What does a Microsoft 365 backup service in Europe give you?

Why back up Microsoft 365 outside Microsoft?

Because Microsoft keeps the service running, not your history of data. Its own shared responsibility documentation says customers always remain responsible for their data, accounts and access management, including in SaaS services such as Microsoft 365.

In practice, recovery windows are short. Deleted SharePoint and OneDrive items stay in the recycle bin for 93 days, according to Microsoft Support. After that they're gone, unless you've kept a copy somewhere else. That separate copy is what backup as a service is for.

Think of a project manager in Utrecht who leaves in March. In July, a client disputes an invoice and the signed approval was in her OneDrive. Without an independent backup taken before her account was removed, that file is very likely gone. We explain the native limits in more detail in does Microsoft 365 back up my data?

What are the 8 benefits of a Microsoft 365 backup service?

Longer and more precise recovery, protection against attacks on your tenant, EU jurisdiction, less work for your IT team and evidence for auditors. Here are the eight in order of how often they matter.

1. Recovery beyond 93 days. Restore mail, files and sites from well past Microsoft's recycle bin window, according to your own retention policy.
2. A way back after ransomware. Attackers increasingly come in through identities. The Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2025 found identity-based attacks rose by 32% in the first half of 2025. An immutable copy outside the tenant can't be encrypted or purged with a stolen admin password.
3. Granular restore. Bring back one email, one folder, a full mailbox or a whole SharePoint site, without rolling back everything else.
4. All four core workloads. Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams in one policy, so Teams and SharePoint don't fall through the gap.
5. EU storage and jurisdiction. Backup data stays in EU data centres with an EU provider. More on why that matters below.
6. No backup infrastructure to run. No servers, storage or patching on your side. Jobs are checked and monitored by the provider.
7. Evidence for audits and insurers. Backup reports and test restores give you something concrete to show for NIS2, ISO 27001 or a cyber insurance questionnaire.
8. Room to grow. Storage scales with your data, so a growing SharePoint estate doesn't force a new project.

Why does EU storage matter for Microsoft 365 backup?

Because where data sits and which law reaches it are two different questions. Keeping a backup with an EU provider in EU data centres means your recovery copy doesn't depend on the same supplier, or the same jurisdiction, as your production data.

Microsoft has done a lot here. Its EU Data Boundary commits to storing and processing Microsoft 365 customer data in the EU and EFTA, subject to limited documented exceptions. But Microsoft is a US company, and the US CLOUD Act requires providers to disclose data in their "possession, custody, or control, regardless of whether such communication, record, or other information is located within or outside of the United States", as 18 U.S.C. § 2713 puts it.

Anton Carniaux of Microsoft France was asked about this under oath by a French Senate inquiry in June 2025. Asked whether he could guarantee French data would not be transmitted to US authorities without French approval, he said: "No, I cannot guarantee that," while adding that it had never happened, The Register reported.

The GDPR adds its own rule. Article 48 GDPR says a third-country court or authority order to transfer personal data is only recognised if it's based on an international agreement such as a mutual legal assistance treaty. For a deeper look, read what data sovereignty means.

Microsoft 365 Backup or a European backup service: which fits?

Microsoft 365 Backup is a solid native option if you mainly want longer retention inside Microsoft. A European backup service fits better if you want a second supplier, separate credentials and EU jurisdiction for your recovery copy.

The Microsoft 365 Backup details come from Microsoft's Microsoft 365 Backup FAQ. Microsoft's own ransomware protection guidance for Microsoft 365 recommends evaluating either its add-on or a partner solution, so the choice is yours. Our Microsoft 365 backup page has the full specification of our service, which is ISO 27001 and NEN 7510 audited.

What should you check before choosing a Microsoft 365 backup provider?

Ask seven questions. A provider who can't answer them clearly in writing is a risk in itself.

• Coverage: are Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams all included, including leavers' accounts?
• Immutability: can anyone, including your own admin or the provider's staff, delete backups before they expire?
• Separation: is there an air-gapped or offline copy, in line with the 3-2-1-1-0 rule?
• Location and law: which data centres, which countries, and which company owns them?
• Verification: is every backup job checked, and who looks at failures?
• Restore: how granular, how fast, and can you test it yourself? See how to verify your backup works.
• Paperwork: certifications, a GDPR Data Processing Agreement and evidence you can hand to an auditor.

What to do next

A Microsoft 365 backup service in Europe gives you what Microsoft's native tools don't: recovery beyond 93 days, a copy an attacker can't reach through your tenant, and a recovery plan that rests on a second, EU-based supplier. If you fall under NIS2, Article 21(2)(c) of Directive (EU) 2022/2555 names backup management and disaster recovery among the required measures.

See how Microsoft 365 fits into the rest of your protection on our backup as a service page. Or book a free 15-minute demo and we'll show you a restore from our Dutch and German data centres, in your language.

This article is information, not legal advice.