What is Datto SaaS Protection?

This article defines Datto SaaS Protection, describes its technical benefits, and identifies the licenses and services it supports.

Datto SaaS Protection definition

Datto SaaS Protection is a data backup, recovery, and restore software solution built exclusively for MSPs. It provides comprehensive backup and recovery of cloud data stored in Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace servers.

The application performs continuous, automatic backups which are stored in Datto’s own private cloud. Therefore, it does not require an environment's local storage resources.

Datto SaaS Protection ensures data that is lost or deleted, either accidentally or intentionally, can be recovered and restored. While data recovery and restore can be performed for many files at once, the application enables these tasks to be performed granularly, for example, recovering and restoring only one file.

Datto SaaS Protection enables MSPs to protect their organizations’ Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace data while efficiently managing licenses and costs. Or, if desired, the organization can manage the account.

Key technical benefits

The technical benefits of implementing Datto SaaS Protection in your environment include the following:

  • Private cloud infrastructure.
  • Unlimited data storage capacity.
  • Indefinite retention options (length of time data is stored).
  • Manage organization backup data from a single pane of glass.
  • Monitor backup performance.
  • Quickly identify and recover individual objects or entire accounts with the folder structure and permissions intact.
  • Restore data to a point in time before a data loss or ransomware attack occurred.
  • Easily move files from one user to another.

Licenses supported

Datto SaaS Protection supports the following M365 licenses:

  • Business: Basic, Standard, Premium
  • Enterprise: E1, E3, E5, F1, F3
  • Not for profit: Business Basic Donation, Business Standard
  • Government: G1, G3, G5
  • Education plans: A1, A3, A5

Datto SaaS Protection does not support these M365 licenses:

  • Data located in GCC High Government Cloud or DOD
  • Legacy K1 (Exchange kiosk)

Exchange Online licenses are supported; however, OneDrive backup attempts will report as failures.

Services that are backed up

Datto SaaS Protection provides data backup capabilities for the following M365 services: OneDrive, Exchange, SharePoint, and Teams. Key points for each service are described in the following table.

Service Key points
OneDrive
  • All documents in each individual's OneDrive account are backed up.
  • Versioning is supported. A snapshot is saved for each of the three daily backups.
  • Shared and group documents are not backed up as this is not allowed by the M365 API.
  • Image libraries are not captured.
Exchange Mail:
  • Shared mailboxes can be backed up.
  • Public folders are not backed up at this time.
  • Notes in Exchange can be backed up but can only be restored as messages. The messages can be converted back into notes.
  • Archived mail is not backed up.
  • Group emails can be backed up.

Contacts:

  • Shared and group contacts are not backed up as this is not allowed by the M365 API.
  • Contact profile pictures are not backed up.
  • Attachments that are references to OneDrive objects through the API cannot be accessed and backed up.

Calendar:

  • Shared and group calendars are not backed up as this is not allowed by the M365 API.
  • Attachments that are references to OneDrive objects through the API cannot be accessed and backed up.
  • Team calendar events can be backed up through attendee exchange backups (each attendee has a copy of the event in their calendar).
SharePoint The following SharePoint site data is backed up:
  • Documents
  • Templates
  • Assets
  • Pages
  • Collections: Microsoft sites that administrators have created that do not fall into the SharePoint Root Site collections.
  • Lists: Custom lists, document libraries, Wiki page libraries, task lists.
    To identify a list type, right-click the three-dot menu and click Details.

SharePoint forms, image libraries, and event lists are not backed up due to M365 API limitations.

Datto SaaS Protection only supports the cloud version known as "M365 SharePoint." Local installations of M365, such as SharePoint 2010 and 2013, are not supported.

Teams Public channels:
  • Content (Team sites, files, and documents)
  • Calendar meetings
  • Public channel conversation messages

Private channels (found under SharePoint sites):

  • Content (Team sites, files, and documents)
  • Conversations

Shared channels

  • Content (Team sites, files, and documents)
  • Conversations

NOTE  1000 is the maximum number of replies that can be backed up for a Teams message.

Exchange backup exceptions

If you are using Datto SaaS Protection for M365 and your mail service is disabled or not provisioned, Datto will not be able to back up contacts and calendars.

The Exchange service encompasses mail, contacts, calendars, and tasks but will fail backups if the mail service isn't present because Exchange in 2.0 is linked directly to Exchange in 1.0.

Datto does not back up the rules for M365 Exchange services.