Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are not a backup — here's the gap

Both platforms protect against their own outages, but native recycle bins and version history have limited retention, often 30-90 days, and don't protect against an attacker or a rushed employee deliberately deleting or encrypting everything. A dedicated third-party backup for Exchange, SharePoint and OneDrive, or Gmail and Drive, closes that gap with independent, longer retention.

Coach's tip: ask directly "what happens if someone permanently deletes a folder six months ago and nobody notices until now?" — if the answer is "nothing we can do," you need a real backup.