Internet Solutions standardises on Attix5 for critical data protection

The trend towards mobile and remote computing continues to grow. While this mobility makes users much more productive, it also places the burden of managing backups on the users because more and more critical corporate data tends to be stored on desktops, laptops and other mobile devices.

"About half of the corporate data in existence resides on a variety of systems outside the control of the corporation," says Gary Novitzkas, sales and product marketing director of Attix5. "Traditionally, mobile users are responsible for their own backups and more often than not, no backups exist."

To ensure its staff members adhere to the data protection stipulations of the ECT Act and good corporate governance rules, even if they do so unconsciously, Internet Solutions (IS) has purchased Backup Professional for Desktops and Laptops from Attix5.

Peter Casalis, CIO of IS, says the company decided to implement a solution that would manage the process for their users that required the minimum input from them and enforced company policy. Backup Professional 3.0 also ensures that companies comply with the King II report that places the responsibility for good corporate governance - including the control over data integrity and confidentiality - on company directors.

"Our goal was to meet these corporate requirements as well as be in a position to be able to catch those situations where users suddenly realise that a document is missing," adds Casalis. "Given the reliability of traditional backup solutions, we wanted to give staff something that did the work for them and took the hassles out of the process."

Backup Professional 3.0 filled these needs. After being installed and configured, the application runs every time the user logs onto the network. The software examines all specified files and directories and built-in intelligence determines which files are new and which have changed since the last backup. New files are copied to a backup server via the corporate WAN.

The application then identifies files that have changed and only copies the altered portions of the file to the backup disk - saving on bandwidth. All this is done without hampering the user.

IS also sells Attix5`s server, and desktop and laptop versions of Backup Professional to its customers. "IS is a trusted brand," says Novitzkas. "The fact that the company sells the same software that it uses internally simply adds another layer of credibility to the application."

Backup Professional provides users and administrators with peace of mind as the system automatically takes care of regular backups with no prompting from the user necessary, even if they are dialling in from remote locations via a dial-up connection. To ensure total confidentiality, the data is encrypted when it is transported over network or Internet connections, and then encrypted again when saved on the backup systems.

"Additionally, no other solution includes integrated support for Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)," adds Novitzkas.

An explorer interface or a simple browser interface is all that is required to restore files via a drag-and-drop process. An application called WebAccess can be started from any location once the user has logged into the corporate network. The system then grants access to the backup server and files can be restored to almost any mobile device. Attix5`s WapAccess can be used to mail or fax files via a GSM cellular telephone.

The performance of the system has been great, according to Casalis: "Everything just happens." He also notes that the system is very flexible and easy to use. "Most users can look after themselves and recover the files they need easily without having to call a technician to help them. The system works very smoothly."