What is SaaS backup?
SaaS backup is the practice of keeping an independent copy of data that lives in software-as-a-service applications, such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or Salesforce. The copy is held outside the application, under the customer's control, so that data can be recovered after deletion, corruption or an account compromise.
Why back up a service the provider already runs?
SaaS providers keep their platforms available and protect against failures of their own infrastructure. Responsibility for the data, who can access it, how long it is kept and whether it can be recovered after a mistake or an attack, stays with the customer. Built-in features such as recycle bins and version history cover short-term slips. They do not provide long retention, an independent copy or recovery from an administrator account that has been taken over. That difference is the SaaS retention gap.
How does SaaS backup work?
A backup product connects to the service through its published interfaces, using an account or application registration with read access. It retrieves mailboxes, files, sites, chats or records on a schedule, stores them in its own repository and tracks changes so that later runs are incremental. Restores are usually granular, an item-level restore of one message, file or site, and can target the original location or a different one.
Where is the backup data stored?
There are two models, and the choice affects control, cost and independence.
| Model | Where data lives | Consideration |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor-hosted | The backup vendor's cloud | Simple to start, location and retention set by the service |
| Customer-chosen repository | Object storage the customer selects, cloud or on-premises | Control over location, retention and cost, storage must be sized and run |
What should a SaaS backup be judged on?
Four questions cover most of it. Does it protect every service in use, including the ones behind collaboration tools? How long are items kept, and is that set by the customer? Is the copy stored separately from the SaaS tenant, with different credentials, and can it be made immutable? And how quickly can a single item, and a whole mailbox or site, be restored? Why a recycle bin is not a backup and Microsoft 365 backup sizing go further.
Frequently asked questions
Does Microsoft 365 include backup?
It includes availability and short-term recovery features such as recycle bins and retention policies. An independent, long-retention copy is a separate product or service.
Can SaaS backups be stored on-premises?
Yes, when the backup product can write to storage the customer chooses, such as S3-compatible object storage.
How much storage does SaaS backup need?
It depends on the amount of data, the change rate and the retention period. A pilot of a few weeks gives the most reliable figures.