Status
Owner	Gautier Todeschini
Stakeholders	Li Lian Tan, Eric Triffaux

Issue

The decision concerns choosing between the native Microsoft 365 backup and an option extended by a third-party tool.

Recommendation

Option 1: M365 Native backup

Background & Context

During the backup workshops in the first phase of the project (September 2025), the topic of what backup system would be available in M365 after the migration from GWS was discussed.

The decision was to be made during the second phase of the project.

A reassessment was provided by the Hosting/Backup team early 2026, with a comparison of the functionalities of Veeam and the native M365 backup. The results are below.

Assumptions

If there will be any additional budget for secondary Backup, new project has to be assigned to implement,

Constraints

No secured budget to implement 3rd party backup tool.

Impacts

Less configuration flexibility (retention period, target storage)
Veeam brings more granularity when it comes to restoration (Object level)

Options considered

Option 1: M365 Native Backup

Option 2: 3rd Party Backup (Veeam)

Evaluation

Option 1: M365 Native Backup

Feature	OneDrive	SharePoint	Exchange Online
Retention period	1 year	1 year	1 year
Recovery points	- Every 10 minutes for the past 2 weeks - Weekly snapshots for weeks 2–52 prior	- Every 10 minutes for the past 2 weeks - Weekly snapshots for weeks 2–52 prior	- Every 10 minutes for the past 52 weeks
Backup granularity	OneDrive account	SharePoint site	Exchange user account
Restore granularity	- OneDrive accounts - Files restorable via versions (coming soon)	- SharePoint sites - Files restorable via versions (coming soon)	- Mail/Contacts/Calendar/Task items
Restore options	- Location: Same or new URL - OneDrive restore: Rolls back to the state at the prior point in time, overwriting all content and metadata since then - File version restore: Rolls forward the file to the prior state, but retains prior versions	- Location: Same or new URL - Full site restore: Rolls back to the state at the prior point in time, overwriting all content and metadata since then - File version restore: Rolls forward the file to the prior state, but retains prior versions	- Location: Same or new folder within user’s mailbox - Full and item-level mailbox restores: Only modified/deleted items from prior point in time
Restore speeds (RTO)	Up to 1,000 average-sized OneDrive accounts at a rate of up to 1–3 TB per hour	Up to 1,000 average-sized sites at a rate of up to 1–3 TB per hour	Up to 1,000 average-sized mailboxes at a rate of up to 1–3 TB per hour
Auditability	Actions fully auditable	Actions fully auditable	Actions fully auditable
Geographic residency	Physically redundant & geographically replicated Honors tenant’s geographic residency requirements	Physically redundant & geographically replicated Honors tenant’s geographic residency requirements	Physically redundant & geographically replicated Honors tenant’s geographic residency requirements

Option 2: 3rd Party Backup (Veeam)

Feature	OneDrive (Veeam)	SharePoint (Veeam)	Exchange Online (Veeam)
Retention period	Customizable (unlimited, as defined by your policy and storage)	Customizable (unlimited, as defined by your policy and storage)	Customizable (unlimited, as defined by your policy and storage)
Recovery points	As often as every 5 minutes (configurable)	As often as every 5 minutes (configurable)	As often as every 5 minutes (configurable)
Backup granularity	Per user, per file, per folder, or entire OneDrive account	Per site, per library, per document, or entire SharePoint site	Per mailbox, per folder, per item, or entire mailbox
Restore granularity	Individual files, folders, or entire OneDrive account	Individual documents, libraries, sites, or entire SharePoint site	Individual emails, contacts, calendar items, tasks, folders, or entire mailbox
Restore options	- Restore to original or alternate OneDrive - Download files - Export as ZIP - Advanced search/eDiscovery	- Restore to original or alternate SharePoint site - Download documents - Export as ZIP - Advanced search/eDiscovery	- Restore to original or alternate mailbox/folder - Export as PST, MSG, EML - Advanced search/eDiscovery
Restore speeds (RTO)	Fast, scalable, and dependent on your infrastructure; supports bulk and item-level restores	Fast, scalable, and dependent on your infrastructure; supports bulk and item-level restores	Fast, scalable, and dependent on your infrastructure; supports bulk and item-level restores
Auditability	All backup and restore actions fully auditable; detailed logs and reporting	All backup and restore actions fully auditable; detailed logs and reporting	All backup and restore actions fully auditable; detailed logs and reporting
Geographic residency	Data stored in your chosen location (on-premises, cloud, or hybrid); supports compliance requirements	Data stored in your chosen location (on-premises, cloud, or hybrid); supports compliance requirements	Data stored in your chosen location (on-premises, cloud, or hybrid); supports compliance requirements

Decision

Due to the satisfactory level of backup natively provided by M365, and the fact that additionnal costs for backup would not fit in the 2026 budgets, it was decided to choose Option 1: M365 Native Backup.

See also