SOAS secures Microsoft 365 via Keepit

As a globally recognized institution specializing in the study of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, SOAS, University of London manages a complex academic and administrative environment where secure access to data is essential for teaching, research, and operations. Supporting approximately 147 TB of data, the IT team is responsible for maintaining a hybrid infrastructure spanning cloud services, core networking, and on-prem systems.

Meenesh Patel, Head of Systems and Networks at SOAS, leads a team of network engineers, system administrators, and a security officer responsible for ensuring the availability, integrity, and security of the university’s IT environment. As the institution continued its transition to cloud-based collaboration tools, reliable backup and recovery for Microsoft 365 data became a priority.

Protecting critical data in the cloud

SOAS relies on Microsoft 365 applications including OneDrive, Exchange, Teams, and SharePoint to support collaboration across faculty, staff, and students. With coursework, research materials, and student submissions primarily stored online, the university needed assurance that data could be recovered quickly in the event of accidental deletion or cyber incidents.

Governance requirements, geographic considerations, ease of management, and predictable costs influenced the evaluation process. Within the budget constraints typical of higher education, the IT team prioritized a solution that balanced security and reliability with straightforward deployment and administration.

“We wanted a solution that was cost-effective, easy to manage, and gave us confidence that our academic and student data would be fully protected.”

Phoenix Software – a reputable IT solutions and managed services provider in the UK – introduced SOAS to Keepit during the evaluation process. The platform’s unlimited storage model and simple implementation aligned well with the university’s requirements, enabling the team to deploy cloud backup without adding operational complexity.

“Keepit came highly recommended, and it has proven to be the right choice for us.”

Independent architecture supports compliance requirements

The ability to store backup data in a UK data center was an important consideration for SOAS, supporting GDPR requirements and internal policies related to protecting sensitive academic and student information.

The platform’s vendor-independent architecture also played an important role. By keeping backup data separate from the production environment, SOAS reduces risk and ensures data remains accessible if primary systems are disrupted.

“Having backup data stored separately from the production environment was very important to us.”

Single sign-on integration with the university’s Azure environment further strengthens security while maintaining a seamless administrative experience.

Reliable protection with minimal operational effort

Since deployment, Keepit has provided confidence that Microsoft 365 data is continuously protected. Once connectors were configured, backups run in the background without requiring ongoing manual oversight.

For the IT team, the primary benefit is peace of mind. The organization now has an independent cloud backup of its Microsoft 365 data and the ability to recover quickly in the event of a cyber incident or operational disruption. Support for data privacy requirements, including the right to be forgotten, further aligns with the institution’s governance priorities.

By combining ease of use, predictable costs, and independent architecture, Keepit enables SOAS to protect critical academic and student data while supporting long-term operational resilience.