Integrated Control Corporation With Symantec Backup Exec 2010

Symantec Corp. announced that Integrated Control Corporation has reduced the time and money it spends on information security and management after implementing Symantec Backup Exec 2010 and Symantec Endpoint Protection 11. Results include almost 100 percent successful backups and recoveries, file recovery in minutes instead of hours, and no significant disruption from malicious code.

Improving and Streamlining Backup and Recovery
The 55 employees at ICC design, manufacture, and install control devices that enable food service executives at restaurants, schools, and hospitals to monitor cooking and preparation time, temperature, cleanliness, and product management in their kitchens. ICC’s devices help its customers deliver consistent quality, increase food safety and preservation, comply with regulations, boost productivity, and minimize food loss.

ICC’s staff has tripled in size over the past three years, and IT personnel realized the outdated IT infrastructure that did not have centralized IT policies and processes needed to be overhauled.

"One area we focused on was improving the way company data was protected," said Julian Cooper, senior IT administrator, Integrated Control Corporation. "Data was being backed up to tape, but not effectively. Only 25 percent of backup jobs and 10 percent of recoveries were successful. We just needed the right centralized backup policies, and Symantec helped us put those in place."

Cooper chose to eliminate tape and uses Symantec Backup Exec 2010 to take snapshots of data that are stored on a Dell PowerVault MD1000 direct-attached storage array.

"Backup and recovery success rates are nearly 100 percent," Cooper added. "Recoveries happen in minutes from disk, instead of hours that we used to spend searching through tapes. The feature I like most is the reporting. I have the information I need to determine where I should make changes if I want to optimize backups. I can also see how the backup will change if I switch to a different storage area network or direct-attached storage unit, or if I add more memory."

Cooper is testing the integrated deduplication capability of Symantec Backup Exec 2010 and plans to deploy it in 2011 after realizing a minimum disk space reduction of 50 percent during his testing. He expects deduplication will enable ICC to delay purchasing additional storage, which will translate to a savings of about $5,000 a year.

More Effective and Efficient Information Protection
ICC also implemented Symantec Endpoint Protection 11 to establish centralized control and proper processes for securing information against malware and other security threats. The IT team has reduced the time it spends remediating security problems from eight hours a week to only devoting 15-30 minutes on security administration. The company has not experienced any significant disruption from malicious code, and the centralized management dashboard has helped IT reclaim the equivalent of one a day a week of time it can devote to more valuable projects.

"Everything I need is in the dashboard of Symantec Protection Center," said Cooper. "Reporting is strong, and if something goes wrong, I can see it right away. I get rich, useful information in the debugging log that helps me get to the bottom of any issue quickly."

Cooper adds he now plans to deploy the device control and application control features of Symantec Endpoint Protection.