Zerto - Experts & Thought Leaders

Tech specialist Advantex, has successfully delivered a major IT infrastructure and security overhaul for PCCA, a global manufacturer and distributor of personalised medicines. This comprehensive project not only enhanced PCCA UK’s cybersecurity capabilities but also provided the UK operations with strategic autonomy over their IT decisions, ensuring resilience and efficiency in an increasingly challenging digital landscape. Advanced security measures PCCA has been a valued client of Advantex for several years, benefiting from its expertise in managing IT infrastructure across all UK sites. As part of the decentralisation strategy from the US, PCCA turned to Advantex to develop and implement a solution that would meet the specific needs of its UK operations. Advantex responded by working closely with PCCA’s US-based global IT team to design a strategy that allowed the UK office to operate with greater independence. The project encompassed several critical elements, including the creation of a new Active Directory domain, a tenant-to-tenant migration for Office 365, and the implementation of advanced security measures such as Multi-Factor Authentication and Cisco Secure Email. Ensuring minimal disruption These improvements have provided PCCA with a robust and scalable IT environment The project also involved upgrading all legacy hardware to HPe enterprise-class systems, re-platforming server operating systems and line-of-business applications to the latest versions, and enhancing disaster recovery capabilities using Zerto with Azure. These improvements have provided PCCA with a robust and scalable IT environment, equipped to support future growth and innovation. Siobhan Toner, head of finance at PCCA, said: “We are thrilled with the advancements made in our IT infrastructure. The strategic enhancements provided by Advantex have significantly improved our operational efficiency, performance, security and data protection. The solution was not only cost-effective but also delivered on time, ensuring minimal disruption to our operations. Additionally, the ongoing support from Advantex means we have a reliable partner to help us navigate future challenges. I can now sleep better knowing we have done all we can to protect our business, clients, and distribution channels.” Personalised medicine sector The successful delivery of this project by Advantex underscores its commitment to providing tailored IT solutions that meet the specific needs of their clients. By prioritising security and strategic autonomy, the company has empowered PCCA UK to maintain its leadership in the personalised medicine sector while ensuring the safety and integrity of its operations. Reflecting on the collaboration, Scott Duncan, business development manager at Advantex, said: “Working with PCCA on this project has been a rewarding experience. Leveraging cutting-edge technologies and best practices, we’ve created a secure and autonomous IT environment for their UK operations. We look forward to continuing our support and contributing to their ongoing success.”

Zerto, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, recently commissioned IDC to conduct a major ransomware and disaster preparedness survey, which revealed the extent to which backup-related issues are currently failing organisations across the globe. These backup-related issues are currently the number one cause of data loss —responsible for 32% of incidents — despite the fact that backup and recovery was cited as the number one priority for IT software investment this year.  Data disruptions Respondents reported an average of 4.2 data disruptions per year requiring an IT response The IDC White Paper, titled 'The State of Disaster Recovery and Cyber-Recovery, 2024–2025: Factoring in AI,' pulls its insights from a survey carried out across North America, Western Europe, India, and Australia, among organisations with 500 to 10,000+ employees. Respondents reported an average of 4.2 data disruptions per year requiring an IT response with one ransomware attack and one internal attack per year on average. Backup environments Across respondents, the weakness of a backup-only recovery strategy was evident. For instance, 48% of organisations in the survey that paid a ransom indicated they did so despite having valid backups, with the most common reasons cited being a desire for a speedier recovery or minimised data loss. Nonetheless, only 20% of ransom-payers were able to fully recover their data after payment, creating a "worst of both worlds" situation in which organisations deploy and maintain backup environments without any concrete advantages in the event of an attack. Disaster recovery challenges   Most commonly cited DR challenges for organisations are IT personnel time and resource availability These challenges are exacerbated by worsening personnel issues: according to the report, the most commonly cited disaster recovery (DR) challenges for organisations are "IT personnel time and resource availability" and "IT personnel skills and knowledge."  The same applies to cyber recovery, with 34% of respondents citing "keeping recovery processes up to date" as a primary challenge in this arena and 31% of respondents citing "staff knowledge and skill sets."  Importance of a holistic approach In response to these challenges, the report highlights the importance of a holistic approach to DR and cyber recovery (CR) in which "backup and recovery, disaster recovery, and cyber-recovery" build on each other and provide a higher degree of data protection. Continuous data protection (CDP) in particular provides essential support here, allowing organisations to recover to a point just prior to the attack and consequently minimise any data loss. Unified solutions like these enable organisations to scale systems without proportionally adding staff — an essential benefit since, per IDC, IT organisations tend to take a cautious approach to hiring. Trustworthy for DP/CR  While most respondents claim that AI will have a "significant" impact on DR/CR down the line At the same time, businesses remain split on the future of AI. While most respondents claim that AI will have a "significant" impact on DR/CR down the line, a strong majority — 59% — don't think current AI is trustworthy for DP/CR. Meanwhile, although the vast majority of organisations are using cloud for backup/DR, 58% are still protecting a majority of their apps purely on-premises, suggesting that on-prem remains a highly viable backup/DR solution. Overall, 40% believe AI will provide a greater benefit than a threat. Data protection efforts  "It’s unfortunate to see organisations funnelling resources into backup processes only to realise that it was all for naught — paying the ransom money and losing the data," said Phil Goodwin, research vice president, IDC. “What's clear is that only a holistic approach can eliminate these negative outcomes and keep organisations safe. In particular, CDP will prove increasingly central to unified data protection efforts in months and years to come."  Data environments "Organisations are increasingly responsible for data environments whose complexity they are unequipped to handle and whose integrity they are ill-prepared to safeguard," said Caroline Seymour, vice president, storage product marketing, HPE.  "This is not the fault of any individual organisation, but it does demand a more sophisticated approach to data protection — one in which traditional backup is not the be-all-end-all but instead one of a suite of complementary tools, including CDP." 

11:11 Systems, a managed infrastructure solutions provider, has launched 11:11 DRaaS for Azure, a new disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) offering designed specifically for the Microsoft Azure cloud. The new globally available recovery solution gives organisations customised and fully managed disaster recovery (DR) for their on-premises, Azure cloud and/or multi-cloud environments. By combining 11:11's award-winning DRaaS technology and managed recovery expertise with the scale and flexibility of Microsoft Azure, the new solution provides enterprise-grade business continuity and helps customers meet their recovery objectives. Further, 11:11 DRaaS for Azure reduces complexity, freeing up time and resources for customers to drive transformative business outcomes. Azure cloud environments 11:11 DRaaS for Azure feeds application-level failover and rehab goods and automation across diverse With a pay-as-you-go model leveraging proven Zerto technology, 11:11 DRaaS for Azure provides application-level failover and recovery capabilities and automation across diverse use cases such as on-premises to Azure cloud, Azure cloud to on-premises and between two Azure cloud environments.  “This new solution is more than a product; it's a commitment to our customers' resilience and success,” said Kaushik Ray, Chief Experience Officer at 11:11 Systems. He adds, “This product release extends and deepens our DR capabilities and provides comprehensive self-managed and fully managed recovery services, regardless of platform and recovery location, which reinforces our position as a trusted risk and resiliency partner in the global market." Gartner Peer Insights The comprehensive and fully managed solution includes implementation, maintenance, scheduled testing, 24x7 support and an industry-pioneering service level agreement (SLA) for the business's recovery time objectives (RTOs) that provide guaranteed recovery within a stipulated timeframe, as highlighted in Gartner Peer Insights customer reviews.  "Working with 11:11 Systems has been a great experience; they are a professional organisation that is easy to work with. They have vast experience in the DR area and with the help of their automation tools, it made the whole deployment process simple providing an excellent RPO/RTO," according to a Gartner Peer Review for 11:11 DRaaS.