Which 3rd-party backup do we put on Google Workspace and is it actually needed?

Google Workspace has Vault for retention and e-discovery, not a proper backup. For ransomware, ex-employees and mass-delete you need an independent copy. Three tools cover the SMB spectrum: Spanning, Backupify (Datto), Dropsuite.

Try this first

1. 1Start with the right question: 'we can't lose anything' (real backup), or 'we have to meet a retention duty' (Vault retention). Two different tools, not always both required.
2. 2Vault-only scenario: turn on retention rules for Gmail and Drive with a duration that fits your sector (admin 7 years, medical often longer). That is retention, not backup.
3. 3Backup scenario: pick a 3rd-party tool that covers Drive, Gmail, Calendar, Contacts and Shared Drives. Spanning and Backupify are common in SMB. Trial with 1 or 2 accounts first.
4. 4Store the backup in a different cloud account than Google Workspace itself. Otherwise it shares the same fate when an admin account gets compromised.
5. 5Test restore concretely: 1 mail, 1 Drive file, a whole user, and a Shared Drive. Separate 'easy', 'doable with clicks' and 'support ticket needed' before you really need it.
6. 6Budget: pricing tends to be a few euros per user per month, ranges vary per vendor and commitment. Read the fine print on egress and retention cost.

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