Helping Shawcor protect data at the edge of the enterprise

Challenges

In today's mobile business environment, valuable corporate data is roaming free in endpoints that could literally be spread all over the world. They're not only susceptible to cyberattacks, but also to loss, damage, and theft.

This was the challenge facing Peter Celec, Global IT Shared Services Manager, Global Enterprise Services at Shawcor. Headquartered in Toronto, Celec is responsible for providing IT services to Shawcor users globally. "We ran into an issue where an endpoint was compromised by ransomware, which made us realize that we didn't want to be that vulnerable," said Celec. "I discussed the issue with my colleagues and we agreed we wanted a seamless and automated service for the end user that minimized downtime and made data easily recoverable."

For Celec, and for Shawcor, choosing the right solution and partner to address this service gap was key. "I wanted to make sure we were using a platform that was not only reliable but reputable," said Celec, who reached out to Compugen as part of his bid process. Compugen's expertise and knowledge helped cement the decision in favor of Commvault and Compugen. "Commvault is a big player in the industry, and I had used their solutions before, so I knew they had a solution that would do what we needed," said Celec.

Solutions

The Commvault Edge solution provides endpoint data protection including laptop backup to cloud, data encryption and secure erase for data loss prevention, secure file access and sharing, and file synchronization.

For Celec, Compugen's commitment was just as important as the technology. "That's what it came down to – the commitment, and the knowledge they had," he said. He and his colleagues worked with Compugen's technical team on the implementation. The first step was to identify the 'VIPs' whose data most needed protection. Executives, road warriors and plant managers with mission-critical data on their laptops were at the top of the list.

The setup for each user is easy. The team remotely installs clients on each laptop, making the physical setup and implementation straightforward for each individual. Backups are done daily to the cloud: Commvault Edge checks for anything that's changed and only backs up that data. This process runs in the background and users are generally not even aware of it. Data is easily recoverable, and in many cases can be done by the user.

The cloud-based structure of the Commvault solution was also important for Shawcor. "We're focused on moving as much technology to the cloud as possible. We don't want to be investing in infrastructure where we don't have to," said Celec.

Results

The solution has a central management console, providing Celec and his team with a single, complete view of all stored data and detailed information on backup processes. Regional field services teams can access the console to manage users in their own regions.

"The best part of this solution is its simplicity," said Celec. "Once it's set up, there's very little involvement needed to manage the endpoints, which makes our lives a lot easier. Our IT organization is lean, so trying to retrieve user data without the proper tools can be a nightmare. With this solution, if end-users need help retrieving data, it's fast and easy for us to provide that service."

"It's a cost-effective solution when you look at it from what it's doing for you," concluded Celec. "And ensures we can always recover our corporate data."