A timesaver forFocusnetworks. . . and a lifesaver for schools hit byransomware attack

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Cutting manualoverheads

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Focusnetworks continue to see afall in manual overheads as moreand more schools adopt Redstoras their cloud data managementsolution.

There is no need for an IT technician to spend 15minutes per site checking the backups for 60schools - thanks to Redstor’s intelligent, policy-driven automation and sophisticated reporting.

However, director Ian Bloomfield insists thebiggest beneficiaries of Redstor’s pioneeringtechnology are schools hit by ransomwareattacks.

Having seen organisations laid low for monthsby viruses that encrypt data, Ian knows the valueof ensuring his customers have a datamanagement solution that delivers reliablebackup and recovery, archiving, disaster recoveryand global search.

He said: “The advent of ransomware has totallychanged the landscape of how data is backedup. On-premise backups can be destroyed andrendered useless by today’s sophisticated

rendered useless by today’s sophisticatedattacks.

“Ransomware recently destroyed a school’smain server after getting in through anunprotected laptop. It went on to encrypt all thefiles on three other servers too. We useMalwarebytes for anti-ransomware and usemultiple vendors for anti-virus, these are veryeffective but ransomware evolves every day andcan target any weakness or unprotected deviceon your network.

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Luckily we insist on Redstor for ourschools, so the school’s confidentialdata was instantly available againand they were up and running thesame day.

Ian Bloomfield, director

How Redstor isending downtimeGet streamed, on-demand access towhatever data is needed

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Staff carried on workingunaffected after their schoolbecame ransomware victims -thanks to streamed on-demandaccess to whatever data theyneeded.Ian said: “I know of sites that had a ransomwareattack without the proper protection in place andthey were down for three months. They lost alltheir data and access to their emails.”

With InstantData - Redstor’s unique, user-drivenstreaming technology - there is no need to waitfor a full recovery. At the click of a button,Redstor gets users up and running withinseconds, not days.

Ian said: “We had the admin staff up and runningso they had access to their emails. Also, usingInstantData, we provided them with thedocuments and spreadsheets they needed. Theywere restored for them to work on while the mainserver was being brought up. That workedperfectly.

It’s amazing. To be able to log on securely and browse your files and pick whatyou need, makes a massive difference.

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Users can be back working in minutes and are so grateful for that because theyknow they’ve been hit.

Ian Bloomfield, director

Always onReducing the impact of security incidents,data breaches and hardware failure

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Focusnetworks look after150-plus servers, 10,000 devicesand all the networks, software andday-to-day IT operations of morethan 100 schools.

Redstor protects terabytes of admin data,including crucial financial and sensitivedocuments, radically reducing the impact ofsecurity incidents, data breaches and hardwarefailure. Share on TShare on LinkedInShare on Facebook

We demand that any school we nowtake on has to have Redstor as part ofour maintenance. We say ‘you musthave offsite storage of your importantdata.

Ian Bloomfield

Ian added: “A couple of schools have decided notto have off-site protection, but we make surethey put this in writing because we don’t want tohave that conversation that all their data hasgone. That is a horrible conversation. It’s not nicefor us or them. Redstor, though, is 100 per centthe last line of defence."

Ian said: “It’s a proper belt-and-braces approach. Isay to everyone, you have got to have thisbecause you will get let down at some stage by auser using a weak password or a super-infectionthat comes out before a way is found to preventit. Even if your data is infected and theransomware hides a while, you can still go backand get your data because it is safe withRedstor.”

How quickly would you expect to geta school up and running if it was hitby a ransomware attack?

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In minutes?

In an hour?

In less than two hours?

In half a day?

By the next day?

Within two days?

Challenges

Recovering school’s data after ransomwareattackKeeping school working while data isrecoveredHigh management overheads associated withmanaging dataRetention and billing complexitiesDifficulty finding expert support

Solution

InstantData, Redstor’s unique on-demandstreaming technologyA data management solution that deliversreliable backup and recovery, archiving,disaster recovery and global searchIntelligent, policy-driven automation andsophisticated reporting with a centralisedmanagement console, offering borderlessvisibility of entire, complex data estate at anytime, on any deviceTransparent and predictable pricing with nohidden costs or surprisesSupport provided by an organisation that isboth the technology vendor and infrastructureowner

Key Benefits

Stream data in real time to any device, makingdowntime a thing of the pastNo need to wait for full recovery - gainimmediate access to automated, encryptedand secure online backup and recoveryIT team now manage by exception, reducingtime spent on data management admin byabout 15 minutes for each of 60 sites everyweekEasy installation, no hardware costs andability to scale up or down as demandchangesFast 24/7/365 access to a support team thatdraws on 20 years’ knowledge and experiencewithin the storage and backup industry

Borderlessvisibility of data

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Multi-tenanted solution built forthe cloud

With a unique solution that is multi-tenanted andbuilt for the cloud, Focusnetworks are now ableto discover, manage, control and protect the dataof multiple schools with ease.

Running on servers, laptops and workstations,with backup selections profiled from themanagement console, Redstor provides rapidand granular restore for Office 365 and SaaSapplications.

Ian said: “Traditionally schools have had tapes.The county council would typically come in, setup an admin server, put in a tape drive, create a

little script and say ‘click on this and that willback up your SIMS, your SMS and your datadrive’. Some people have been doing that foryears.

“I was at a school recently and they said, ‘wechanged our admin server a couple of monthsago – and when we checked it, we found thebackup had not been working for seven years’.“No-one had been aware of this, though, because

“No-one had been aware of this, though, becausethe council does not monitor the backup and theadmin staff do not know how to verify to see ifthe backup was working.

“A backup is only any good when it’s verified.That’s why Redstor is so good because itprovides that verification and sends an email toconfirm it.”

Redstor unifies backup, instant-datarecovery and access, archiving, searchand data migration through a secure,central console, enabling borderlessvisibility of Focusnetwork’s entire dataestate at any time, on any device.

A liberated IT team

Deployed and configured in 15 minutes, Redstorhas made data management tasks smaller andsimpler for Focusnetworks and the schools theyserve.Ian said: “Our previous backup solution was not

Ian said: “Our previous backup solution was notworking as intended. There was very littlereporting too. We had to go in manually andwould find a document had not been imported,or a backup had failed, but not been reported – itwould cost us a lot of manual time.

“With Redstor we save ourselves 15 to 20minutes per site. The console emails us reports,the client sends us an email every night andsomeone looks at the console every week tomonitor the backups. It’s a massive manualoverhead that we save by using Redstor.

“The failure rate is maybe 2 or 3% - and that willbe because of an onsite problem - something like

be because of an onsite problem - something likea file being locked or an issue with a server –nothing to do with Redstor.

“Once we log into the portal, we can quickly seefrom the colour-coding if there is a problem andtarget the ones that might need attention. It hasmade our lives much easier – but even moreimportantly it gives us total confidence in theproduct so we can say to the customer ‘you canrest assured that your data is backed up’.”

Multiple copies of backups are heldsecurely encrypted in UK datacentres. The encryption key is set bythe customer, ensuring nounauthorised access.

Ian said: “Like the legal and financial sectors,schools have to be able to go back seven yearswith their data. They have to protect theirfinancial details and all the safeguardinginformation on pupils.It would be catastrophic tolose that data and the school would be reportedto the Information Commissioner’s Office if thatwere to happen. Also they have to comply withthe General Data Protection Regulation that hasbeen recently introduced.

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We are happy that Redstor ticks allthe boxes, is accredited and encryptsall the data. It fulfils a school’sobligation to have any sensitivedocumentation backed up.

Ian Bloomfield

Are you happy with the time it takesto monitor your backups everyweek?

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No, it takes far too long?

I’m sure it could be a bit quicker?

Yes, it hardly takes any time?

Transparent andpredictablepricing

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Transparent and predictable pricing

Not only are traditional backups costly, complicated and time-consuming,they cannot scale to support the explosion in new apps and growing datasets.

As well as removing manual overheads, Redstor allows Focusnetworks tobudget confidently with a pricing model that is subscription-based, simpleand predictable.

Focusnetwork can now scale up or down as demand changes. There are nohidden costs, no surprises

Ian said: “We put less backup drives in the on-premise solutions. Eventhough, there’s a cost to Redstor, there’s a saving to be made because youdon’t need expensive tape drives/hard drives on site. Also admin interventionhas been cut dramatically, they now can get on with their job instead ofworrying about stuck tape drives or incomplete backups.

“We used to put two separate sets of discs in a NAS box, another disc in theserver to send the backups every night to different places. Now with Redstor,schools have their raid, a NAS box and Redstor so there is a saving there too- with the added aspect of having offsite protection.”

Expert support

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Expert support

Redstor’s clients have 24/7 access to a supportteam that draws on 20 years’ knowledge andexperience within the storage and backupindustry.

If Focusnetworks ever need support, Ian has thereassurance that his IT staff are speaking to anorganisation that is both the technology vendorand infrastructure owner.

Redstor also feeds all inputdirectly into softwaredevelopment. That’s why thesoftware is constantlyimproving in the way clientsdesire.

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We looked at six or seven different backup solutions. Redstor is reliable, theemail notifications are excellent – always flagging up any issue for us to action– and we always have a technician to speak to, providing support wheneverthere is a problem. That is vital when we are dealing with such important andsensitive data.

Ian Bloomfield

Proven and trusted tech

Redstor is trusted by more than 40,000 clients around the world to help discover, analyse, control and protect their critical data. Focusnetworks have beenpartners with Redstor for more than eight years.

We happened to take over a schoolthat had Redstor on it. We looked at itand saw it was an excellent product.

“It was easy to manage, and got onwith the job in the background. It wassomething we liked straight away –and we built up the customer base. Ithas really gained in traction over thelast few years.

“Redstor is a solid product thatprotects you in your hour of need.When the network’s been takendown and it’s in a mess and you’veworked through the night, whichwe’ve done several times, it’s such anice feeling to look and see Redstorworking.”

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