In short: Hornetsecurity 365 Total Backup is a cloud backup service for Microsoft 365. It backs up mailboxes and In-Place Archives, OneDrive, SharePoint document libraries, Teams chats, Planner, OneNote and Entra ID users and groups several times a day to Hornetsecurity's own infrastructure. It is licensed per user with unlimited storage and is included in 365 Total Protection Plans 3 and 4.
What 365 Total Backup is
Microsoft runs the Microsoft 365 service, but under its shared responsibility model protecting your data from accidental deletion, ransomware or a departing administrator is up to you, and its retention features are not an independent backup. 365 Total Backup closes that gap by copying your Microsoft 365 data to Hornetsecurity's infrastructure, independent of Microsoft, several times a day.
Hornetsecurity describes it as a managed service: its own team looks into failed backups and fixes them, and you also get alerts and daily summaries. It can be bought on its own or as part of 365 Total Protection Plan 3 or Plan 4, alongside email security.
What it backs up and how you restore
| Workload | Backed up | End-user self-service restore |
|---|---|---|
| Exchange Online mailboxes, including In-Place Archives | Yes | Yes |
| OneDrive for Business | Yes | Yes |
| OneNote | Yes | Yes |
| SharePoint document libraries | Yes | Administrator restore |
| Teams chats | Yes | Administrator restore |
| Planner | Yes | Administrator restore |
| Entra ID users and groups | Yes | Administrator restore |
Any version of a file, conversation or mailbox held in the backup can be restored, and administrators can search the backup and pick individual files from OneDrive, SharePoint and Planner. End users recover their own mailbox, OneDrive and OneNote data through the Hornetsecurity User Panel, which takes routine restore requests off the IT team. Backup Pilot can be set to protect new users and groups automatically, across mailboxes, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, Planner and Entra ID, so a new starter is not missed.
How it is licensed
365 Total Backup is licensed per user. Hornetsecurity describes it as one all-inclusive fee covering the service, storage and round-the-clock support, with unlimited storage and retention, so you are not charged by the gigabyte or for keeping older versions.
| Option | What you get |
|---|---|
| 365 Total Backup on its own | Microsoft 365 backup only |
| 365 Total Protection Plan 3 | Backup plus spam filtering, Advanced Threat Protection, encryption, archiving and continuity |
| 365 Total Protection Plan 4 | Plan 3 plus awareness training, permission management, DMARC and AI tools |
If you already have email filtering you are happy with, the standalone service is usually simplest. If you are reviewing both, a plan normally works out tidier on one bill. Ask us for a quote for both and compare.
Security, retention and data location
- Immutable backups: backup data cannot be altered or deleted by outside parties; deletion is only possible from administrator accounts inside 365 Total Backup.
- Four-eye approval: an optional setting so that sensitive actions such as deleting backup data or changing company settings need approval from a second, nominated administrator, which protects against rogue or mistaken admins.
- Encryption: each organisation's backup data is encrypted with an individual AES 256-bit key.
- Custom retention: you set retention periods to match internal policy and frameworks such as ISO 27001 and UK GDPR.
- Data location: backups are held on Hornetsecurity's infrastructure in a region you choose.
- Audit: an exportable activity log records who enabled or disabled backups, browsed data and requested restores.
The service runs on Hornetsecurity's infrastructure, so there is no backup server or storage for you to run.
Who it suits and how we help
365 Total Backup suits organisations that rely on Microsoft 365 for email and files and want a copy held outside Microsoft without managing storage. It fits small businesses, schools and charities as well as larger organisations, because the price follows the user count and storage is not metered.
For servers and virtual machines, look at Hornetsecurity VM Backup; for other approaches, see Microsoft 365 backup on this site.
We connect the backup to your tenant, set retention to match your policy, turn on Backup Pilot for new users and show your team how restores work. Ask us for a quote for the standalone service and for Plan 3 so you can compare.
How Forever Systems supplies your software licences
Forever Systems Ltd supplies business software subscriptions to UK organisations from one account, with one monthly invoice and a UK team who know the products.
- The right edition first time: we check what you need before you buy, so you are not paying for features you will never use
- Monthly or annual terms where the vendor offers them, and help timing renewals and commitments
- Licence changes handled for you: add or remove users, upgrade editions and true-up without starting a new contract
- Deployment and support from engineers who run these products every day, not just a reseller account
- Consolidated billing and renewal reminders so nothing lapses unexpectedly
We work with businesses, schools, charities and public sector organisations of all sizes.
Need a licence quote or a second opinion on your renewal?
Tell Forever Systems what you need and we will come back to you by email with options, not a hard sell.
Contact usFrequently asked questions
Is storage really unlimited with 365 Total Backup?
Hornetsecurity states unlimited storage and retention within its per-user fee, so you do not pay extra as data grows or for keeping older versions.
Does 365 Total Backup back up Microsoft Teams?
Yes. It backs up Teams chats, and files shared in Teams live in SharePoint and OneDrive, which are also backed up. Planner and OneNote are included too.
Can users restore their own files and emails?
Yes. End users can recover their own mailbox, OneDrive and OneNote data through the Hornetsecurity User Panel, without raising a ticket.
Is 365 Total Backup included in 365 Total Protection?
It is included in Plan 3 Enterprise Backup and Plan 4 Compliance and Awareness. Plans 1 and 2 do not include backup, but 365 Total Backup is also sold as a separate service.