Migrating to Synology Microsoft 365 Backups
As organizations continue to expand their Microsoft 365 environments, many are re-evaluating their cloud backup strategies. Subscription-based backup platforms often provide a quick starting point, but recurring per-user licensing fees, increasing storage costs, and limited control over backup data can become significant challenges as businesses grow.
Many organizations are now migrating from SaaS backup providers to Synology Active Backup for Microsoft 365 to reduce long-term costs, simplify backup management, and gain complete ownership of their backup infrastructure. Whether moving from platforms such as Veeam, AvePoint, or relying solely on Microsoft’s native retention capabilities, organizations are discovering that an on-premises backup strategy offers greater flexibility, scalability, and control.
Why Organizations Reconsider SaaS Backup
Subscription-based backup platforms are popular because they are easy to deploy.
However, as environments expand, organizations often encounter:
- Growing subscription costs
- Per-user licensing fees
- Increasing storage charges
- Limited backup ownership
- Complex pricing structures
- Higher long-term operational costs
These challenges become more noticeable as Microsoft 365 adoption grows.
Why Native Microsoft 365 Protection Is Not Enough
Microsoft provides retention and recovery features, but these are not designed to replace a dedicated backup solution.
Organizations often require:
- Independent backup copies
- Longer retention periods
- Flexible recovery options
- Protection from accidental deletion
- Business continuity planning
- Regulatory compliance
Maintaining an independent backup provides additional resilience and operational flexibility.
Migration Story: Reducing Long-Term Costs
One growing organization had relied on a subscription-based Microsoft 365 backup service for several years.
As the company expanded, it experienced:
- Higher annual licensing costs
- More Microsoft 365 users
- Growing OneDrive storage
- Larger SharePoint repositories
- Increasing backup expenses
After evaluating alternatives, the organization migrated to Synology Active Backup for Microsoft 365.
The results included:
- Elimination of recurring per-user backup licensing
- Lower long-term operating costs
- Greater control over backup data
- Scalable storage expansion
- Simplified administration
Migration Story: Simplifying Backup Management
Another organization managed both Microsoft 365 and on-premises infrastructure using multiple backup products.
The environment included:
- Microsoft 365
- Windows Servers
- VMware virtual machines
- Employee computers
- NAS storage
Managing several backup platforms created unnecessary complexity.
After implementing Synology, the organization consolidated protection using:
- Active Backup for Microsoft 365
- Active Backup for Business
- Snapshot Replication
- Hyper Backup
The result was a single backup ecosystem with centralized management and simplified recovery.
Migration Story: Greater Control Over Data
A financial services organization wanted greater ownership of its backup infrastructure to support regulatory requirements and internal governance.
Its priorities included:
- Local backup storage
- Flexible retention policies
- Independent backup copies
- Faster recovery
- Data sovereignty
- Audit readiness
By moving to Synology, the organization maintained full control over backup storage while improving compliance and business continuity.
Planning a Successful Migration
Migrating backup platforms requires careful planning.
Organizations should evaluate:
- Current Microsoft 365 data volume
- Retention policies
- Storage capacity
- Recovery objectives
- User growth
- Compliance requirements
Proper planning minimizes disruption during migration.
Building a Unified Backup Platform
Many organizations use migration as an opportunity to consolidate backup services.
Synology supports:
- Microsoft 365
- Windows Servers
- Linux servers
- VMware
- Microsoft Hyper-V
- Physical endpoints
Protecting cloud and on-premises infrastructure through one platform reduces operational complexity.
Storage Efficiency Improves Long-Term Value
Efficient storage utilization helps reduce future costs.
Synology provides:
- Incremental backups
- Data deduplication (where supported)
- Compression
- Flexible retention policies
- Scalable NAS storage
- Long-term backup management
These features maximize storage capacity while delaying future hardware investments.
Self-Service Recovery Improves Productivity
The Active Backup for Microsoft 365 Portal allows authorized users to recover their own data.
Users can restore:
- Exchange Online emails
- OneDrive files
- SharePoint documents
- Microsoft Teams content
Without opening an IT support ticket.
Self-service recovery reduces helpdesk workload while improving user productivity.
Supporting Business Continuity
Migration is about more than reducing costs.
Organizations also strengthen resilience through:
- Independent backup copies
- Faster recovery
- Snapshot Replication
- Off-site backup
- Disaster recovery planning
- Centralized monitoring
A unified backup strategy helps improve operational continuity during cyber incidents or accidental data loss.
Planning for Future Growth
Microsoft 365 environments continue to expand.
Organizations should prepare for:
- Additional users
- Larger OneDrive repositories
- Growing SharePoint environments
- Increased Teams collaboration
- Longer retention requirements
- Storage expansion
Synology’s scalable storage architecture allows organizations to grow without replacing their backup platform.
Best Practices for Backup Migration
Organizations can improve migration success by:
- Assessing existing backup environments
- Planning storage capacity
- Migrating during maintenance windows
- Verifying backup integrity
- Testing recovery procedures
- Monitoring backup performance
- Training administrators on the new platform
These practices help ensure a smooth transition with minimal disruption.
Why Organizations Choose Synology
Synology Active Backup for Microsoft 365 provides centralized protection for Exchange Online, OneDrive, SharePoint Online, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft 365 Groups without recurring per-user backup licensing fees. Combined with Active Backup for Business, Snapshot Replication, Hyper Backup, scalable NAS storage, and centralized management, Synology helps organizations simplify backup administration, reduce long-term costs, and strengthen business continuity. Migrate to Synology for scalable M365 backups.
About Epis Technology
Epis Technology helps organizations migrate from legacy and SaaS backup platforms to Synology through infrastructure assessments, Microsoft 365 backup implementation, storage architecture planning, disaster recovery strategy, cybersecurity consulting, Active Backup for Business deployment, and ongoing managed support. With extensive Synology expertise, Epis Technology helps businesses modernize their backup environments, reduce operational costs, and build secure, scalable data protection solutions for long-term growth.