Storage cloud backup

Question

I need to a quotation for Microsoft 365 and cloud storage for backup at accountant company

Answer 1

Hi @Jabu Zakhele Madonsela,

Thank you for reaching out. I’m happy to help point you in the right direction so you can prepare an initial quotation for Microsoft 365 and cloud backup for an accounting firm.

To start, Microsoft publishes its official pricing for Microsoft 365 Business plans here: Microsoft 365 Business Plans and Pricing | Microsoft 365

For small and medium businesses (up to 300 users), the current options are:

All of these plans include the core Microsoft services typically needed in an accounting environment, such as Exchange Online email, Microsoft Teams, and SharePoint, along with 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage per user. At the tenant level, SharePoint storage starts at 1 TB plus 10 GB per licensed user. This is generally considered the primary storage layer in Microsoft 365.

When it comes to backup, it’s important to note that standard Microsoft 365 licenses do not include a full backup solution. Microsoft offers a native add-on called Microsoft 365 Backup, which is priced separately and works on a pay‑as‑you‑go basis.

Key points for Microsoft 365 Backup: Pricing is USD 0.15 per GB per month for backed‑up data and costs depend on the total size of protected data and retained versions or deleted items.

If you’d like, feel free to share a bit more about the size of your accounting firm and your approximate storage requirements, and I’d be happy to help you consider which option might be the best fit.

And if you have any additional questions, or if I’ve misunderstood what you’re looking for, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment under this post. That’s the best way for me to receive notifications and follow up with you promptly.

Thank you again for your time.

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Answer 2

For an accountant company needing Microsoft 365 plus cloud backup storage, there are two main cost components based on the available information:

1. Microsoft 365 subscription (for mail, OneDrive, apps)
   • For each user, a Microsoft 365 subscription provides mailbox storage and OneDrive cloud storage.
   • Consumer examples in the context (for comparison of storage levels):
     • Microsoft 365 Basic: 100 GB mailbox + 100 GB OneDrive.
     • Microsoft 365 Personal: 100 GB mailbox + 1 TB OneDrive.
   • Business plans are not priced in the provided context, so exact license pricing for an accountant company cannot be given here. A commercial Microsoft 365 Business plan would typically be chosen per user, and that license would include Exchange Online mailboxes and OneDrive for Business storage.
2. Microsoft 365 Backup (for backup of Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint)
   • Microsoft 365 Backup is a pay‑as‑you‑go, consumption‑based service.
   • Charge model: $0.15 per GB per month of protected content.
   • This rate applies equally to OneDrive, SharePoint, and Exchange Online data protected by Backup; restores are free.
   What counts towards backup storage billing:
   • Live data:
     • Size of protected OneDrive accounts and SharePoint sites (including first‑stage recycle bin) as shown in usage reports.
     • Size of protected user or shared mailboxes plus their online archives.
   • Deleted/versioned data:
     • Content in the second‑stage recycle bin for SharePoint/OneDrive.
     • Deleted and versioned items in protected mailboxes.
   Example from the context:
   • If a 1 GB SharePoint/OneDrive site has 0.5 GB in the second‑stage recycle bin, and a 1 GB mailbox has a 1 GB online archive, the billable protected backup storage is 3.5 GB.
   • At $0.15/GB/month, 3.5 GB of protected data would cost 3.5 × $0.15 = $0.525 per month.
   Important cost behaviors:
   • Removing a OneDrive, SharePoint site, or mailbox from the backup protection policy freezes its “live size” for billing at the size at removal time; backup costs will not increase for that item after removal.
   • Restore point frequency does not materially change backup storage cost.
   • Azure is only used as the payment processor; there are no extra Azure API or storage charges beyond the $0.15/GB/month backup usage.

How to build a rough quotation for the accountant company (using only the given rates):

1. Estimate total protected data size:
   • Sum of all users’ mailbox sizes (including online archives) that will be backed up.
   • Sum of all OneDrive accounts and SharePoint sites to be backed up (including recycle bins and versioned/deleted items).
2. Multiply total GB by $0.15 to get monthly backup cost.
   • Example: If the firm plans to protect 500 GB total across Exchange, OneDrive, and SharePoint:
     • Backup cost ≈ 500 × $0.15 = $75 per month.
3. Add Microsoft 365 license cost per user (not provided in the context) to the backup cost to form the full monthly quotation.

For mailbox and OneDrive capacity planning, the storage quota articles in the context show how to check storage usage and quotas in the Microsoft account dashboard, which can help estimate how much data will need backup.

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References:

• Pricing model for Microsoft 365 Backup
• Overview of Microsoft 365 Backup
• Microsoft storage quotas
• Microsoft storage FAQs
• Getting the most out of your PC backup