Data
As a HIPAA-verified, security-first IT provider with 70+
years combined experience in healthcare & compliance-driven environments,
our backup strategy includes:
- Secure Backup Deployment - Encrypted, immutable, off-platform backups for all users and shared resources.
- Defined RPO/RTO for Each Department - We tailor recovery objectives to clinical, administrative, financial, or executive needs.
- Quarterly Restore Testing - Documented evidence for HIPAA, PCI, FTC, and internal audits.
- Continuous Monitoring - Verification that backups run successfully with alerts on failures.
- Disaster Recovery Integration - Backup aligns with your broader continuity plan so recovery is predictable—not reactive.
This aligns with the security-first, proactive model your
brand is known for.
Retention Is Not Backup—And Your Business Needs Both
Microsoft 365 retention is a helpful safety net. A proper
backup is your lifeline.
Ready to Protect Your Microsoft 365 Data?
If you want a clear, HIPAA-ready, audit-proof Microsoft 365
backup plan—built around your RPO/RTO needs—Johnson BTS can help.
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