When it comes to choosing what is best for SEACOM’s customers, Marius always looks for a comprehensive solution. He said: “The use of multiple vendors and solutions to deliver what is essentially a single data management architecture only serves to muddy the waters. “Tracking issues that arise in such a landscape would also be a nightmare. Having Redstor as a single solution means that we can enable additional features without revisiting the drawing board. “Redstor’s new insight facility allows us to analyse the customer data environment and help them understand their data growth which could highlight archive possibilities and reduce infrastructure capex considerably for the customer. “So if SEACOM sets up a backup and recovery solution, and the customer then opts for archiving at a later stage, we are able to do this at the click of a button. “The best part is that the enablement of these additional capabilities comes at no additional cost.”
One of the primary reasons customers seek assistance from SEACOM with their data management needs, revealed Marius, is to address very real concerns about ransomware.
He said: “This is not surprising, given the prevalence of ransomware attacks across the various industries we provide services to. “The extent to which these attacks are able to damage an organisation are all too apparent in the media.” By keeping customer backups isolated from the live environment, they can't be targeted by hackers or malware authors. Marius said: “We provide peace of mind in this regard by leveraging Redstor as a solution and helping customers understand how we are able to aid in mitigating these risks.” With regulation coming into play, Marius stresses that it is imperative that customer data is stored securely, and within the pertinent geographical bounds.
He said: “Data sovereignty is incredibly important, whether our customers know it or not! We try to articulate this to our customers in helping them avoid any issues relating to POPI or GDPR later.
“Redstor’s local presence enables us to meet the necessary requirements in this regard. The encryption of data at source, in transit and at rest is also crucial, insists Marius. He said: “SEACOM also provides security solutions to our customers, and fully understands the risks in transmitting and storing data in clear text. We point out the dangers associated with solutions that don’t take the same precautions. With data security such a key concern for Redstor, we can help our customers mitigate these risks. “Our clients understand only too well that quick access to data is vitally important and they really love the fact that they set the encryption key so only their approved staff has access.”
