Your Cloud Provider Is Not Your Backup Provider

Most businesses assume that because their data lives in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, it is backed up. That assumption is wrong, and it puts your business at risk every single day.

Microsoft and Google are responsible for keeping their platforms running. They handle uptime, infrastructure, and availability. What they do not handle is protecting your data from accidental deletion, ransomware, or a departing employee who takes their mailbox contents with them.

The UK Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey (DSIT 2025) found that 43% of UK businesses experienced a cyber attack in the past 12 months. Many of those attacks involved data destruction or encryption. If your only copy of that data sits inside Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, your recovery options are limited, or non-existent.

Not sure whether your current backup would survive a real incident? Book a Cyber Risk Check and we will assess your backup, email, and recovery setup. Or call us on 0151 452 3060.

What Microsoft and Google Actually Keep

Both platforms have retention policies, but they are designed for convenience, not disaster recovery.

  • OneDrive and SharePoint: Deleted files remain in the recycle bin for 93 days. After that, they are gone permanently.
  • Google Drive: Deleted files stay in the bin for 30 days. After that, recovery is not possible.
  • Email: Deleted emails in Microsoft 365 can be recovered for up to 30 days (14 days by default). Google Workspace gives admins 25 days after a user empties their bin.
  • Ransomware sync: If ransomware encrypts files on a device that syncs to OneDrive or Google Drive, the encrypted versions replace your originals in the cloud.

Version history can help if you catch the problem quickly. Leave it a few weeks, and there is nothing left to recover.

The Real Risks Are Everyday Ones

The biggest threat to your data is not a sophisticated hacker. It is human error.

  • Someone deletes what they think is a duplicate folder. It was not a duplicate.
  • A leaver’s account is deactivated, and everything they created or shared disappears with them.
  • A team member overwrites a critical spreadsheet and nobody notices for weeks.
  • Files get dragged into the wrong location during a tidy-up, and the originals vanish.

These scenarios happen every week in businesses across Liverpool, the Wirral, and the wider North West. Without independent backup, the data is simply gone.

Even if you never work with us, do this today

Ask your IT provider two questions: “When did you last test restoring a file from backup?” and “What happens to a leaver’s data after their account is deleted?” If they cannot answer both clearly, your data is at risk.

What Proper Cloud Backup Looks Like

A genuine backup solution creates an independent copy of your data, stored separately from your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace environment. That means:

  • Long-term retention: Recover emails, files, and calendar items from months or years ago, not just the last 30 days.
  • Leaver protection: Restore a former employee’s data long after their account has been removed.
  • Ransomware recovery: Roll back to clean versions of files without relying on sync history.
  • Granular restore: Recover a single email, a single file, or an entire mailbox, whatever you need.

Neither Microsoft 365 nor Google Workspace includes this level of protection. It has to be set up separately, and it is one of the most common gaps we see in businesses that think their IT is sorted.

How This Fits With Your Existing IT

If you already have an IT provider handling day-to-day support, cloud backup is exactly the kind of specialist layer they may not have in place. We work alongside existing IT teams as the security and cloud specialist layer, configuring the protections that close the gaps in your current setup.

What To Do Next

Cloud platforms are excellent productivity tools, but they are not backup solutions. If a file is deleted, overwritten, or encrypted, it may be gone permanently unless you have independent backup in place.

Here is how we help:

  • Cyber Risk Check – We assess your current backup, email security, and recovery posture. You get a clear report showing where the gaps are.
  • H-Protect Standard (from GBP 55/user/month) – Includes cloud backup for Microsoft 365, endpoint protection, credential breach monitoring, and quarterly vulnerability scanning. The backup gap disappears.
  • H-Protect Complete (from GBP 89/user/month) – Adds 24/7 security operations centre monitoring, continuous vulnerability management, and security awareness training for your team.

Book your Cyber Risk Check or call 0151 452 3060. We are based in Liverpool and work with businesses across the North West.