Cloud Workspace Backup — the part Microsoft won't tell you about.
Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and Hosted Exchange only keep deleted data for 30–90 days by default. After that, deleted email, files, and SharePoint content is gone. Cloud Workspace Backup covers that gap with daily backup, unlimited retention, and one-click restore. Data stays in Canada.
Most business owners assume Microsoft is backing up their data. They aren't.
Microsoft 365's default retention on deleted email is 30 days. Deleted SharePoint and OneDrive files sit in a recycle bin for 30 days, then get purged. Google Workspace and Hosted Exchange are similar. After the retention window closes, if something is deleted — by accident, by a departing employee, by ransomware — it's gone.
Microsoft themselves recommend third-party backup. Their Services Agreement, Section 6b, is direct: "we recommend that you regularly backup Your Content and Data ... using Third-Party Apps and Services."
This is a different piece of your data than what our regular managed IT plan already covers. Files on your workstations and servers — those we've always backed up daily, and nothing about that changes. Cloud Workspace Backup covers the cloud-workspace piece: what lives inside Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or your Hosted Exchange host. Two different backup strategies, both needed.
Everything a user touches in their cloud workspace.
Email + calendar + contacts
OneDrive + Google Drive
SharePoint sites
Teams + public folders
Canadian data residency
Encrypted at rest and in transit
Backup is nothing without restore.
A backup you can't restore from is just an expensive false-sense-of-security. Cloud Workspace Backup is designed around the restore, not the backup.
- One-click restore of a single email, file, or folder
- Full mailbox restore back to the original account or a new one
- Point-in-time restore — go back to any daily snapshot
- Full SharePoint site restore with permissions intact
- Self-serve restore portal for your team (if enabled)
- Cross-user restore for HR / departing-employee scenarios
- Departing employee. Someone leaves and IT deletes their account per policy. Two months later, legal needs an email from that account. Restore it in minutes.
- Ransomware event. An attacker encrypts SharePoint files. Roll SharePoint back to the day before the encryption, keep going.
- Accidental deletion. A user empties a folder they shouldn't have. If it's within 30 days, Microsoft's recycle bin might save you. If it's older, only your backup can.
- Compliance / discovery. Legal or auditor wants email history from 3 years ago. Microsoft doesn't have it anymore. You do.
Priced per user. Rate scales with your managed IT tier.
CWB is offered as an add-on to our managed IT tiers. Higher tiers get lower per-user rates. Bills monthly alongside your managed plan.
| Your managed IT tier | Per-user rate | Included users | Monthly at included count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $12.95 / user / mo | 5 | $64.75 / mo |
| Silver | $11.95 / user / mo | 10 | $119.50 / mo |
| Gold | $9.95 / user / mo | 25 | $248.75 / mo |
| Platinum | $7.95 / user / mo | 50 | $397.50 / mo |
More users than your tier's included count? Each additional user is billed at your tier's per-user rate. Mixed environment (some M365, some Google Workspace)? No problem — same per-user rate applies across platforms.
Cloud Workspace Backup FAQ
Doesn't Microsoft (or Google) already back up my data?+
No — not in the way business owners typically assume. Microsoft 365's default retention on deleted email is 30 days. Deleted SharePoint or OneDrive files sit in a recycle bin for 30 days, then are purged. After that, if something is deleted — by accident, by a departing employee, or by ransomware — it's gone. Microsoft themselves recommend third-party backup for exactly this reason. Their Services Agreement, Section 6b, explicitly states: "we recommend that you regularly backup Your Content and Data ... using Third-Party Apps and Services." Google Workspace and Hosted Exchange have similar limits.
How long is the retention with Cloud Workspace Backup?+
Unlimited. Once your data is backed up, it stays backed up for as long as you're a subscriber — no rolling deletion, no age-out. If a user emails something in 2026 and gets fired in 2030, the 2026 email is still in the backup and can be restored.
How fast can we restore if we need to?+
One-click restore of a single mailbox, file, folder, or SharePoint site takes minutes. Larger restores (a full mailbox with 20 years of email, an entire SharePoint site) take longer depending on volume but are typically completed within hours, not days. All restores go back to the original location by default, or to a new location if you're recovering after an active compromise.
What data is actually covered?+
For Microsoft 365: mailboxes (email, calendar, contacts, tasks), OneDrive files, SharePoint sites and libraries, Teams messages and files, and public folders. For Google Workspace: Gmail, Drive files (personal and shared), Google Sites, Contacts, and Calendar. For Hosted Exchange: mailboxes and public folders. Basically everything a user interacts with in their workspace.
Where is the data stored?+
In Canada. Data residency matters for many of our clients — regulated industries, government contracts, Band Councils, professional-services firms with confidentiality obligations. Cloud Workspace Backup uses Canadian datacentres exclusively, so backups don't cross the border.
Can we self-serve restores, or do we always have to call?+
Both options work. Your team can be granted self-serve restore access through a web portal — useful for the "I accidentally deleted an email from Tuesday" cases. For bigger restores (post-ransomware, post-employee-departure), we usually recommend calling us so we can help you scope the restore properly and avoid restoring compromised data alongside clean data.
Doesn't your regular managed IT plan already back up my data?+
For files on your workstations and servers, yes — that runs daily and is completely separate from this. Cloud Workspace Backup covers a different piece of data: what lives in Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or your Hosted Exchange. Those are cloud services running on someone else's infrastructure, so our on-premises backup doesn't see them. Cloud Workspace Backup fills that gap.
Do we need CWB if we already have cyber insurance?+
Cyber insurance can help pay for recovery — but it can't recover data that was never backed up. CWB is what makes the recovery possible in the first place. Cyber insurance is the financial safety net for after an incident; CWB is the operational safety net that ensures there's something to actually restore. You want both.
Add CWB to your managed plan.
One phone call, one line-item added to your invoice, daily backups of your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace data starting the same week. Data stays in Canada.