Why you need to backup your SaaS

Modern SaaS platforms such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Notion, and others are highly available and reliable. They are designed to keep services online and data accessible. However, availability is not the same thing as data protection.

This page explains why relying solely on SaaS providers is not enough, and why independent backups are still necessary.

Availability is not protection

SaaS providers focus on keeping their platforms running:

• Servers stay online
• Data is replicated
• Services remain accessible

This protects the service, not your data. If data is deleted, corrupted, or altered, the platform will reliably synchronize that change everywhere.

The shared responsibility model

SaaS providers operate under a shared responsibility model.

• The provider secures the infrastructure and platform
• You are responsible for your data

This means providers generally do not protect you from:

• Accidental deletion
• Malicious or unintended changes
• Account compromise
• Ransomware or sync‑based corruption
• Compliance or long‑term retention needs

If data is removed or modified legitimately from the provider’s point of view, it is often considered permanent.

Sync is not a backup

Most SaaS platforms are built around synchronization. Sync ensures that:

• Changes propagate instantly
• All devices see the same state
• Deletions are mirrored everywhere

This is useful for collaboration, but dangerous for recovery. Mistakes, corruption, or malicious changes spread just as reliably as valid ones.

Version history has limits

Some SaaS platforms provide version history or trash retention.

These features help with short‑term mistakes, but they:

• Are time‑limited
• Depend on the same account and infrastructure
• Cannot guarantee long‑term recovery
• May not meet compliance or audit requirements

Version history helps with recent errors, not with long‑term resilience.

Why independent backups matter

An independent backup creates a clean separation between:

• Your live SaaS data
• Your recovery data

This separation ensures that:

• Account issues do not affect backups
• Provider outages do not block recovery
• Data can be restored from any point in time
• Retention policies are under your control

Independent backups ensure that your data remains recoverable, regardless of what happens inside the SaaS platform itself.