Background
Leeds Beckett University is an innovative university with 26,000 students from143 countries from a diverse range of backgrounds. Similar to a number of universities, security is top of mind, so it looked to Insight, as a leading solutions integrator, to advise on the best future-proof and resource-efficient solution to replace the University’s legacy backup solution.
Challenge
The primary challenge faced by the University was the escalating threat of ransomware.
Recognising that its tape backup solution was complex to manage and inadequate for swift recovery from a ransomware incident, they needed a modern, simple-to-use immutable backup solution.
Backup requirements at universities are complex due to the volume and variety of data that needs protecting. Thousands of new students also enrol each year, while historical student data needs to be retained for several years for regulatory and compliance reasons.
The university also needed a cost-effective way to back up its growing volumes of M365 data
“Having relied on a tape-based solution for many years, we knew a modern immutable backup solution was required to future proof our operations and protect against evolving threats. The Cohesity and Azure solution, recommended by Insight, is secure, efficient and has been simple to deploy.”
Anthony Sams, Head of IT, Leeds Beckett University
“The Insight team offered useful recommendations throughout the process. Their recommendations ensured that the data management solution met our specific business and technical requirements.”
Martin Farrar, Project Manager, Leeds Beckett University
Solution and Outcome
Leeds Beckett University deployed a modern Cohesity backup and data management solution that provides immutable air-gapped backups to protect its data from ransomware.
The secure solution, recommended by Insight, provides data encryption and role-based access control to ensure unauthorised users or applications cannot modify or delete backups.
It includes both on-premises and cloud elements, with data now replicated between two on-premises Cohesity clusters, and to Azure. This enables fast local recovery, as well as providing a secure offsite backup.
The modern architecture of the Cohesity solution enables the university to recover large amounts of data in minutes instead of hours - as would be required following a major ransomware incident. The solution also enables testing and restore from a sandbox environment, preventing reinfection during recovery.
The modern data reduction capabilities of the solution enable the university to efficiently utilise Azure cloud resources. Its cloud backups are cost effective, more secure and simpler to manage than legacy tape-based backups.
Cohesity’s modern node-based architecture means the new solution can be scaled cost-effectively, eliminating the need for any expensive fork-lift upgrades.
With the new solution in place, Insight can provide the university with on-going support that further enhances its advanced threat detection capabilities, ensuring its data management is future proofed.
Why Insight?
As a leading Solutions Integrator, Insight was able to offer expert guidance to Leeds Beckett University on how it could modernise backups, protect the university from ransomware and efficiently utilise Azure resources as part of its wider strategy.
Insight’s extensive experience of working with higher education and public sector organisations, enabled it to quickly identify the most suitable solutions when discussing Leeds Beckett University requirements.
The team recommended a modern backup solution that met the university’s requirements, while Insight’s Azure consultants provided guidance around the specific considerations of implementing a modern cloud-based solution.
