Channel-first cloud and disaster recovery specialist VirtualDCS has launched the world’s most comprehensive Azure backup service, protecting over 250 configurable items within an established Microsoft 365 estate.
Known as CloudCover Guardian for Azure, the new service is part of VirtualDCS’s CloudCover 365 solution and offers complete Microsoft 365 backup and recovery.
Additionally, VirtualDCS has introduced a unique ‘Clean Room’ service for organisations and users requiring system restoration in a sterile and isolated environment following a Ransomware attack.
Configurations covered by CloudCover Guardian for Azure include user accounts, access privileges, and unique security groups across popular applications such as SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, Exchange, and Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory). Significantly, Microsoft does not currently provide a backup service for these configurations.
VirtualDCS CEO Richard May (pictured) said: “Backing up data without your Azure configurations will not furnish you with the means to reassemble your data after a disaster, as the combination of Microsoft 365 data and Azure configurations defines your complete Microsoft 365 tenancy.
“The configurations effectively dictate how Microsoft 365 is utilised, and any lost or altered configurations can inflict irreparable harm on an organisation’s productivity, data security, and reputation.”
Developed by VirtualDCS, CloudCover Guardian for Azure fundamentally transforms the possibilities for backing up and restoring a Microsoft 365 estate’s configurable items. The system records every essential configuration, enabling proactive management of a Microsoft 365 environment from a single console, ensuring a complete, clean recovery post-incident.
Consequently, IT teams and individuals restoring their systems no longer need to recall settings or manually reconfigure user groups, licences, and access permissions.
Importantly, it also serves as a crucial security tool. Operating twice daily, it notifies administrators via email of any system changes potentially caused by insider threats, viruses, or other factors within hours of occurrence.
Beyond providing a comprehensive view of an estate and swift restoration, CloudCover Guardian for Azure allows organisations to preserve an immaculate blueprint of their preferred Azure configurations. Organisations can swiftly revert to a secure state following the accidental deletion of a user or a dubious alteration of a security policy. After reconstructing and restoring an environment, users can seamlessly reintroduce data. The system facilitates the effortless replication of unique Azure configurations across new tenancies.
Another service from VirtualDCS augments this. The company’s ‘Clean Room’ offering enables organisations to transfer data into a cloud-adjacent environment rather than spending hours or days on system restoration after a Ransomware attack. This markedly enhances recovery time objectives (RTOs) by granting immediate access in an isolated environment, circumventing Ransomware loops and verifying system health before reintegrating data into the business.
The ‘Clean Room’ can be employed in various invocation scenarios, such as transferring existing data to a sterile clean room for monitoring and assessment. Once recovery is verified as clean, organisations can use data from the recovery room until their infrastructure is stabilised.
