As a defense contractor, we could be a target for cybercriminals, but if our network was breached, Veeam would help us recover data fast.
I’ve worked in IT for more than two decades, and one of the most important things I’ve learned is to never underestimate the power of protecting your backups. They’re your last line of defense in a cyberattack, so knowing they’re accessible and promptly recoverable is a critical part of ransomware protection. Most companies will experience a cyberattack, so the sooner they accept that fact, the better. Ransomware protection is the best investment any organization can make.
Ransomware protection is a top priority for Penske Australia & New Zealand because the products and services we provide to customers depend on our data being secure and available. Penske engines power vehicles for Australia and New Zealand’s military, mining and construction, and they provide backup power for critical facilities like data centers and hospitals.
We also provide in-service support, which means our colleagues go wherever they’re needed to make sure our customers’ engines are running well (sometimes that requires a helicopter ride out to the middle of an ocean). The point is we need to be able to get the right part from the right distribution center as quickly as possible so we can dispatch staff to wherever that part needs to go. All of this depends on our ability to access data.
Data also informs us about warranties, recalls and upgrades for every part. Again, data must be protected and available so we can serve customers efficiently. For example, we’re a key divisional supplier for Australia’s military. They rely on us to keep their trucks, tanks, ships and submarines running. It would be a major problem if our data wasn’t available.
Replacing legacy backup with Veeam
When data availability became a challenge, we replaced our legacy backup product with Veeam Backup & Replication. The legacy product was unreliable, difficult to use and archaic, so it didn’t adapt to emerging technology. More importantly, it didn’t meet recovery objectives required by the business. Complying with regulatory requirements wasn’t easy either. That was a problem because we work with several governments. Compliance frameworks include the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), U.K. Cyber Essentials, NIST and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX).
Veeam has changed the way we look at data protection. It verifies our data is backed up and available so we can serve customers, and it helps us meet recovery objectives (backup, replication and recovery are 90% faster). Veeam also supports regulatory compliance and protects us from ransomware by backing up data to AWS and making those backups immutable. We haven’t experienced a ransomware attack, but we’re not delusional. We know it can happen anytime.
Veeam does its job day in and day out
I’ve been using Veeam for about a decade now, and I can’t say that about any other solution during my 23-year career. That’s because Veeam’s roadmap has been rock solid, and it delivers on the goods every time. Veeam also gives us a level of flexibility that we never had before — we can back up every minute if that’s what the business requires.
Data protection has certainly come a long way since I started my career building computers. I’ve held several positions since then (Helpdesk Coordinator, Diagnostics Associate, Senior Network Engineer and Infrastructure Manager) so I know we’re leaps and bounds ahead of the old days. It used to take hours to complete a single backup job and recovery took even longer, but today we can back up and recover terabytes of data fast. Today we expect our backups to be up to date, accessible and recoverable in case of a cyberattack, and Veeam ticks all those boxes. It’s fair to say that Veeam has been a major part of my journey to becoming a Chief Security Officer.
If I could give my younger self one piece of advice, it would be this: Data protection will evolve, and someday you’ll have confidence knowing your backups will be there to save the day. That advice would have been really helpful as I was building a data center in the mountains of Laos. Getting sensitive IT equipment up a mountain was no easy feat. Protecting data was no easy feat either. I wish I had known back then what I know now: You’ll find a data protection solution that will have your back. You’ll set it, forget it and move on to other projects. Your life will be easier with Veeam, and it will become an important part of your tool kit in the fight against ransomware.
Click here for more information about how Penske Australia & New Zealand use Veeam.
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About Penske Australia & New Zealand
Penske Australia & New Zealand are a leading supplier of the world’s finest heavy-duty trucks, diesel and gas engines, power systems and related parts. An extensive network of more than 90 branches and authorized dealer locations serves nearly 20,000 customers. Penske Australia & New Zealand are wholly owned by Penske Automotive Group, Inc., a Fortune 500 company operating automotive and commercial vehicle dealerships across the United States and Western Europe.
