iland, a leading VMware-based provider for application hosting,
data protection and disaster recovery services delivered on the
iland
Secure Cloud Platform, announced that the
City of Bend, Oregon, has chosen
iland Secure Cloud Backup for Veeam Cloud Connect with iland Insider Protection to secure a majority of the
city's critical applications.
Located on the Deschutes River
in central Oregon, the City of Bend is home to an estimated population of
90,000. Known for its breathtaking scenery and year-round access to outdoor
activities, it has become a getaway destination for tourists interested in
nature sports like mountain biking, fishing, white-water rafting, and skiing.
The city's local government serves the community by focusing on core services
such as public safety, utilities, economic, and community development.
When Matt Smith arrived as the
city's new IT Network Administrator in 2020, he was tasked with upgrading its
offsite backup strategy. The solution they were using - offered by one of the
large hyperscaler cloud providers - had consistently failed to meet the city's
needs. At times, it struggled to provide successful backups and cost the city
increasingly unmanageable ingress and egress fees.
"We wanted to get away from our
previous solution, so it was my job to implement that path forward," said
Smith. "We had a lot of technical issues, backups that were unsuccessful, and
it was pretty costly as well. It was definitely problematic. Those were two
pretty significant motivating factors."
After seeking a partner
recommendation, Smith and his team selected iland Secure Cloud Backup for Veeam
Cloud Connect to handle the offsite backup and archive for a majority of the
city's applications and data. Integrated with Veeam, the leader in backup, recovery and data management
solutions that deliver Modern Data Protection, iland Secure Cloud Backup
provided a reliable safety net for a range of data loss events including
malicious or accidental deletions, hardware failures and cybercrime.
"The three main factors we
considered when evaluating new cloud backup solutions were integration with
Veeam, which was particularly important, and then uptime and cost," said Smith.
"It was such a relief once we finally made the transition to iland. Now that
the backups are in place, it's been pretty much hands off. I don't even think
about it, which is kind of the best part of the service."
Cybercrime, which continues to
skyrocket, was also a significant area of concern. State and local governments,
in particular, have become an attractive target for hackers. According to
recent statistics, nearly 2,400 U.S.-based governments, health-care facilities,
and schools fell victim to ransomware in 2020.
"Obviously, we've seen a steady
barrage of cyberattacks in the news and that has us thinking," said Smith. "A
lot of small cities, and the industrial control systems within those cities,
have been targeted. We're very cognizant of what's going on and we want to
protect ourselves - iland Secure Cloud Backup is just one of many ways we're
trying to do that."
In addition to backup, the city
also utilizes iland Insider Protection, which guards against a variety of
internal and external threats, including ransomware and malicious or accidental
deletion. An exclusive service for those running Veeam Cloud Connect, Insider
Protection automatically moves backup files to an air-gapped location that is
not visible or accessible to the customer or available to public routing. These
files are retained in this isolated location and can be saved and transferred
back once ready to restore data.
"IT professionals within state
and local government agencies have no small task - relied upon to, quite
literally, keep the lights on and maintain the critical services that sustain
the cities and towns we choose to call home," said Scott Sparvero. "iland has
long-prioritized helping to protect cities like Bend, Oregon, with solutions
like Secure Cloud Backup and Insider Protection. As threats increase, so does
the need to ensure a robust, secure, and resilient IT infrastructure."
With iland and Veeam managing
the city's backups, Smith and his team gained the freedom to pursue other IT
initiatives, and whenever he did need an update, he could lean on the
unparalleled transparency provided by the iland Cloud Console. The console allows
Smith, and all iland customers, to closely monitor and manage all the city's
cloud resources effectively in terms of cost, performance, regulatory
compliance, and support.
"In my experience, including
places I've worked in the past, organizations can devote a huge amount of time
to managing backups. It's a day-to-day process. I don't have any of that," said
Smith. "The combination of iland and Veeam has worked out really great for us.
Not having to think about our backups has given me more time and energy to
address all the other tasks on our plate."