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There’s a dangerous assumption most businesses make about Microsoft 365: that Microsoft is backing up their data. They’re not — at least not the way you think.
Microsoft’s own Services Agreement spells it out clearly in clause 6B: “We recommend that you regularly backup Your Content and Data that you store on the Services or store using Third-Party Apps and Services.” This is Microsoft’s Shared Responsibility Model in action — they’re responsible for the infrastructure, but you’re responsible for your data.
If an employee accidentally deletes a critical email chain, a departing staff member wipes their OneDrive, or ransomware encrypts your SharePoint files — Microsoft’s default deleted item retention in Exchange Online gives you just 14 days to recover it (extendable to a maximum of 30 days via PowerShell, but most businesses never configure this). After that, the data is gone.
That’s why Microsoft 365 mailbox backup is part of every managed IT bundle we sell — and why backup of OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams is scoped and quoted separately rather than assumed. The product we use for it is Dropsuite, and here is what it does.
Dropsuite was acquired by NinjaOne in 2025, bringing its backup capabilities under one of the largest endpoint management platforms in the industry. Nothing changed on the backup side — same product, same features, now with stronger backing.
What Dropsuite Actually Backs Up
Dropsuite is capable of more than email: it can back up your wider Microsoft 365 environment, and Google Workspace too. What the DVG user bundle includes is Microsoft 365 mailbox backup. OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams and server backup require the applicable separately agreed scope and are quoted in your proposal.
Here’s the backup frequency:
- Email — backed up 12 times per day (every 2 hours)
- SharePoint, Teams channels, and Groups — backed up 3 times daily
- OneDrive — backed up twice daily
- Calendars, Contacts, and Tasks — backed up once daily
- Email Archiving — captures email in real time, not on a schedule
That means if something goes wrong at 10 AM, the most recent copy of your email is at most about two hours old — and same-day for everything else.
Unlimited Storage and Retention
Many backup products cap storage or charge extra past a threshold. The Dropsuite platform imposes no storage cap and supports retention from 30 days to 11 years; the retention period contracted for your organisation is set in your proposal.
That matters for two reasons:
- Running out of space stops being a concern. Your backup grows alongside your mailboxes and SharePoint libraries without surprise costs.
- You can keep data as long as you need to. Whether it’s for regulatory compliance, legal holds, or simply peace of mind — your historical data stays available.
You can also set granular retention policies at the mailbox or individual file level, anywhere from 30 days to 11 years. This gives you precise control over how long data is kept without managing it manually.
Archive, Trim, and Purge
One thing that sets Dropsuite apart from most backup products: the ability to trim and purge data through its archival tool.
This is significant for businesses that need to manage data lifecycle — whether for compliance, storage optimization, or simply keeping things clean. Most backup solutions are write-only: data goes in, and you can restore it, but you can’t selectively remove it. Dropsuite gives you that control.
AES-256 Encryption
Every backup is protected with AES-256 bit encryption — the same standard used by governments and financial institutions worldwide. Your data is encrypted both in transit (while being backed up) and at rest (while stored in Dropsuite’s cloud servers).
Access to restores is limited to authorized administrators, and every restore is logged.
eDiscovery Built In
If your business ever faces a legal matter, regulatory inquiry, or internal investigation, you need the ability to search across historical email and files quickly. Dropsuite includes eDiscovery as a built-in feature — no add-on licensing, no third-party tools.
You can search across all backed-up mailboxes, apply date ranges and keyword filters, and export results. For businesses in regulated industries like healthcare, legal, or finance, this alone justifies the investment.
Why This Matters for Northern Ontario Businesses
Data loss doesn’t discriminate by geography, but the consequences hit harder when you’re running a lean operation. A law firm in Thunder Bay that loses six months of email correspondence can’t just “figure it out.” A nonprofit in Timmins that gets hit with ransomware and has no backup is looking at weeks of disruption — or worse.
The businesses we work with across Northwestern Ontario typically don’t have dedicated IT staff watching for these risks. That’s exactly why we bundle mailbox backup into our managed IT services — so backup is something that just happens, automatically, without anyone having to think about it.
The Bottom Line
Microsoft 365 is excellent infrastructure. But it is not a backup solution. If you’re relying on Microsoft’s built-in retention to protect your business data, you’re operating with a 14-day safety net — 30 at best, if someone remembered to extend it — and hoping nothing falls through.
Dropsuite gives you:
- Frequent backups of the data within your agreed backup scope
- No storage cap, with your retention period set in your proposal
- Granular control over retention policies and data lifecycle
- AES-256 encryption in transit and at rest
- eDiscovery for legal and compliance needs
- Real-time email archiving that goes beyond scheduled backups
- One portal to manage backup across your entire organization
If you’re not sure whether your business data is properly backed up — or you know it isn’t — we can help.
Book a free backup assessment →
Or reach us at (807) 700-0061 or solutions@dvgsystems.com.
DVG Systems is a Thunder Bay-based managed IT provider serving businesses across Northwestern Ontario. We specialize in Microsoft 365, cloud backup, cybersecurity, and managed IT services for small and mid-size organizations.