Veeam and Microsoft announce a five-year partnership, integrating the Copilot chatbot into Veeam’s data protection solutions.
The new partnership follows shortly after the launch of the Veeam Data Cloud, a SaaS service built on Azure that helps protect workloads on that infrastructure. This includes protecting Microsoft 365 data and providing additional protection for Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Teams. With backups and recovery capabilities, the Data Cloud guarantees data preservation in the event of a ransomware attack or fire.
Copilot
Now comes the addition of the Microsoft chatbot. Veeam states that joint development will bring additional AI capabilities to Veeam backup and recovery products, including integrating Microsoft Copilot for automated data analysis, AI-based cost-effective insight and simple data visualization. For example, Veeam offers cost management calculators that help determine the storage cost of specific media. The Data Cloud also makes consumption more transparent. Copilot adds a new option to control the cost of backups better.
We also asked Veeam what exactly AI and analytics will achieve. Veeam said that the two companies’ development teams are only just starting to work together, so it is too early to share plans. However, Veeam did share the following about AI: “Veeam already uses AI as part of our Malware Threat Center to help identify attacks. We believe that AI will continue to help improve protection and recovery.”
APIs
Another exciting innovation from the partnership is the integrated support of the latest APIs for Microsoft 365 Backup Storage. This builds on the Microsoft 365 Backup solution that Microsoft launched last year. Integration with Microsoft backup APIs is essential to ensure quality backup, recovery and protection. Adapting to the new APIs results in faster backup and recovery speeds for Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365.
We also asked for additional details on this update. “Veeam has partnered with Microsoft and will be an exclusive launch partner of Microsoft’s Backup solution for Microsoft 365. Once Microsoft’s solution is generally available, Veeam customers will be able to use Microsoft’s technology embedded inside of Veeam’s Microsoft 365 backup products. The Veeam + Microsoft partnership gives customers the best of both worlds. The speed and scale of Microsoft’s new innovation, paired with the control and flexibility that Veeam has provided for over a decade.”
Tip: Is Microsoft stealing backup vendors’ lunch with Microsoft 365 Backup?
On a functionality level, Veeam is notable for enabling accelerated migration of on-premises workloads and data to the Data Cloud. In addition, Veeam’s Kasten technology, focused on protecting containers and Kubernetes, will be deployed to migrate to and protect Azure Kubernetes Services.
The five-year partnership will further capitalize on the launch of the Data Cloud by establishing joint go-to-market activities. With this, Microsoft and Veeam aim to offer their solutions to Microsoft 365 and Azure customers.
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