Backups you can actually restore from — not just backups that finished last night.
Almost every business has 'a backup' somewhere. Very few have a backup that would survive a ransomware event, a cloud tenant compromise, or an accidental mass-delete. We design, deploy and (importantly) test proper immutable backup and disaster-recovery for your Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, servers and workstations - so when something goes wrong, restoring is a Tuesday afternoon, not a bad month.
Immutable, not just 'in the cloud'
An immutable backup cannot be edited, encrypted or deleted once written — even by an attacker with your admin credentials. That is the difference between 'we have backups' and 'we have backups that will survive the attack that just took us out'.
Tested restores, not hopeful ones
A backup that has never been restored from is a hope, not a plan. We schedule regular test restores against your critical systems - files, mailboxes, VMs - so when the real day comes, everyone already knows how the drill runs.
Recovery targets that match your business
Not every system deserves the same treatment. We work with you to set realistic RTO (how quickly you need it back) and RPO (how much data loss you can absorb) targets per system, and we build the backup regime around those numbers — not a one-size-fits-all sales sheet.
This is one of the biggest misconceptions in small business IT. OneDrive, SharePoint, Google Drive and Dropbox are sync services, not backup services. If a file is deleted, corrupted, encrypted by ransomware, or overwritten by a user on any device, that change syncs to every other device within seconds — including to Microsoft's or Google's copy of your data. Retention policies buy you a short recovery window (typically 30 to 93 days) but they are not the same as an independent, immutable backup, and Microsoft themselves are very clear on this: they will restore the service, not your data. A ransomware attack that hits your synced folder hits the cloud copy the moment it hits your machine. A proper backup lives outside of that sync path, is immutable, and can go back further than any built-in recycle bin.
- OneDrive / SharePoint / Google Drive / Dropbox sync every change — including deletions and ransomware encryption
- Cloud provider retention windows are limited (Microsoft 365: 30-93 days depending on plan)
- Microsoft's shared responsibility model puts your data on you, not them
- An immutable backup lives outside the sync path and cannot be modified retroactively
- The right question is not 'do we have OneDrive?' — it's 'if all our OneDrive files were encrypted overnight, could we restore them?'
The Backup & DR Platforms We Trust
We don't sell a single-vendor answer — we pick the right combination for what you're protecting, how quickly it needs to come back, and where it needs to live.
What We Actually Back Up
Microsoft 365 (Full Tenant)
Independent, third-party backup of Exchange mailboxes, OneDrive, SharePoint sites, Teams channels and OneNote. Retention set to what your compliance framework needs, not Microsoft's default. Restore individual items or roll a whole tenant back to a point in time.
Google Workspace
Mail, Drive, Calendar and Contacts backed up outside of Google. Item-level restore for accidentally deleted files or emails; full-account restore if a Workspace account is compromised or offboarded incorrectly.
Windows & Linux Servers
Image-level backup of on-prem and cloud servers - Windows, Linux, virtualised or bare-metal. Fast bare-metal or virtual restore to dissimilar hardware if the original host is dead, encrypted or unavailable.
Azure & Cloud VMs
Azure Backup Vaults and Recovery Services configured with immutable soft-delete, cross-region redundancy, and scheduled point-in-time restore. Same treatment for cloud VMs running in other public clouds where applicable.
Workstations & Laptops
Endpoint backup for user devices - the ones with the desktop full of files that never made it to OneDrive. Encrypted, deduplicated, and retention-controlled so you're not paying for years of noise.
Line-of-Business Apps & Databases
Application-aware backup for SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL and the vertical-market apps that sit on top of them. Consistent restore points, not just 'we grabbed a file while the database was mid-write'.
Immutable Cloud Vault
A tamper-proof cloud vault for the copy an attacker could never reach - even if they've fully compromised your primary environment. Write-once, read-many, retention-locked. The last line of defence, and the one that actually saves you.
Disaster Recovery Runbooks
Backups without a plan is just cost. We write and maintain your DR runbook - the ordered checklist of who does what, in what sequence, to get you back online after a major incident. Reviewed with you at least annually and after any material change.
Scheduled Test Restores
Every managed backup client gets scheduled test restores against a defined set of systems - files, mailboxes, VMs. The result is a signed-off report that confirms the backup actually works, not just that it finished.
The old '3-2-1' rule (three copies, two media, one off-site) is still useful, but it was written before ransomware was the primary threat. Modern guidance extends it to 3-2-1-1-0: three copies of your data, on two different media, one of which is off-site, one of which is immutable (or air-gapped), and zero verification errors on your latest restore test. That last digit is the important one - it is the difference between 'we have backups' and 'we have restorable backups'.
- 3 copies of your data (the original plus two backups)
- 2 different media types (so a single media failure can't wipe everything)
- 1 copy off-site (protects against fire, theft, flood at the primary location)
- 1 copy immutable or air-gapped (protects against ransomware and malicious admin access)
- 0 errors on the latest test restore (proves the backup is actually restorable, not just present)
What's the difference between OneDrive and a backup, really?
Think of OneDrive as a shared folder that lives on every device you own and in Microsoft's cloud, all at the same time. Save a file, delete a file, edit a file — the change appears on every copy within seconds. That is brilliant for collaboration and continuity if a laptop dies. It is a disaster if the change was ransomware encrypting all your files, or a user deleting the wrong folder, or an attacker with your password wiping everything from the cloud. A proper backup is a completely separate copy of your data, held somewhere your day-to-day accounts cannot reach or overwrite. If everything on your OneDrive is encrypted overnight, the backup is untouched. You restore from it to a known-good point in time and you are back trading. The short version: OneDrive protects you from a broken laptop. A backup protects you from a broken company.
How We Get You Backed Up Properly
We inventory what you actually run - M365 tenant, Workspace, servers, apps, endpoints - and rank each system for how critical it is to the business and how much data loss you can absorb. This becomes the RTO / RPO map for the backup design.
Based on the map, we pick the right blend of tools - Azure Backup, Acronis, Syncro Backup, LiveDrive, Google Cloud - to hit your recovery targets without overpaying for tiers you don't need. We show you the workings, not just the total.
We deploy the backup agents, configure schedules, set retention, and (critically) enable immutability wherever the vendor supports it - so a compromised admin account cannot delete or modify historical backups.
We run a full test restore against a real workload, document the process, and hand you a DR runbook covering roles, order of operations and communications. If nobody has ever restored from a backup, nobody knows if the backup works.
Backups are monitored end-to-end (job success, capacity, immutability policy status) and test restores are scheduled quarterly or more often for critical systems. Any drift is flagged before you find out about it the hard way.
Common Questions
Isn't Microsoft 365 already backed up by Microsoft?
No - not in the sense most people mean. Microsoft guarantees the availability of the service, not the recoverability of your specific data. Their shared-responsibility model puts your data on you. Native recycle-bin retention buys you 30 to 93 days depending on plan, and it will not save you from ransomware, malicious admin actions, or accidental mass-delete beyond that window. A third-party immutable backup of your M365 tenant is the standard modern approach.
Do you back up Google Workspace as well?
Yes. We back up Google Workspace - Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Contacts - to an independent vault outside of Google, with item-level restore and full-account restore. Same principle as M365: Google keeps the service running, we keep your data recoverable.
What does 'immutable' actually mean in practice?
It means the backup, once written, cannot be edited, encrypted or deleted for a defined retention window - not even by someone with full admin credentials. In practical terms, if a ransomware attacker or a rogue insider tries to delete your backups before deploying an encryption payload, they cannot. The backup is legally / cryptographically frozen. Azure Backup Vaults, Acronis, and modern S3-compatible object storage all support this.
How much data loss will we lose in a real incident?
Depends on your RPO (recovery point objective) per system, which we agree with you upfront. Typical figures: 15 minutes for a mission-critical database, 1 hour for a line-of-business app, 24 hours for a file share, 24-48 hours for endpoints. We build the backup schedule around those numbers so 'how much data is at risk' is a known figure, not a surprise on the day.
How much does it cost?
Costs vary with data volume, retention period, immutability requirements, and whether we're covering just cloud services or a mix of cloud and on-prem. We provide clear, per-workload pricing so you can see exactly where the money goes. Get in touch and we'll take you through a proposal for your specific setup.
How quickly can you get us backed up if we're starting from nothing?
For a straightforward M365 or Google Workspace deployment we can be actively backing up within a few days. Full-estate coverage (M365 + servers + endpoints + DR runbook + first test restore) typically takes a couple of weeks depending on scale and complexity. Whatever the timescale, we prioritise your most critical systems first so you're not sitting exposed while the rest of the rollout continues.
Would you actually survive losing everything tomorrow?
Book a free 30-minute backup review with our team. We'll take an honest look at what you have, what would restore in practice, and where the gaps are. No obligation, no scare tactics, just a clear picture of your position.