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IBM > Case Studies > CenterGrid: Affordable Enterprise Data Protection for Mid-Market Clients
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CenterGrid: Affordable Enterprise Data Protection for Mid-Market Clients

Technology Category
  • Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Backup & Recovery
  • Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Hybrid Cloud
Applicable Industries
  • Cement
  • Construction & Infrastructure
Applicable Functions
  • Maintenance
  • Procurement
Use Cases
  • Construction Management
  • Infrastructure Inspection
Services
  • Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
  • Hardware Design & Engineering Services
The Challenge
CenterGrid, a full-stack IT hosting and support services provider, identified a gap in the market for mid-market firms seeking data protection solutions. These firms found themselves caught between public cloud backup services, which were limited in scope, scalability, and performance, and on-premises solutions that were costly and oversized. Mass market cloud backup solutions were too limited and did not scale cost-effectively to their needs. On the other hand, on-premises enterprise solutions for backup and recovery were often oversized for their requirements, requiring costly investments in both infrastructure and highly skilled specialist personnel. These mid-size organizations were storing increasing volumes of business-critical data but lacked the internal IT resources to properly manage backup, recovery, archive, and retention policies.
About The Customer
CenterGrid's customers are mid-market firms that have outgrown their IT infrastructures. These firms are caught between public cloud backup services that are limited in scope, scalability, and performance, and on-premises solutions that are costly and oversized. They are storing increasing volumes of business-critical data but lack the internal IT resources to properly manage backup, recovery, archive, and retention policies. They need real IT solutions with predictability and scalability. These firms are already backing up their data, but generally, they do not have confidence that they can recover it fast or reliably enough.
The Solution
CenterGrid developed a hybrid RecoveryCenter solution, based on IBM® Spectrum Protect™ and Frontsafe Cloud Portal, to provide fully managed enterprise capabilities priced to fit the needs of mid-market businesses. The solution is a hybrid cloud offering: CenterGrid deploys a hardware appliance in its clients’ locations that runs Spectrum Protect and maintains local backups. These local backups are then replicated to CenterGrid’s own data center for full offsite protection. The hybrid model provides the convenience and speed of local backup and recovery, with the reassurance that all data is also preserved offsite in case of disaster. The hybrid cloud approach with differential and incremental backups from Spectrum Protect also minimizes the external bandwidth required. CenterGrid is currently storing almost one PB of client data, with a typical client backup size of 15 TB.
Operational Impact
  • The RecoveryCenter solution saves many hours of administration each week for clients, enabling them to focus their skilled technical resources on core activities that add value to their business. It gives clients the confidence that their vital data is protected against loss: reliably, conveniently, and at low cost per GB. They no longer need to think about backup; CenterGrid takes that whole headache away. They can also see that the recovery works, and of course, that’s what they’re really buying. The RecoveryCenter option provides extremely competitive pricing both against less-reliable consumer cloud options and against the on-premises, owned solution model. CenterGrid enjoys massive economies of scale that allow it to provide highly skilled support when and where it’s needed, allowing its clients to focus on their business and not on the systems that their business runs on.
Quantitative Benefit
  • CenterGrid is currently storing almost one PB of client data, with a typical client backup size of 15 TB.
  • The hybrid cloud approach with differential and incremental backups from Spectrum Protect minimizes the external bandwidth required.
  • One client was able to recover from the CryptoLocker malware in just 90 minutes thanks to the onsite backup.

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