Is Microsoft 365 Storage Becoming an AI Cost Problem?

Although AI is currently in control of the boardroom agenda, a discussion on the latest The Security Strategist podcast suggests that enterprises might be posing the wrong first question.The real AI problem isn't just how many AI models an enterprise can deploy, but whether the data that powers the AI model is protected, can be recovered, is affordable, and is, in fact, usable.Chris Steffen, Host and Vice President of Information Security at Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), is joined by Randy De Meno, Vice President of Business Development and responsible for the Microsoft practice at CrashPlan, on The Security Strategist podcast. They claim that data strategy should come before AI strategy since enterprises are facing rising storage costs, token sprawl and ever more complex cloud environments.They particularly talk about the growing relationship between AI, Microsoft 365 storage, SaaS data, backup, archiving, data recovery and AI token sprawl.As enterprises generate increasing volumes of data and deploy more AI applications, the cost and security implications are becoming harder to ignore. Microsoft 365 and other SaaS platforms may keep applications running, but organisations remain responsible for protecting and recovering their data.The conversation explores why enterprises need to think about data strategy before AI strategy, including how to control storage overages, protect business-critical data, make protected data usable with AI, and ensure data can actually be found and recovered when needed.In this episode:00:00 Introduction to Data and AI Challenges in Cybersecurity01:23 CrashPlan's Role in Data Resiliency and AI03:49 The Cost of SaaS Storage and Data Overages07:31 The Evolution of Backup and Data Usage with AI12:29 The Impact of Token Sprawl on AI and Budgeting18:57 Understanding the Shared Responsibility Model in Cloud Security23:28 Making Data Easy to Find and Use24:52 Closing Remarks and Future OutlookKey topics• Microsoft 365 storage costs and overages• AI data storage and enterprise AI costs• AI token sprawl and technology budgets• Microsoft 365 backup and data protection• SaaS data archiving• Enterprise data recovery and resilience• AI data security and governance• Making protected data searchable and usable• Cloud shared responsibility• Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace data protectionThe discussion highlights a critical question for IT and security leaders: Is your enterprise protecting the data that its AI strategy depends on — and can you recover it when you need it?Learn more about CrashPlan's approach to Microsoft 365 data archiving and protection:https://www.crashplan.com/resources/crashplan-archiving-for-microsoft-365/Read the guide:https://www.crashplan.com/resources/guide/are-you-headed-for-a-microsoft-365-storage-overage/Visit CrashPlan:https://www.crashplan.com/#Microsoft365 #AI #DataProtection #Cybersecurity #DataBackup #AIData #TokenSprawl #CloudSecurity #DataRecovery #EnterpriseAI