IT Brief New Zealand - Technology news for CIOs & IT decision-makers
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Auckland uni selects Datrium for DX via BEarena and ASI Solutions
Fri, 12th Jun 2020
FYI, this story is more than a year old

The University of Auckland has partnered with disaster recovery firm Datrium to modernise its infrastructure by leveraging the cloud and unifying compute, storage, backup and disaster recovery.

The university selected Datrium DVX and Datrium DRaaS with VMware Cloud on AWS solutions.

Challenged with ageing infrastructure and an expensive and complex data center environment, the UoA's infrastructure services team, supported by its premier oartner, BEarena, an ASI Solutions company, chose Datrium for its cost-effective, easy-to-manage, VMware-centric solutions with built-in data resiliency and powerful DR capabilities.

Datrium DRaaS with VMware Cloud on AWS offers flexible and scalable on-demand cloud DR with instant Recovery Time Objective (RTO), easy failover and failback without requiring VM conversions.

The university manages two large-scale data centers that serve 40,000 students and more than 5,000 staff with a core value of conserving, advancing and disseminating knowledge at a high standard through teaching, learning, research and creative work.

As part of its digital transformation strategy, the infrastructure services team is embracing its agile operation model to deliver better outcomes to its users.

"As part of our digital transformation efforts, we are modernising critical infrastructure including our data center to empower our IT team to work more efficiently," says Sanit Kumar, infrastructure services portfolio manager, cloud, network and data center services at the University of Auckland.

"Datrium checked all our boxes. We were looking for a simplified solution that combines compute, storage, backup and disaster recovery, and aligns with VMware so we no longer require separate storage, VMware and backup teams," he says.

"The power of Datrium's converged approach and on-demand disaster recovery to VMware Cloud on AWS and instant RTO capability also brings our team major cost savings."

The university was introduced to Datrium technology by BEarena, an ASI Solutions company. BEarena and ASI Solutions have applied their hyperconverged experience to Datrium technology to help their customers reduce cost, simplify management and move to a hybrid cloud model.

"Rather than provide the University a like-for-like replacement, we scoured the market for the best solution to achieve their business objectives," says country manager Lloyd Vickery.

"Ultimately, Datrium helped the university collapse three infrastructure silos into a single cross-functional team that uses automated management so they can focus on strategic priorities,: he explains.

"Datrium has exceeded our expectations in every area blazing performance, dramatic total cost of ownership improvements, world-class support, consolidated management and the list goes on. I couldn't be happier with Datrium and more proud that we are supporting The University of Auckland in continuing its achievements as a world-leading university."

BEarena and ASI Solutions are the first Datrium DRaaS Select resellers to achieve the highest level of partnership in the region. As Datrium's first partner in ANZ and exclusive DRaaS Select partners and resellers, BEarena and ASI Solutions deliver significant cost savings, advanced operational intelligence, faster deployment times and simplified DR solutions to their customers.

Vickery is also the first Datrium DVX Certified Deployment professional in the world; achieving this distinction entails the completion of a rigorous curriculum and passing a certification test. BEarena and ASI Solutions customers benefit from working with highly skilled professionals in the deployment of Datrium to ensure they receive the fastest ROI and best customer experience.

Nathan Lowe, managing director of ASI Solutions added, "ASI Solutions is extremely excited to be working with Datrium.

"An innovative company that is transforming data lifecycle management through a single powerful platform delivering speed, agility and efficiency, Datrium allows our customers to focus on strategic initiatives," he says.

"Given the enormous rise in ransomware attacks and other disasters, a modern approach to DR is critical. However, it doesnt need to be an expensive, complicated and unreliable process," says Datrium CEO Tim Page.

"With our on-demand cloud resources, The University of Auckland will be able to recover from a disaster quickly while keeping cloud costs low. We look forward to helping the University transition to cloud DR and supporting its on-premises infrastructure requirements."