Hygiene Service Provider Bidvest Steiner Opts for Attix5

Attix5 Ltd has implemented its server backup solution at hygiene service provider Bidvest Steiner to automate its backups and give it an affordable and scalable off-site solution to meet growing organisational requirements.

Bidvest Steiner, formally Steiner Services, commenced operation in South Africa in 1958 in the field of hygiene care, constantly exploring new ideas and innovations in hygiene. It has grown from a relatively small hygiene service provider owned and controlled by the American Linen Supply Company to an independent local brand with an infrastructure of 30 branches nationwide.

“In the past, Bidvest Steiner relied on running its own backup server environment. It was a timeous process that entailed performing backups on-site with a person having to manually change media and take it to an off-site location for safekeeping. This added to the management complexity. When the system crashed, we were faced with a choice of either replacing it with a similar structure or upgrading to a new environment,” says Jan Thuynsma, IT manager, Bidvest Steiner.

He says that the replacement cost would be significant and management of it was already cumbersome, the company opted to investigate a new backup system. Internet Solutions, its hosting provider, recommended the company approach Attix5. Given that it was familiar with the business and its technology, Bidvest Steiner reached out to Attix5.

“We looked at Attix5 and their server backup solution met all our backup retention and offsite requirements. In addition, the solution promised a smooth integration and meant that we could keep the existing internal backup processes the same to minimise the impact of the upgrade,” adds Thuynsma.

The solution was implemented without any significant challenges. Given the fact that Attix5 also provided hosting services for the client, it was able to offer a solution that could integrate easily with the systems at Bidvest Steiner.

“Our technical team could provide the client with a full range of support and services to address any questions they had during the implementation. With the solution being user-friendly to manage both backups and restores, the users at Bidvest Steiner could easily migrate to the new environment with minimal disruption to daily operations,” says Heidi Weyers, GM sales, Attix5.

For Bidvest Steiner, the new Attix5 system improved backup and recovery from the get go.

“The new system is so easy to use and it simplifies what was previously a complicated and arduous process. In addition, the reporting provided by the Attix5 solution means we always,ow what the status is on the process. It provides very good filtering of the various file types so we can really customise exactly what needs to be backed up and when,” says Thuynsma.

He says Attix5 also conducts pro-active monitoring to ensure all its backups run as expected in the event of an error on the user side. This means that the organisation can focus on its strategy while Attix5 takes care of any backup and restore issues.

Weyers says such has been the success of the installation that Bidvest Steiner is n the process of implementing a deskto-based solution which tests user backups.