5 Möglichkeiten, wie Zach Youngs Team von Ootbi profitiert hat
Today, businesses rely on their data more than ever. However, managing and protecting that data can be a complex and time-consuming task that often falls on overburdened IT teams.
And that's where Ootbi (Out-of-the-Box Immutability) comes in. Ootbi by Object First is a secure, simple, and powerful backup storage solution that is purpose-built for Veeam.
For Zach Young, Director of Information Technology at Centerbase, implementing Ootbi eliminated the challenges of managing traditional backup storage while improving data security.
Read this interview by Lauren Greenfield, Customer Success Manager at Object First, to discover five impactful ways Ootbi has transformed Zach's workflow and empowered his team to focus on what truly matters.
Lauren Greenfield: So, Zach, since implementing Ootbi, have you been able to prioritize other priorities you previously could not get to know that you don’t have to worry about your data backup infrastructure?
Zach Young: For the first time in years, I am able to prioritize AND PRACTICE our Disaster Recovery (DR) plan more frequently than our regularly scheduled DR testing because I am spending much less time managing storage.
On top of this, I am now able to prioritize and spend more time teaching my team about Veeam and its features rather than our storage system and the pitfalls one needs to be able to navigate. Oobti made this possible.
Backup and Replication should be simple. They should work, period.
With Ootbi, I am now able to read the latest whitepapers and best practice guides on the various components in my environment.
A wise man named Joe once said, “Knowing is Half the Battle.” As a result of Ootbi, I am a better-informed IT Professional.
As a team, not having to worry about our data backup infrastructure has allowed us to focus on different areas of our infrastructure and take a more objective approach to our design and schema.
We now get to take the time to ask ourselves, “Is this overcomplicated? Are we spending too much time managing this?” This has allowed us to streamline processes and become more efficient.
Last, but maybe most importantly, we have been able to prioritize peace of mind and spending time outside of work, not thinking about “Are we protected in the event of a disaster?”
Every IT professional of various disciplines will know exactly what I am talking about.
Lauren Greenfield: Of those five items, what stands out to you as the most beneficial or surprising?
Zach Young: Honestly, I was surprised at how much time I was spending managing my old backup infrastructure. It was just a part of my and my team’s workday day to deal with the devices.
Whether it was rebooting a box and making sure it came back online correctly due to a critical failure on the box or having to manually intervene and restart backup/replication jobs that failed because of our old infrastructure.
Now, with that new available time each day, I am able to coach different members of my team/adjacent teams through our DR plan and the actual restore process in our test environment.
I always tell them the old adage that “hope is not a plan” (as in “I hope I am able to figure this out if Zach is unavailable”), and now each member of my team and our adjacent teams has been able to understand our process and then practice what they have learned in real-time. The peace of mind that comes from this is invaluable.
The business has also seen a risk assessment item met with a compensating control, substantially lowering our risk score on that metric as a result of our Object First cluster.
As a Director of IT, that checks just about every box for me: Improved Efficiency, Improved Redundancy, Lower Risk, and Increased tangential skills of my employees. What’s not to love there?
Lauren Greenfield: How has this improved or changed your routine at work?
Zach Young: The biggest change to my routine at work because of Object First is allowing more time to focus on other areas of our business. Backup and Replication and its related storage are not my only responsibilities.
Every IT professional is used to the balancing act with regard to the demands of a business, but now that we have Ootbi, I have extra cycles I am able to inject into, which means my calendar now has valuable time added back into it to more properly do my job.
The 5 Key Benefits Summarized
Hearing from Zach, it's clear how Ootbi by Object First has transformed not only his team's operations but also their ability to focus on what matters most.
Here are the five benefits his team has experienced after securing their backups with Ootbi:
- More Time for Disaster Recovery: Ootbi frees up time for Zach to prioritize and practice Disaster Recovery (DR) plans beyond regular testing, allowing his team to refine processes and ensure better preparedness.
- Enhanced Team Training and Knowledge: With fewer storage issues to manage, Zach now dedicates more time to teaching his team about Veeam and their recovery processes, equipping them to handle tasks confidently, even in his absence.
- Streamlined Infrastructure Management: Ootbi allowed Zach's team to step back and reevaluate their infrastructure, enabling them to identify inefficiencies, simplify processes, and optimize their workflows.
- Improved Work-Life Balance: Ootbi's reliability gave Zach and his team peace of mind, removing the constant worry about backups and disasters and enabling them to fully disconnect after work.
- Reduced Risk and Business Value: By implementing Ootbi, Centerbase has improved its risk score with compensating controls, increased redundancy, and enhanced team skill development, delivering measurable business value.
According to Young, Centerbase chose Ootbi over other market options for two key reasons: "Immutability in my cabinet and ease of use and installation with Veeam integration."
Download the case study and learn how Ootbi solved Centerbase's concerns regarding backup speeds and recovery time.