Veeam recently announced the launch of its new, federal government-focused subsidiary, Veeam Government Solutions, Inc. (VGS). To find out more, VMblog spoke with Earl Matthews, the president of VGS.
VMblog: What were some of the factors that brought Veeam to develop this new government subsidiary?
Earl Matthews: For the past decade, Veeam has delivered modern data protection and data management solutions to more than 400,000 customers, including government entities. Now, with recent cyberthreats and ransomware more prevalent than ever, the potential impact of data loss to critical infrastructure has never been higher. We founded Veeam Government Services, Inc. (VGS) to focus in even more on this highest level of security. At Veeam, we have always had the goal to deliver modern data protection for the modern world. We’re committed to continually finding better ways to serve the government, solve its biggest data challenges, and protect the information that is a strategic asset for everything government organizations do.
VMblog: How will Veeam support the data backup and protection needs for these various federal entities?
Matthews: Every government agency needs the most modern and adept backup and recovery solutions. Government data is particularly sensitive – VGS provides unmatched protection against cyberthreats and ransomware, detecting and automatically responding to triggers in real-time. This way, even if an agency is affected by a threat, there is protection in place to keep it from spreading and becoming a much bigger threat. VGS provides data protection for cloud, virtual, SaaS, Kubernetes and physical environments to keep federal data protected and available at all times.
VGS offers data protection software solutions from Veeam, including Veeam Backup & Replication v11, which are independently verified and validated by U.S.-based, federal government-trusted, third-party agencies. Current certifications include U.S. Navy DADMS, NIST – 1800-11, SOCOM Approved Products List (APL), and Section 508. VGS has also been sponsored by DISA and submitted for testing for the DoDIN APL and is working to secure additional certifications important to federal organizations.
VMblog: The announcement shared that over 1,200 customers in the government space will benefit from VGS? What notable customers and agencies are using this service?
Matthews: VGS is focused on the backup and protection of mission-critical data for the U.S. Department of Defense, every branch of the military, Civilian Agencies, the Intelligence Community, Federal System Integrators and more than 300 Native American tribes.
VMblog: Can you tell us more about the team that’s been created to lead the VGS group?
Matthews: VGS has appointed a Board of Directors including myself, the president at VGS, Nick Ayers, managing partner of Ayers Neugebauer & Co. and member of Veeam’s Board of Directors, and Gil Vega, chief information security officer (CISO) at Veeam. Our team has experience in all levels of federal government, up to and including the White House.
We have also appointed an independent Advisory Board including Harry Coker, owner of Primis Principiis, LLC with an extensive background in the national security community, Chad Sweet, co-founder and CEO of the Chertoff Group who formerly served as the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Lt. General (USAF, ret.) Thomas Trask, president of SO&A Consulting LLC and retired Vice Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. We have a very specific and ambitious vision for VGS, and we knew we needed the right people to execute that vision. That’s why we brought the top people in their respective fields together to create the best, most experienced team to meet the unique data protection needs of government entities.
VMblog: What can we expect to see from VGS in the near future?
Matthews: We’re committed to finding better ways to serve the government and solve its biggest data challenges. That is why we’re working toward making every product in the Veeam line available to VGS customers after the release has been validated independently to verify integrity of the source code.
In addition, expect more strategic partnerships that align with current federal provisions like our partnership with CACI, Inc. – Federal to ensure supply chain security and provide auditable, traceable processes in line with President Biden’s May 12, 2021 Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity’s provisions encouraging 3rd Party Verification and Validation of software.
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