UK Lighting Company Lyco Implemented DRaaS From IT Specialists

Lyco Ltd, a UK lighting company, has implemented a DR as a service (DRaaS) solution from IT Specialists (ITS), a UK MSP and a trading name of Reynolds and Reynolds Ltd, to simplify DR outsourcing, vaulting, archiving and improve security of its customer-facing and internal systems.

Established in 1995, Lyco’s expansion, increasing stock and product lines, and a growing customer base in both commercial and domestic lighting have all contributed to an exponential growth in business data over the past 20 years.

Recognising the need for more time efficient data recovery and secure backups, to enable 24/7 BC, Lyco approached ITS, its MSP since 2009, for a data recovery and security solution that allowed storage of its increasing amount of data, both onsite and offsite, and reduced data recovery times.

“Minimizing the potential risk of data loss, as well as operational downtime, was a key consideration when Lyco approached us, as was the need to provide a constant online service to Lyco’s customers.” said Matt Kingswood, ITS. “By securely locating data across multiple sites using our BlackCloud and BlackVault solutions, we not only enabled the lighting retailer’s business to continue running regardless of external circumstances, we have also reduced data recovery time from less than eight hours to less than one.“

ITS’ BlackVault and BlackCloud managed data recovery products offered Lyco on and off-site storage and support to ensure business as usual no matter what disasters may strike. The BlackCloud solution provided Lyco a managed private cloud that enabled it to replicate data to a secure alternate offsite location and offered security through encryption during transit and while in storage. BlackVault provided an onsite DR platform, giving Lyco access to servers as necessary, from any location with a secure Internet connection.

Mark Staffiere, IT director, Lyco, said: “Now that we have onsite and remote backup, we are confident that our data can be recovered quickly, while our IT team can focus on core business and strategic projects. ITS really is helping us to keep the lights on 24/7 – they managed the whole process, they understand our business requirements and ensured these were met.“

ITS’ offsite storage provides the ability to vault data so there is no need to use an external HDD or USBs or to remove these from site as an additional backup method. It also offers clients including Lyco a managed service that automatically restores data and monitoring so they are supported 24 hours a day, seven days a week.