The Best Microsoft 365 Backup Solution in 2023

Search by user

SysCloud supports user-level search for all the apps. Administrators can easily locate files in the backup archives for each user.

AvePoint supports user-level search for all the apps.

CloudAlly supports user-level search for all apps.

Spanning supports user-level search for all apps.

Afi supports user-level search for all the apps.

Backupify supports user-level search for all apps.

Administrators can easily locate files in the backup archives for each user within the past 100 versions. If the file is more than 100 versions old, you can find it in a separate ‘Archive’ section. Source

Granular search filters

Search options available in SysCloud: In Mail – subject, sent/received date, From, To. Cc, Bcc. In OneDrive- File owner, last modified by, file name, folder name. In Calendar- Organizer name, organizer email, event create date. In People- Name, email and date created.

AvePoint supports search based on content type, date created, file size, parent list name, parent folder name, email subject, date sent and more.

CloudAlly supports search based on content type, date, file size, and more.

Spanning supports search based on content type, date, file size, and more.

Afi supports advanced filter options such as metadata search fields like email subject etc.

Backupify can search the email subject, email sender address, document title, calendar event title, name or email address of the contact. Backupify supports Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) in the search queries.

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to perform a granular search.

Keyword-based content search for emails and files

SysCloud supports full-text search capability for mails and files.

AvePoint supports full-text search capability for mails and files.

CloudAlly supports users to enter keywords to find a specific task.

Spanning allows customers to search emails based on keywords in the email or file.

Afi supports Outlook email search using keywords in the email content.

Backupify does not support content search for emails and files. Source

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to perform content search.

Unlimited backup storage

SysCloud provides truly unlimited backup storage with simple per user-based pricing plan.

AvePoint provides unlimited backup storage.

CloudAlly provides unlimited backup storage.

Spanning provides unlimited backup storage.

While they claim unlimited retention, it is not clear if the pricing is different based on the storage is consumed. Source

Backupify does not limit the backup storage, but they implement snapshot pruning where multiple snapshots of a user backup are removed. Source

We do not have information on whether SpinOne provides truly unlimited backup.

Automated user removal - Identify suspended & deleted users and automatically reuse their license.

SysCloud can identify suspended & deleted users in the backup archives. Automatically using the licenses of deleted or suspended users for active users is not possible. Deleted or suspended users will also need an active license.

We do not have information on AvePoint’s capabilities for automatic license management.

CloudAlly can identify suspended & deleted users in the backup archives. Automatically using the licenses of deleted or suspended users for active users is not possible. Deleted or suspended users will also need an active license.

Spanning can identify suspended & deleted users in the backup archives. Automatically using the licenses of deleted or suspended users for active users is not possible. Deleted or suspended users will also need an active license.

Deleted Microsoft 365 users are auto-archived indefinitely for free.

Backupify can identify suspended & deleted users in the backup archives. Automatically using the licenses of deleted or suspended users for active users is not possible. Deleted or suspended users will also need an active license.

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to perform automated user removal. However, SpinOne provides an option to assign “low-cost Archive licenses” to inactive users. Source

Manual user removal - manually remove user-based on customer requests

SysCloud provides an option to manually delete user archives.

AvePoint provides an option to manually delete user archives.

CloudAlly provides an option to manually delete user archives.

Spanning provides an option to manually delete user archives.

We do not have information on Afi’s capabilities for manual deletion of user archives.

Backupify provides an option to manually delete user archives.

User licenses can be removed manually. This data is retained for 30 days. After 30 days, the data is removed and becomes unrecoverable.

Archive location

SysCloud allows customers to choose between United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia regions to store their archive data.

AvePoint offers multiple locations to store your archives, but the list of locations is unknown.

CloudAlly allows customers to choose between the United States, EU, and Australia.

Spanning allows customers to choose between US, Europe, and Australia regions.

Afi allows customers to choose between United States (Iowa), the European Union (the Netherlands), Britain, Canada, and Australia.

Backupify allows customers to choose between US (Pennsylvania), Canada (Toronto), United Kingdom (London), Germany (Munich), and Asia Pacific (Sydney).

Customers can choose between the US (Iowa), Australia (Sydney), Europe (Netherlands), and Asia (Singapore).

Data storage platform

SysCloud stores backup archives on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AvePoint supports data storage on Microsoft Azure, AWS and Dropbox.

CloudAlly stores backup archives on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Spanning stores backup archives on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Afi stores archive data in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). It also supports connected customer-owned S3 compatible cloud storage.

All data is stored in private clouds. Source

SpinOne stores backup archives in the Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Azure clouds, or custom storage locations.

External threat - ransomware

SysCloud scans for ransomware in the backup archives and flags potential ransomware threats via the dashboard. It also identifies the last safe snapshot to restore from the archives.

AvePoint has the ability to identify ransomware in the backup archives.

We do not have information on CloudAlly’s capabilities to detect ransomware threats.

We do not have information on Spanning’s capabilities to detect ransomware threats.

Afi monitors ransomware in the backup archives and sends email notifications to admins. It also preserves the last clean version of the data in case of ransomware encryption.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capabilities to detect ransomware threats.

SpinOne offers ransomware protection for OneDrive, Outlook, and SharePoint.

Privacy and compliance

SysCloud scans for any sensitive data in the backup archives and notifies the administrator.

We do not have information on AvePoint’s capabilities to detect privacy and compliance violations.

We do not have information on CloudAlly’s capabilities to detect privacy and compliance violations.

We do not have information on Spanning’s capabilities to detect privacy and compliance violations.

We do not have information on Afi’s capabilities to detect privacy and compliance violations.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capabilities to detect privacy and compliance violations.

SpinOne scans for the presence of sensitive data in the backup archives and notifies the administrator.

Outlook

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

OneDrive

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

People

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Calendar

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

SharePoint Online

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Team Sites

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Teams Conversations

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Backup status

The dashboard provides a complete backup status and health report for the past 30 days. Admins can drill-down to see the number of in-progress and completed backup jobs for the domain.

AvePoint displays backup status at service level.

CloudAlly allows transparent status monitoring of their backup tasks.

Spanning provides a daily status notification and an audit log.

Afi provides an overview tab that has a backup status widget that shows the backup health status for the past week along with any backup failures and errors.

Backupify overview pages shows the total number of backups currently in progress.

The dashboard shows the backup status for the last 14 days.

Restore status

The dashboard provides a complete restore status and health report for the past 90 days. Admins can drill-down to see the number of in-progress and completed restore requests.

AvePoint displays total items restored by item type and service. Users can navigate to job status page to view more details.

CloudAlly has a jobs dashboard where users can monitor restores.

Spanning displays restore status in the 'Restore' tab.

Afi provides an overview tab that has a restore status widget that shows the restore health status for the past week along with any restore failures and errors.

Backupify overview pages shows the total number of restores currently in progress.

Restore status is not displayed on the dashboard. We do not have information whether the restore status can be accessed from anywhere else within the app. Source

Export status

The dashboard provides a complete health report on the export status and requests for the past 90 days. Admins can drill-down to see the number of in-progress and completed export requests.

AvePoint refers to export as offline restore. Hence export status is combined with restore report.

CloudAlly has a jobs dashboard where users can monitor exports.

Spanning displays export status of ongoing export in the 'Restore' tab.

Afi provides an overview tab that has an export status widget that shows the restore health status for the past week along with any restore failures and errors.

Backupify overview pages shows the total number of exports currently in progress.

Export status is not displayed on the dashboard. We do not have information whether the export status can be accessed from anywhere else within the app. [13:59] Anju SysCloud

Number of items backed up

Admins can see the number of items backed up in each service on the dashboard.

AvePoint displays number of items backed up at service level.

CloudAlly displays the number of items backed up.

Spanning displays the number of items under each user on the dashboard.

Afi provides an overview tab that has a data dynamics widget that shows the number of items backed up for each service for the past seven days.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capability to display number of items backed up.

The dashboard provides the number of items backed up in each service.

Total size

The dashboard displays the total storage consumed by each service in the domain.

We do not have information on AvePoint’s capability to display total size of the backup on the dashboard.

CloudAlly displays the total size of backups complete.

Spanning shows total size of the data on the dashboard.

The dashboard shows the total storage the backup occupies for each domain.

The Backupify overview pages shows the total size of the backup archives.

The dashboard displays the total storage consumed as well as the remaining storage available.

Threats

SysCloud automatically detects and flags any ransomware threat in the backup archives. Admins can easily drill-down from the dashboard for more details on the flagged threats.

We do not have information on how threats are presented.

We do not have information on how threats are presented.

We do not have information on how threats are presented.

We do not have information on how threats are presented.

We do not have information on how threats are presented.

The dashboard displays the various risks that are detected in the backup archives.

Action required

The dashboard alerts admins about errors that require admin action in the backup, restore, or export.

We do not have information on how errors that require admin action are presented.

We do not have information on how errors that require admin action are presented.

Spanning allows admins to filter backup status based on action required in the backup.

We do not have information on how errors that require admin action are presented.

We do not have information on how errors that require admin action are presented.

We do not have information on how errors that require admin action are presented.

Errors

The SysCloud dashboard displays the number of temporary or permanent errors in the backup, restore, and export tasks. Admins can easily drill-down to see more details.

AvePoint displays backup failures at a service level.

CloudAlly allows the user to view the failed backups, restores and exports.

Spanning allows admins to filter backup status based on temporary, or permanent errors in the backup.

The dashboard shows the number of backups that failed. 

The Backupify overview page shows the number of backup failures for all the services in the past 10 days.

We do not have information on whether backup/restore errors are displayed.

Domain-level dashboard

There is a domain-level dashboard that displays the health of the backup, restore, and export, the number of items backed up, backup archive size of each service, the total number of restores and exports in the domain, errors, threats, and activity log.

AvePoint has a home page, which acts as a domain-level dashboard.

CloudAlly allows the admins to check the backups filtered by domains.

Spanning does not support a domain-level dashboard. Source

Afi provides an overview tab which displays backup status for the past week, with the number of successful and failed backups, and backup warnings. Admins can also see the number of users protected, backup size, and the activity log.

Backupify provides a domain-level dashboard.

SpinOne provides a domain-level dashboard.

User-level dashboard

SysCloud provides a user-level dashboard similar to the domain-level dashboard for every user in the application.

We do not have information on how user-level dashboards are presented.

CloudAlly has a dashboard to view user-level backup statistics.

Spanning has a user-level dashboard with drilldown to view more information on any specific user in the application.

We do not have information on how user-level dashboards are presented.

We do not have information on how user-level dashboards are presented.

SpinOne has a 'Users' tab which shows the backup status and storage used at a user-level for each service.

Audit logs

SysCloud provides audit logs for the administrator for all the backup, restore, export and other actions performed on the account.

AvePoint provides audit logs for all the backup, restore, export, and other actions.

CloudAlly provides audit logs for all the backup, restore, export, and other actions performed on the account.

Spanning provides audit logs for all the backup, restore, export, and other actions performed on the account.

Afi provides audit logs for all the backup, restore, export, and other actions performed on the account.

Backupify provides audit logs for all the backup, restore, export, and other actions performed on the account.

SpinOne provides audit logs for all the backup, restore, export, and other actions performed on the account.

Configurable report by email

Not available

We do not have information on configurable email reports.

We do not have information on configurable email reports.

Spanning provides admins the option to receive daily, weekly, or monthly reports.

Afi provides admins the option to receive daily, weekly, or monthly reports.

We do not have information on configurable email reports.

Admins or assigned users can receive weekly or monthly reports via email summarizing all the services performed on the account.

App-level restore and export reports

Admins can access app-level reports on restore & export.

AvePoint's products monitor and produce App Level reports of protection status across M365 Exchange mailboxes, calendars, Groups, Teams, SharePoint, and more.

We do not have information on app-level restore & export reports.

Spanning does not have an app-level report. Source

We do not have information on app-level restore & export reports.

Admins can access app-level reports on restore & export.

SpinOne provides restore and export reports.

SOC II Type 2 Audited

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Virtual Private Cloud

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

AES encryption

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

TLS Security encryption

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Multitenancy

Admins can add multiple domains to a single SysCloud account.

AvePoint has backup across various tenants, even outside of Microsoft platforms.

Admins can add multiple domains to a single CloudAlly account.

Admins can add multiple domains to a single Spanning account..

Admins can add multiple domains to a single Afi account. 

We do not have information on Backupify’s capabilities to backup multiple domains to the same account.

We do not have information whether SpinOne offers multitenancy.

Backup preview

Users can preview an email before restoring or exporting it.

We do not have information on AvePoint’s capabilities to preview backed up data.

We do not have information on CloudAlly’s capabilities to preview backed up data.

We do not have information on Spanning’s capabilities to preview backed up data.

Users can preview content before restoring or exporting the file.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capabilities to preview backed up data.

Users can preview backed up data before restoring it.

Instant alert for backup failure

SysCloud does not provide instant alerts for backup failure.

We do not have information on AvePoint's capability to send instant alerts for backup failures.

CloudAlly provides backup failure alerts.

Spanning provides backup failure alerts.

We do not have information on Afi’s capabilities to send instant backup failure alerts.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capabilities to send instant backup failure alerts.

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to send instant alerts for backup failure.

3x backups/day

SysCloud provides 1x backup/day.

AvePoint provides up to 4x backup/day.

We do not have information on CloudAlly’s capabilities to perform 3x backup/day.

We do not have information on Spanning’s capabilities to perform 3x backup/day.

Afi provides up to 3x backup/day.

"Backupify takes 3 daily backups and retains them for 30 days. After 30 days, the system saves one of those three daily backups per user. After 90 days, the system saves one weekly backup per user. After one year, Backupify saves one monthly backup per user." Source

Admins can configure daily 1x or 3x backup.

Group level backup

SysCloud provides an option to set up and manage backup at the Group level.

AvePoint provides an option to set up and manage backup at the Group level.

We do not have information on CloudAlly’s capabilities to perform Group level backup.

We do not have information on Spanning’s capabilities to perform Group level backup.

Afi provides an option to set up and manage backup at the Group level.

Backupify does not provide an option to start backups for all members of a group. You would need to manually select the individual users to protect or upload a CSV file for bulk selection. Source

We do not have information whether SpinOne provides group-level backup.

Content-based inclusion and exclusion before starting the backup

Admins can exclude data to be backed up based on the file type or size.

We do not have information on AvePoint’s capability to perform content-based inclusion and exclusion before starting the backup.

CloudAlly allows the users to choose what to include or exclude from the backup.

We do not have information on Spanning’s capability to perform content-based inclusion and exclusion before starting the backup.

We do not have information on Afi’s capability to perform content-based inclusion and exclusion before starting the backup.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capability to perform content-based inclusion and exclusion before starting the backup.

We do not have information on SpinOne’s capability to perform content-based inclusion/exclusion.

Auto backup new users

Admins have the option to automatically backup new users added to Microsoft 365.

We do not have information on AvePoint’s capability to auto backup new users.

Admins have the option to automatically backup new users added to Microsoft 365.

Admins have the option to automatically backup new users added to Microsoft 365.

Admins have the option to automatically backup new users added to Microsoft 365.

Backupify lets admins auto add new Microsoft 365 user to their current backup schedules. You can also set limits to the auto-add user feature. Upon breaching the limit new users will not be added to the backup schedule and an email notification will be sent to the account admin. Source

Admins have the option to enable “auto-assign licenses to new users.” Once enabled, licenses will be automatically activated for any new user added to the organization.

PIT restore

Admins can restore from multiple versions of the Outlook emails, OneDrive files, People, and Calendar events from the archives. We do not support PIT restore for SharePoint sites and Teams.

Admins can restore from multiple versions of the Outlook emails, OneDrive files, People, and calendar events from the archives.

Admins can perform PIT restore. But we do not have information on which services have point-in-time restore.

Admins can restore from multiple versions of the Outlook emails, People, Calendar, SharePoint sites, Teams and OneDrive files from the archives.

Admins can perform PIT restore. But we do not have information on which services have point-in-time restore.

Admins can restore from multiple versions of the Outlook emails, OneDrive files, People, Calendar, SharePoint sites, and Teams from the archives.

Admins can restore from multiple versions of files, mails, contacts, events etc.

Hold backups for suspended users

Admins can define the retention period for deleted/suspended users.

We do not have information on AvePoint’s capability to hold backups for suspended users.

CloudAlly allows the user to backup inactive accounts and restore it to a new/active account.

Spanning holds the suspended and deleted user data as long as a license is assigned to the user.

Admins can retain data for archived (suspended or deleted) users with no licensing cost.

Backupify holds the suspended and deleted user data as long as a license is assigned to the user.

Admins have the option to auto-disable users. If this option is selected and SpinOne detects that a user is suspended or deleted in Microsoft 365, it will automatically stop all backups of these users, to preserve the 100 latest backup versions.

SSO integration

Supports the "Microsoft sign-in" option.

Supports "Microsoft sign-in" option.

Supports the "Microsoft sign-in" option.

Supports the "Microsoft sign-in" option.

Supports the "Microsoft sign-in" option.

Does not support the "Microsoft sign-in" option.

Supports the "Microsoft sign-in" option.

Native 2FA

Supports native two-factor authentication.

We do not have information on AvePoint’s capability to support native 2FA.

Supports native two-factor authentication.

Does not support native two-factor authentication. Source

Does not support native two-factor authentication as login only through Okta (SAML), Microsoft or Google services is supported. Source

Supports native two-factor authentication.

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to support native two-factor authentication.

Configurable retention period

Admins can configure unlimited or customized data retention periods at the user level, OU level, and domain level.

Admins can configure unlimited or customized data retention periods.

CloudAlly allows the users to configure retention period via support ticket.

Spanning allows admins to configure retention policy at domain-level. Service level retention can be set via support ticket. Source

We do not have information on Afi’s capability to configure retention period.

Backupify allows users to set custom retention period.

SpinOne allows customers to set custom retention periods

PST email export

Users can directly export and download emails in PST format.

AvePoint has PST email export functionality.

Users can directly export and download emails in PST format.

Spanning does not support PST email export.Source

Users can directly export and download emails in PST format.

Users can directly export and download emails in PST format.

Users can directly download Outlook emails in PST format.

MBOX email export

Users can directly export and download emails in MBOX format.

We do not have information on AvePoint’s capability to perform MBOX export.

We do not have information on CloudAlly’s capability to perform MBOX export.

We do not have information on Spanning’s capability to perform MBOX export.

Users can directly export and download emails in MBOX format.

Users can directly export and download emails in MBOX format.

Users can directly download emails in MBOX format.

Instant download

SysCloud provides an instant download option for single email without the need to export from archives.

We do not have information on AvePoint’s capability to perform instant download.

We do not have information on CloudAlly’s capability to perform instant download.

We do not have information on Spanning’s capability to perform instant download.

We do not have information on Afi’s capability to perform instant download.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capability to perform instant download.

We do not have information on SpinOne’s capability to perform instant download.

End-user self-service recovery

Admins can authorize users to restore their own files.

Admins can authorize users to restore their own files.

Admins can authorize users to restore their own files.

Admins can authorize users to restore their own files.

Admins can authorize users to restore their own files.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capability to enable end-user self-service.

We do not have information on SpinOne’s capability to perform end-user self-service.

Restore progress

SysCloud provides a separate restore health status report that shows the progress of restore requests.

AvePoint shows the restore progress only for the last restore on the home page.

CloudAlly provides a Jobs dashboard where the user can track their restore progress.

Spanning shows a restore progress bar to track the progress of restores.

Users can view the restore progress.

User can view the restore status in the "Restores" tab.

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to show the progress of restore requests.

Offline export

SysCloud provides offline export for all the data.

AvePoint provides offline export for all the data.

CloudAlly provides offline export for all the data.

Spanning provides offline export for all the data.

We do not have information on Afi’s capability to perform offline export.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capability to perform offline export.

SpinOne provides offline export for all the data.

Preserve nested email structure

SysCloud preserves the nested email structure in the backup archives.

AvePoint preserves the nested email structure in the backup archives.

CloudAlly preserves the nested email structure in the backup archives.

Spanning preserves the nested email structure in the backup archives.

Afi preserves the nested email structure in the backup archives.

Backupify preserves the nested email structure in the backup archives.

SpinOne preserves the Outlook folder structure intact in their backup archives for easy restores.

Cross-user restore

Admins can restore the data to the same user or a different user in the domain with sharing permissions and folder structure intact.

Admins can restore the data to the same user or a different user in the domain with sharing permissions and folder structure intact.

Admins can restore the data to the same user or a different user in the domain with sharing permissions and folder structure intact.

Admins can restore the data to the same user or a different user in the domain with sharing permissions and folder structure intact.

Admins can restore the data to the same user or a different user in the domain with sharing permissions and folder structure intact.

Admins can restore the data to the same user or a different user in the domain with sharing permissions and folder structure intact.

Admins can restore data to the same user or a different user in the same domain with folder-structure intact.

Restore to separate email folder

Admins have the option to restore data back to its original location or to a separate restore folder.

Admins have the option to restore data back to its original location or to a separate restore folder.

We do not have information on CloudAlly’s capability to perform restore to a separate email folder.

Admins have the option to restore data back to its original location or to a separate restore folder.

Admins have the option to restore data back to its original location or to a separate restore folder.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capability to perform restore to a separate email folder.

The data is restored to a separate folder by default.

Backup operator role

SysCloud Super admins can create a backup operator role with customized permissions to restore without preview.

Super admins can create security groups and assign user permissions for each service.

CloudAlly admins can create a backup operator role with customized permissions to restore without preview.

Spanning lets super admins the ability to assign users the Help Desk Admin role, that provides limited admin access.Source

Afi admins can create a backup operator role with customized permissions to restore without preview.

Backupify does not provide a customizable backup admin role. Source

SpinOne lets admins delegate customized access to users. They can give users permission to manage other users, manage superuser, change account and user settings, manage data, manage billing, preview, restore or download data, and delete users.