MidAmerica Nazarene University, Liberal Arts Christian University in Kansas, Opts for Assured Data Protection

MidAmerica Nazarene University (MNU) is a liberal arts Christian University in Kansas offering over 40 majors in undergrad and graduate degrees.

It offers a bespoke educational experience for over 1,200 students, faculty and staff. With a focus on fostering a caring atmosphere and delivering high-quality teaching, it aims to provide students with a distinctive and enriching educational journey.

Josh Grimm, network and systems administrator at the university, is part of an 8-person team led by their IT director. The team handles everything to do with the network, systems, and database administration, along with helpdesk duties. Their main focus as an IT team is optimizing the student experience.

IT challenge
Grimm learned about Assured Data Protection Ltd through his trusted friend and advisor, Rob Didlake of DataEdge Solutions.

“I consider Didlake a really good friend and he’s been an absolutely fantastic vendor. I try to work with Rob and Dataedge wherever I can.”

Didlake assured him that Assured Data Protection could fulfil their compliance, backup, and DR requirements at a 50% lower cost than their previous supplier. Not only that, their backup and DR would be fully managed.

Grimm attended one of Assured’s Save the Data events with his IT director, and after witnessing Assured’s Rubrik-powered solutions, they were both convinced that this was the right solution for them. MNU receives hands-on 24/7/365 support, with daily reports, and the ability to switch to a second site where all their data, IT and operations can be up and running in the event of an outage, ransomware attack or natural disaster.

On MSPs in general, Grimm said: “I will be the first to admit that early in this job, I was resistant to the idea of outsourcing anything because I felt overall that it was still my responsibility and I had to be in control of that. But after seeing how the world is evolving and being convinced of the managed service offered by Assured, I was confident in their ability to be able to manage our critical data.“

Solution
MNU utilized 2 distinct legacy solutions for backup and DR. These solutions were not only inefficient, manual, and time-consuming, but also lacked immutability and were very costly. Grimm did not have confidence in the security of the university’s data in the event of a disaster or an attack, especially given the need to comply with FERPA and GLBA regulations. MNU received a renewal quote with a 40% cost increase, prompting him to seek a more comprehensive backup and DR solution.

Result
“I really don’t have to worry about backup or recovery. If there’s ever an issue, I get an email or a phone call so we can take a look and get it fixed. Since I don’t have to worry about it, I can give that assurance to the superiors, and they don’t have to worry about it. It just makes everybody happy. Assured’s attention to detail and customer service exceeded our expectations. It’s hands down one of the best solutions that I’ve come across. I can’t tell you how much it means to us as an organization that Assured is providing such an incredible product at an affordable price. And we’ll be with Assured forever, as long as they keep up this level of service.”