DataFort’s Hi-5 suite of business continuity/disaster recovery services provide security, regulatory compliance and vital time-saving in the event of lost servers to global asset management firm
Release Date: 10 April 2012
Duet Group, the London-based global alternative asset management firm, has selected Managed Service Provider (MSP) DataFort to protect its entire server infrastructure with Hi-5, a suite of business continuity and disaster recovery services. The Hi-5 service ensures compliance with FSA data storage guidelines, whilst replacing the indefinite recovery timeframes provided by tape backup with guaranteed SLAs for recovery of data, server failure or loss of access to their business premises.
Duet Group is a global alternative asset manager, founded in 2002. The group manages over US$2.4 billion of equity over three business areas: Hedge Funds, Private Equity and Funds of Hedge Funds.
Replacing the unreliable, insecure and time-consuming process of tape backup, the Hi-5, High Availability service will allow Duet Group to exceed FSA customer service and data security guidelines and requirements. The asset management firm also hold a mass of sensitive data, such as personal and investor information, market holdings and risk details which the company has a duty to hold securely for a minimum of seven years in premises located at least 7 miles away from their primary business location. As an FSA-regulated organisation, failure to comply with these regulations could result in financial penalties of up to £5,000,000, and the discarded tape backup strategy put the asset management firm at risk of breach.
The High Availability service from DataFort has replaced the tape backup process where results of recovery tests had proved less than satisfactory as to recover critical systems and data would have taken in excess of a full working day. Also, since tape backup occurs only once each day, it left as much as 24 hours worth of data at risk of permanent loss for the 24/7 company. Such risks are unacceptable in an industry where the ability to trade instantly when market conditions demand it can mean the difference between making or losing significant amounts of money for Duet Group and its clients. In contrast, DataFort’s Hi-5 backup images are kept in tight synchronization with all the protected machines, meaning that the potential to lose data is absolutely minimized. In the event of server failure, Duet Group will continue trading from a virtual server running inside a local backup appliance, with a maximum downtime of under 2 hours.
Tue Sando, General Counsel at Duet Group, comments, “Prior to implementing the DataFort system, we were relying solely on tape-based processes to manage our system backup. In order to comply with FSA data storage guidelines, and after multiple recent cases of the FSA heavily penalising those in breach, we needed the technology and a set of processes to be put in place which would provide us with the security of a managed service and would remove our reliance on frankly antiquated tape technology.”
Duet has contracted for DataFort’s Hi-5 High Availability Service – a near replication speed onsite/offsite server imaging and data archival service – to protect its six most business critical servers which hold the most sensitive information. They have also subscribed to Vaulting Plus, a service which for a fixed price includes onsite/offsite server imaging and data archival but with a slower Recovery Time Objective, to protect the remaining two servers that host less business-critical data and applications.
Sando continues, “Mismanagement of sensitive data can result in fines of up to £5,000,000. With this in mind, we required a system which would ensure beyond doubt that our data could not be lost and could also be recovered quickly. The Hi-5 solution from DataFort does just that – within 120 minutes we can be trading again with data made available from the backup appliance. In contrast, the tape solution could take in excess of a day to retrieve data, and with no guarantee of a complete replication. In an industry such as ours, this was absolutely unacceptable. The ramifications that this could have for our clients are potentially huge – if the market turns and our traders are unable to buy and sell as they should do, then that would have a massive impact on the fund and the client relationship.”
Sando concludes, “The choice to use DataFort above their competitors was simple. We wanted a provider who was large enough to survive the economic downturn, but not too big for us to be overlooked as a relatively small client, as well as providing solid disaster recovery technology. DataFort gives us a comprehensive service with an exemplary working relationship. The system is reliable and has given us the security which we required to remain compliant as well as to continue to manage clients’ funds effectively with little or no disruption through a server failure.”
About DATAFORT
DATAFORT provides dependable and secure data protection services that offer enterprise-level functionality with a focus on security and reliability. Its software and services are used by thousands of organizations worldwide, ranging from SMBs through to large enterprises and local government departments. Every hour of every day someone, somewhere backs up with DATAFORT. The company was founded in 2000, is headquartered in Guildford, UK and has offices in London and New York. For further information please visit www.DATAFORT.com or contact 0800 45 44 35.
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