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22 September 2020

At your service

This spotlight feature will delve into the ins and outs of what customer service means to us and why it’s so important to have it at the core of our platform. So, who better to start with than our shiny, brand-new customer success officer, Andy!

We interviewed Andy to get some top insights on customer service excellence, and you guessed it, to be a little bit nosy.

How long have you worked in customer service, Andy?
Oh… good question! *Long Pause* About 25 years… *Hearty chuckle*.

Wow. What made you choose Predatar this time round, with all of that experience behind you?
I thought it was a really exciting opportunity. The role is not only brand new to the company, but they have this real desire to grow and to add value to what they’re doing. Especially in terms of remaining customer-focused – I wanted to help them accelerate that plan.

It sounds like it’s a role that holds a lot of opportunity. What do you enjoy about being in a customer focused role?
I’ve always had a passion for helping people out, from early on in my career. Whatever role I’ve worked in, I’ve always been focused on supporting other people, be that customers or my colleagues. I’m able to build relationships really effectively and engage with the right people to deliver to expectations. That’s what it’s all about really, building relationships and not only reaching those expectations but exceeding them. Of course, it’s not just with customers. Building relationships internally really serves to indicate whether you’re the right fit for the companies’ culture. But then you need to understand the culture of the customer too, as much as you integrate yourself into the company culture. Like, what are their values? What are their behaviours?

Absolutely. I imagine that customer culture can vary quite a lot. In terms of the tech industry and data backup and recovery, what’s the difference there in the customer’s experience?
Well, it’s not like going into a supermarket! The experience isn’t over quickly, it covers an entire lifecycle. It’s ultimately building a relationship from scratch, building trust over an extended period and consistently, too! A customer should always feel the culture of the organisation from the first touch point. It’s important to be responsive and get those basics right, because those things can be so easily overlooked. It’s all about building partnerships and creating a space for trustworthy engagement.

Predatar is all about simplicity and control when it comes to the customer, how does your role fit into this?
Simplicity basically means that everything we do should be easy for customers to understand. A lot of what Predatar provides is a highly technical service, and although my role isn’t technical, the guys here are so good at simplifying things. As for control, it’s about creating that balance between giving the customer the control they need whilst ultimately being there to support and maintain that control.

Finally, Andy, what does being a data protection superhero mean to you?
Haha, well, the character I’ve been given is ‘Mr Fantastic’. I think this is such a clever approach in articulating how seriously we take what we do but in a really fun, streamlined way. It’s about giving the customer the absolute confidence to know that they’re in safe hands.

So, there we have it. An interview with Predatar’s very own Mr Fantastic, data protection superhero at your (customer) service!

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Predatar recovery assurance

02 September 2020

Making Data Backup & Recovery Technology Sustainable

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that protecting our data needs to be an adjustable process. Now, more than ever, data protection is under the gun. Businesses are concerned that their standard data protection practices will not hold firm due to lack of resources and the move to digital at-home practices.

We know that investing in good data protection technology offers long-term payoff, but are we making the most out of what we’re paying for?

It can be all too easy for businesses to slip into the habit of neglecting data backup and recovery practices. We pay for it, we get it, it does its thing, right? Wrong! Like everything else revolving around technology, data management tools are continuously advancing and improving over time.

Typical backup systems tend to start small with various building blocks consisting of applications, hardware, software and admin. Let’s liken it to growing a garden. You decide to plant some roses; you water them and fertilise them. Once they grow, you think they might look nice with some sunflowers, so you do the same. Before you know it, you’ve got a big beautiful garden but it’s overgrowing, and you don’t have all of the tools to maintain it. The same goes for backup systems.

Backup and recovery assets multiply over time and need constant monitoring via IT administration teams. The mistake that many businesses make is investing money into more of these assets in order to fill in any gaps, rather than investing in tool kits that aid IT professionals and exercising their right to upgrade.

For many companies, data is tied to large systems that have been in place for donkey’s years! Whilst these systems still function technically well and conform to GDPR regulations, they might not be working in tandem with newer applications – which will also eventually become outdated. This means that companies can end up in a tangled web of different backup and recovery technologies.

As a result, companies spend millions on data backup and recovery assets. But, the cost pales in comparison to the value of the data that needs protecting. If something were to go wrong, and an outdated backup and recovery method failed to protect the company’s data, the company could be fined hundreds of millions. In 2019, British Airways was fined $230 million for a data breach!

Ultimately, companies are missing out on opportunities to reduce the amount of admin and to modernise their systems that protect this data. Continuously adding new assets rather than upgrading:

  1. Creates vulnerable points in your data protection defences (more products, more ways for data to be compromised and more ways for recovery to go wrong!)
  2. Is uneconomical for businesses to pay for several data and backup recovery products
  3. Doesn’t consider modern models of data storage, like the cloud

Simply upgrading your current backup systems to modernise the process can greatly reduce the likelihood of things going wrong, whilst remaining cost-effective. It can:

  • Improve security, protecting you from threats (think about adding encryption!)
  • Foster efficiency. Newer versions of software can reduce infrastructure costs
  • Need more space? An upgrade can bring into play cloud storage as an alternative to tape, which though inexpensive, can be cumbersome to manage

Many Predatar customers own IBM Spectrum software, paying an annual maintenance fee which includes the right to upgrade their software. It’s time to think about exercising that right.

The latest release of Storage Protect supports everything from Unix machines to virtual workloads and now container-based clusters. A single, secure home for all your data needs. It’s efficient, powerful and easily controlled.

And remember, if you don’t have time to modernise your Storage Protect system, our global network of Apex Partners can help, providing you with local expertise!

Learn more about
Predatar recovery assurance