Team at Ducks Unlimited Canada becomes a fundraising powerhouse with Veeam Cloud Data Management

The Business challenge

Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) envisions a world with abundant wetlands and waterfowl. Since its founding more than 80 years ago, the organization has completed nearly 12,000 projects and conserved and influenced a total163.5 million acres. Despite this progress, Canada is losing wetlands at an alarming rate.

More than 70% of wetlands have been lost in settled areas, DUC reports. According to Natural Resources Canada, wetlands account for only 14% of total land mass. “Everyone at DUC is working hard to improve those percentages, including the IT team,” said Raj Perumal, Chief Information Officer at Ducks Unlimited Canada. “We decided to focus on conservation technology.”

Perumal said the challenge was finding time to focus on conservation technology. “The IT team spent too much time each week resolving problems caused by unreliable backup, leaving little time for innovation. They were frustrated they couldn’t spend more time adding value to the organization, but we found a way and we made history

The Veeam Solution

DUC replaced legacy backup with a Cloud Data Management solution based around Veeam® Availability Suite™. “Veeam gave us the time we needed to focus on our many IT conservation technology related projects,” Perumal said. “Veeam doesn’t require as much time as our previous products because it’s fast, flexible and easy to use, giving us time to transform the IT department from a cost center to a fundraising center. Our conservation technology projects have enabled us to raise $250,000 the first year.”

The IT team asked several organizations to support the project and nearly all said yes, including the Royal Bank of Canada. It provided a $100,000 grant to pilot 25 sensors in wetlands across the country. The sensors use aspects of artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning to monitor temperature, humidity, water level and soil conditions. Data is sent in real time to DUC, who use it in research and predictive analytics. 

“Collecting wetland data was a manual process before we deployed sensors,” Perumal said. “By automating data retrieval, we can give our team instant access to the information they need to make decisions that will save endangered species, improve water cleanliness and prevent flooding.”

Data is precious at DUC. It provides insight to help the organization meet its mission of conserving, restoring and managing wetlands. “We take data management very seriously,” Perumal said. “That’s why we moved to a private-cloud, data-center model. Veeam is the leader in backup solutions delivering Cloud Data Management, enabling us to protect all workloads — cloud, virtual and physical. Data is available whenever we need it for research and analytics. Veeam supports Intelligent Data Management.”

The IT team was so impressed with Veeam that it also deployed Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows to back up hundreds of laptops in the field, as well as Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365 to maintain access and control of historical information in Exchange, OneDrive and SharePoint. “We worried about losing historical data before we transitioned to Office 365, but Veeam alleviated that worry. We have backups at our fingertips,” Perumal said. “That’s awesome from a data standpoint because we retain 30 years’ worth — a total of 2 petabytes and growing.”

DUC retains several types of data, including geographical, research and legal. “Why do we need 30 years’ worth?” Perumal asked. “Our effect on the planet is one reason. To understand the effect humans have had on wetlands, we analyze decades of geographical and research data. Another reason is our land management program. We purchase land to restore a wetland back to a functioning state and put an easement on the land before selling it. The new owners are legally bound to maintain the land in the conserved state, but if they fail to, we need to be aware of it by accessing our geographic and legal data. Everything I’ve described requires Intelligent Data Management, which Veeam makes simple and easy.”

Perumal said Veeam makes saving money simple and easy too. “If we hadn’t deployed Veeam, we’d have had to hire a full-time person to manage backup. When you combine that salary with money saved on third-party technical support services — because northing was simple and easy with legacy backup — the total is nearly $200,000 each year.”

Perumal said saving nearly $200,000 each year is awesome for a nonprofit organization and so is raising $250,000 in funding. “When you work for a nonprofit, there’s only so much you can do with the budgetary allotment you’re given. Veeam helps us save money and raise money, and we are so grateful.”

The results

• Frees up time to innovate, add value and make history
  “Veeam is so fast and easy to use, giving us time to be innovative and provide direct, immediate value to the organization,” Perumal said. “We monetized the IT team, and for the first time in DUC’s history, IT is raising money for the mission.”
• Raises $250,000 in funding and saves $200,000 in IT costs
  “Conservation can be expensive,” Perumal said. “The money raised and saved by the IT team supports this critical work.” 
• Supports Cloud Data Management to save wetlands and waterfowl
  “Veeam makes Cloud Data Management simple and easy,” Perumal said. “We have fast, reliable access to our data, enabling DUC to make informed decisions to meet our mission.”