SynaaS is a fully managed, private-cloud backup and storage platform built exclusively for the UK education sector. Designed around DfE, RPA and GDPR requirements, SynaaS provides schools and MATs with reliable, compliant, and cost-effective protection of their Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace data. Unlike traditional cloud backup providers, SynaaS gives schools complete ownership, visibility, and control over their data while delivering enterprise-grade resilience in accredited UK datacentres.

Schools face increasing cyber threats, data loss incidents, and regulatory pressures; 83% of UK schools have experienced a cyber-security incident, 71% suffered financial or data loss, and 54% reported serious breaches. SynaaS addresses these risks by deploying a dedicated Synology-powered backup appliance for each school, located in ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified facilities in Manchester, Warrington or London. This ensures secure storage, continuous monitoring, and full compliance with the highest standards for information security.

At the core of SynaaS is a 3-2-1-1-0 backup strategy:
– 3 copies of data
– 2 different media types
– 1 offsite copy
– 1 offline copy
– 0 errors on recovery

This robust architecture ensures protection against deletion, ransomware, sync failures, and cloud retention limitations. Microsoft and Google encourage customers to back up independently, warning that recycle bins and retention policies are not designed for long-term data preservation. SynaaS eliminates this gap with unlimited retention periods, custom backup schedules (continuous, hourly, daily or weekly), and encryption both in transit and at rest.

Each SynaaS deployment is fully managed end-to-end, including sourcing of Synology hardware, installation in datacentres, secure connectivity, backup configuration, policy documentation, training for IT teams, and daily monitoring. The SynaaS operations team handles maintenance, updates, audits, and performs recovery testing to ensure the highest level of readiness. Schools maintain full administrative access to their appliance and always have sight of where data is located.

SynaaS also provides risk mitigation against common failure points in alternative solutions. Unlike provider-native backups, SynaaS is not affected by outages at Google or Microsoft. Compared to in-house systems, it removes the risks of staff turnover, misconfiguration, physical theft, or non-compliance with ISO standards. And unlike SaaS backup vendors, SynaaS avoids rising monthly storage costs, shared appliances, vendor lock-in, and lack of transparency around security and data location.

Key features include:
• Fully managed, UK-only private cloud backup
• ISO 9001 & ISO 27001 certified datacentres
• Unlimited data retention with custom policies
• Backup frequency options from continuous to weekly
• AES encryption at rest and secure firewalled access
• Continuous monitoring, reporting and improvement
• Backup protection for Workspace, 365, PCs and servers
• Compliance with DfE, RPA, GDPR and CE+ principles
• Full administrative visibility and hardware ownership
• Predictable, fixed-cost pricing with no usage-based increases

With SynaaS, schools receive a secure, resilient, and compliant backup environment that removes day-to-day complexity while dramatically reducing traditional cloud backup expenditure saving up to 83% in costs. The service ensures educational continuity, reduces financial and regulatory risk, and protects learners’ digital futures through robust, long-term data safeguarding.

SynaaS offers free consultations, backup audits, and customised data protection strategies to help schools understand gaps in their current setup, identify unnecessary spending, and build a sustainable, compliant approach to cloud data protection.