What do you mean you're not backing up Office365?

Nearly every time I ask someone, who mentions Office365, about how they are protecting their data being stored in O365, they are shocked to learn that Microsoft isn't doing it for them.

That's right, Microsoft doesn't protect your data.  IF you delete a user mailbox or just a few emails, good luck in getting it back in a reliable and repeatable way, and if its been longer than 30 days since you had that data, I wouldn't even try.  

There are a ton of great solutions to protect Office365 data, I especially like Datto's SaaS Protection, but the bottom line is that if the data you and your team keep in your Office 365 email, Sharepoint, OneDrive, etc, is important to you, then you need to take the extra step to pay for a 3rd party data protection service.  Datto's option is easy to setup and very affordable with no data size limits and so are some of the others out there...just get something, because Microsoft isn't doing this for you. 

Bitcoin and Blockchain

When I started in my technology career we were faced with Y2K and the emergence of the Internet as indespensible to nearly every business.  There was a constant acceleration in terms of the speed and degree of innovation.  Then came the smartphone/app revolution. We are witnessing what could be another huge shift in our digital worlds with bitcoin and blockchain.

First let me say that I am not an expert on Bitcoin or Blockchain at this point, but I'm a believer that it will transform our lives significantly.  

At this point, the crypto-currency world is full of hype and speculation and a test of what will sell and what will make people the most money.  A lot like the internet bubble, lots of ideas will be tried and some will work and some work in terms of new currencies.  

So far I think that blockchain is really the technology that will transform every part of our technology in one way or another.  Its builds a potential system of trust that doesn't exist today.  This has potential far beyond crypto-currency, but anything and everything that involves ANY type of transaction of data or products.

Here are some places that I am learning from: 

• https://thebitcoin.pub/
• https://decentralized.tv/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_zCjjy59cg
• https://twitter.com/davidjbryden