Old Mutual Bank, the wholly owned financial services subsidiary of insurance giant Old Mutual, has implemented a backup and recovery system from Storage Solutions at MGX to safeguard its multi-terabyte information repository.
Launched in July 2001, OMB provides wealth management services to Old Mutual policyholders, ranging from investment advice to loans taken against existing policies.
"What we offer our clients is an extension of their policy service, a value-add centre for all their financial and banking requirements," says IT facilities manager Ferdi Brannekamper. "The advantage for our clients is that we can supply these services without the overheads of bank charges and third-party consulting fees."
Brannekamper says that as a `new` company OMB was able to benefit from the latest advances in IT platforms and systems, and to standardise on Microsoft`s Windows 2000 architecture with its army of purpose-built hardware and software solutions to choose from.
"What we wanted from a data backup and recovery system was 24x7 reliability that takes advantage of the network infrastructure we`ve put in place. We also needed a system to cope with our extraordinary storage demands. Data has to be kept on file for the lifespan of a policy, sometimes up to 30 years," continues Brannekamper.
OMB consulted MGX`s Cape-based Storage Solutions division to combine Veritas`s industry-standard enterprise backup and recovery software, NetBackup, with Storagetek Timberwolf digital tape libraries.
"We investigated the market before deciding on the final combination, but found NetBackup to be the best solution designed specifically for the Microsoft enterprise environment," says Brannekamper.
MGX consultant James Hickman says OMB`s approach was unusual in that it included the fail-safes most companies ignore when putting together a recovery system.
"The duplication and redundancy of the system is extremely thorough, more so than most solutions put into practice," says Hickman.
"Even though duplication is recommended in all cases, few companies actually follow through, mostly because of the time it takes and the additional cost of equipment. OMB was taking no chances with its data safety, making sure every component - from the tapes used for backup to the number of servers backing up the data - was covered."
Backups are done daily in batches on mirrored servers with one of two tapes remaining onsite and another stored offsite.
"We were equally impressed with the commitment of the MGX team, which worked around the clock for over a week to make sure the system performed as planned, and that the switchover was flawless," adds Brannekamper.
Implementation was completed in under a month. Brannekamper says the bank is now looking at new strategies, such as backup data encryption, to complement the backup system and take advantage of the speed and scalability of the Microsoft platform and is working closely with MGX to take its ideas forward.
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MGX is a JSE Securities Exchange-listed listed information technology organisation headquartered in Johannesburg, SA, employing 2 754 people. MGX`s mission is to deliver world-class technologies through its strategic relationships with leading international technology suppliers, using its own intellectual property in the form of established methodologies, best practices, business models and software.
The company defines its business space and its value proposition offered to clients in terms of three key strategic requirements - improving enterprise performance, containing business costs and reducing business risk. In turn, MGX has focused its activities into the following five business value domains that comprehensively address these concerns: storage management, business availability management, content management, enterprise value management and software development.
These domains are offered by operating divisions MGX Storage Solutions, MGX Enterprise Solutions, MGX Content Management and MGX Business Continuity Solutions, with Software Futures delivering packaged and turnkey software solutions. These business units have strong functional and operational synergies in developing and integrating solutions for clients. The company`s client base is sourced from the top 200 companies in SA.
MGX has operations in SA, Botswana, Australia, the UK and the US. During its five-year history as a listed company it has delivered consistent growth to shareholders. For more information, visit www.mgxgroup.com.
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