Barracuda Introduced Essentials for Office 365 Cloud Services

Barracuda Networks, Inc. announced Essentials for Office 365, a suite of cloud services designed to help organizations expand on the security and data protection functionality in Office 365.

Company’s Essentials combines three of firm’s innovative cloud technology solutions – Email Security Service, Cloud Archiving Service, and Cloud Backup – into an easy-to-deploy and manage suite of cloud services with simple per-user licensing. In a survey by TechValidate focused on customer Office 365 migration and deployment plans, the majority of respondents, 72%, reported concerns about, or have not considered, whether the security, compliance and backup features in Office 365 meet the needs of their organizations.

“Microsoft and Barracuda have worked closely together for a number of years to help customers simplify and secure cloud migrations, particularly in the case of Office 365 and Azure. Barracuda Essentials for Office 365 is the result of our experience and expertise in protecting Microsoft environments and aims to help customers transition to Office 365 as easily as possible,” explained Michael Hughes, SVP, WW sales, Barracuda. “Thousands of businesses are moving to Office 365 to reduce costs, increase accessibility for their employees, and simplify their technology environment. Barracuda Essentials for Office 365 combines the security, archiving, and backup and recovery tools these users need for successful Office 365 deployments.“

Using company’s Essentials, IT administrators can extend the visibility and control across their organizations’ information with an easy-to-deploy suite of cloud services that combines critical multi-layer security, archiving and backup functionality.

Barracuda Essentials for Office 365 includes:

• Cloud-based email security – Extends security protection for Office 365 Exchange Online with additional granular controls, as well as multi-layer security against email-born threats and data leaks with encryption, data loss protection, and content inspection of all emails.

• Cloud-based archiving – Assists organizations with compliance retention and eDiscovery requests effectively and easily when used with Exchange, Microsoft Office 365, and other on-premises, cloud or hybrid environments. The company’s cloud archiving service offers productivity features, including mobile applications for end users to access, search, and retrieve email at any time from any device.

• Cloud-based backup and recovery – Provides IT administrators with real-time backup that can simplify the process of recovering accidentally or intentionally deleted emails and files in Office 365.

TechValidate Software, an independent research organization, conducted a survey of company’s customers in December 2015 and January 2016. The survey revealed that many customers are evaluating the need to add multiple layers of protection to Office 365, including expanded security, archiving and compliance functionality. As stated above, 72% of respondents reported having concerns about, or have not considered, whether the security, compliance and backup features in their Office 365 subscriptions meet the needs of their organizations. ⁽¹⁾

“When Summit Truck Group began the transition to Office 365, we enabled the built-in email security, Exchange Online Protection, but soon found that we needed even more granular controls for our various locations. After careful consideration, we decided to add a dedicated cloud-based email security solution and selected Barracuda,” explained Michael Norton, VP, technology, Summit Truck Group. “Barracuda Email Security Service, which is offered as part of the Barracuda Essentials for Office 365, provides robust email filtering that eliminates junk and reduces the number of false positives, and includes straightforward, easy management capabilities.“

“Barracuda Essentials for Office 365 complements Office 365’s productivity features that enable end users to work faster and smarter,” continued Hughes. “Barracuda continues to invest in technology and processes to support cloud operations, including an Office 365 program team that works closely with customers as they migrate to the cloud. Customers have trusted Barracuda to protect their on-premises email for more than a decade, and they can trust us to provide the same protection for their email as they shift to the cloud.“

Essentials for Office 365 is available and includes simple per user licensing available at $5 per user, per month or less.

Resources:
⁽¹⁾ Survey: Barracuda Customer Survey, TechValidate, December 2015 – January 2016. TVID: 93D-D21-0DF
Blog: Looking for additional security and data protection functionality in your Office 365 environment? You’re not alone, but there are great options now available
Education: company’s Office 365 Webinar Series and RSS
Whitepaper: Best Practices for Migrating to Office 365, An Osterman Research White Paper, April 2015