This week, Redstor hosted the latest in our Partner Growth webinar series. The session tackled one of the most pressing topics currently facing MSPs: how to effectively protect data in Microsoft Azure while maximising value in a fiercely competitive, cloud-first world.
The webinar delivered key insights into market trends, Microsoft’s expectations, common misconceptions, and how Redstor is helping MSPs overcome Azure’s built-in limitations to better serve their customers and unlock new revenue opportunities.
Here’s a breakdown of what was covered.
Why data protection in Azure matters more than ever
A major theme of the webinar was Microsoft’s Shared Responsibility Model. While Microsoft provides the infrastructure and uptime guarantees, the responsibility for safeguarding data lies entirely with the customer.
This often surprises SMBs, many of whom operate under the assumption that moving to the cloud inherently ensures their data is backed up and secure. This gap in understanding emphasises why Azure users need to take proactive control of their backup, recovery, and cyber resilience strategies.
Key challenges and tailwinds in the Azure ecosystem
Redstor has spent months engaging directly with MSP partners and customers to identify the biggest blockers to successful cloud data protection. The webinar revealed three primary categories of challenges:
1. Escalating cyber threats
Cybercriminals are becoming more aggressive and sophisticated, with SMBs being increasingly targeted. Email remains the top attack vector, and without proper protection, even small missteps can result in massive losses.
2. Eroding profit margins
With pricing pressure and competition from hyperscalers and other MSPs, partners are finding it harder to differentiate. Add in the complexity of managing Azure Backup and profitability quickly evaporates.
3. Operational complexity and rising costs
Managing Azure snapshots, ensuring compliance, and handling multi-tenant backup strategies within the Microsoft environment can be difficult, costly, and time-consuming.
Despite these hurdles, the market presents significant tailwinds:
- Widespread cloud adoption, especially across the SMB space.
- Heightened focus on compliance and cyber-readiness.
- Growing demand for disaster recovery and e-mail security.
- Market appetite for simplified, unified platforms that can secure everything from on-prem to SaaS to IaaS.
Microsoft’s recommendations for data resilience
We unpacked Microsoft’s guidance from the Azure Well-Architected Framework, the Shared Responsibility Model, and Service Level Agreements. Microsoft urges customers to:
- Adopt multi-layered protection and recovery.
- Implement automated threat detection.
- Ensure identity and access management is airtight.
- Establish a comprehensive disaster recovery strategy.
However, many of these best practices are difficult to implement using Microsoft-native tools alone—especially for MSPs managing multiple tenants. That’s where Redstor steps in.
The problem with native Azure backup
Azure backup presents several limitations that impact usability, cost-efficiency, and risk:
- Lacks granular restore (no file-level recovery).
- Complex to manage snapshots across tenants.
- Unpredictable pricing due to bandwidth and storage variance.
- Limited backup frequency (typically once daily).
- Long-term retention options are cumbersome and costly.
How Redstor solves these issues
- Granular, file-level recoveries – ideal for accidental deletions or user errors.
- Hourly snapshots for more aggressive RPOs.
- Zero egress fees and predictable pricing.
- Malware detection baked into every backup.
- Cross-region restores, even if a tenant is compromised.
Redstor enables MSPs to offer enterprise-grade resilience at a fraction of the cost while also improving manageability and recovery performance.
Your questions answered
The session ended with an engaging Q&A from attendees. Here are some highlights:
What are the biggest misconceptions about the Shared Responsibility Model?
Many SMBs assume the cloud “just works” and that Microsoft protects all their data. However, Microsoft is only responsible for infrastructure. Tenants are accountable for backup, recovery, and protection.
What’s at risk if MSPs don’t take Azure data protection seriously?
Without a strong strategy, any cyberattack or accidental loss could leave your customer’s business with no recourse for recovery. It’s a real threat, not a theoretical one.
How is Redstor staying ahead of Azure’s evolution?
Through direct collaboration with Microsoft, rapid feature development based on partner feedback, and continual investment in automation and integration capabilities.
What are the top three things that MSPs should do right now?
- Partner with Redstor to secure Azure workloads.
- Implement a 3-2-1 backup approach.
- Ensure snapshots are stored off-platform for recovery redundancy.
Does Redstor support Azure Virtual Desktop?
Not yet, but it’s in discovery and on the roadmap. Redstor encourages partners to share their use cases via the Red Tribe community.
Is there a competitor comparison guide?
It’s currently being developed and will be shared soon.
Is Redstor listed on AWS Marketplace?
Not yet, but Redstor is focused on Azure and continuously expanding its marketplace presence.
Unmissable offers
To celebrate the relaunch of Redstor’s Azure VM Backup, partners can take advantage of these limited-time offers:
- 30% off Azure VM protection for new and existing customers
- Three months free for migrations from competing solutions.
- Access to new sales guides and product overviews.
These offers are designed to boost partner profitability while making it easier to adopt and resell Redstor solutions across your customer base. Get in touch today to claim your discount.