Challenge.
REA is a popular brand for innovative technologies and future-proof solutions in cashless payment systems, industrial marking and coding, labelling technology and code verification. Under the umbrella of REA Systeme GmbH, you have the brands REA Card and REA Elektronik with REA Jet, REA Label and REA Verifier. All of these brands and subsidiaries source IT services from the central IT department of the group’s holding company to maximise synergies. However, the data associated with REA Card and REA Elektronik must be processed and stored separately. Due to the sensitivity of the data at REA and the constantly evolving technical framework, REA’s IT systems undergo a regular review every four years. When the backup system was due for an upgrade, REA was already using a Rubrik solution, but it was running solely for that purpose. The upgrade was scheduled in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time where many employees worked from home on a regular basis. As a consequence, the upgrade was not just about scaling backup capacity, but also integrating remote workplaces. In addition, the design of the new, future-proof solution should enable all REA data to be restored quickly and securely, regardless of its size.
Working with Bechtle was an easy, goal-focused and very competent experience. Bechtle’s experts understood our environment and were thus able to better assess dependencies and integrated targeted measures with a clear schedule. The whole process was very efficient and brought us significant added value. We are interested in finding a good, collaborative solution and new ideas are always refreshing. Bechtle gave us exactly this and made sure that nothing fell through the cracks.
Frank Hoffmann, Head of IT Administration, REA Systeme GmbH
Solution.
As REA did not want to do without many of the functionalities of the deployed Rubrik solution, choosing Rubrik again seemed the obvious choice. With Rubrik’s simple operation, targeted backup and recovery processes and, perhaps most importantly for REA Systeme GmbH, direct support from Rubrik’s Security Operations Centre (SOC) in the event of a disaster recovery, the manufacturer beat out competing solutions. With the help of its SOC emergency team, REA can initiate all necessary measures and steps together with Rubrik in the event of a data centre outage or malware attack in order to get back up and running quickly. This emergency service is unique, and was a crucial factor in the choice of a new backup system. What’s more, REA has been working with the regional Bechtle IT system house for more than 15 years. Close proximity, flexibility and, above all, expertise, even in more complex projects, made Bechtle a close partner of REA. Bechtle also won the tender for the new backup solution and recommended a Rubrik r6412s backup appliance along with Rubrik Business Edition.
The enterprise backup and recovery software solution automatically recognises anomalies, actively detects threats and orchestrates the recovery of applications. That way REA systems are always up to scratch when it comes to cyber resilience. Bechtle calculated the required capacities of the solution and integrated the Rubrik appliance into REA’s backup environment, which exists alongside the two data centres hosting REA’s live data, and initiated the migration of backup data from the old to the new system together with Rubrik and REA. Bechtle was able to draw on its in-depth knowledge of REA’s infrastructure and set up the appropriate paths for the move. In a test environment set up at the nearby Bechtle system house, REA was finally able to check what happens when paths are lost and take appropriate countermeasures without affecting the actual backup. These acceptance tests significantly shortened the implementation phase and ensured a seamless transition from the old to the new infrastructure during ongoing operations. The user data was finally migrated by REA itself.
Business benefits.
The new Rubrik solution recommended, configured and implemented by Bechtle at REA is significantly more powerful than the previous backup solution with shorter recovery times. It has twice the number of network connections and therefore works 40 per cent faster than before, among other things. REA was hence able to significantly reduce the time windows for backups. The group’s backup now has twice the capacity, which means that more data can be stored on the primary system for recovery. This was also important to REA Systeme—that the primary system keeps one or more backups of every machine and every server. And this is exactly what the new, forward-looking and cost-efficient solution from Rubrik can do.