UCG’s Top 10 ways to work smarter, faster, and reclaim your time with VAULT400 BaaS

United Computer Group, Inc.’s VAULT400 hybrid (local and cloud-based) backup and disaster recovery solutions have a number of ways to save you time and boost backup operations.

But, for iSeries environments, we’re focusing specifically on our own 

‘Top 10’ ways use of VAULT400 can help iSeries users work smarter, work faster, and reclaim their time. 

A few things to ponder while you wait for your next backup window to finish...

1.  Fast, ‘over the wire’ backup/restore that leaves tape in the dust. (Hint: Our online backups even beat the backup speeds of many TSM environments.) Compare us to traditional backup, whether full tape backup or disk-based backup solutions like VTLs. Even TSM. You’ll find it hard to beat VAULT400’s fast performance. Our secret? It’s all in VAULT400’s efficient use of very small data blocks.

2.  Affordable, complete cloud-based disaster recovery. What good is fast backup if you can’t recover fast? There’s a better way than struggling with tape to meet your organization’s RTOs. VAULT400’s Cloud Disaster Recovery (CDR) service lets you back up securely online to VAULT400’s iron-clad cloud environment. Then, if disaster strikes, we’ll fail over your iSeries environment from the cloud within just 24-48 hours. That includes restoring your connections, systems, associated servers, and more.

3. End-to-end encryption without the overhead. No need to buy costly encryption software. With VAULT400, you get built-in encryption whether your data is at rest or in-flight. In fact, you get VAULT400’s complete backup/recovery system with built-in encryption for less than most encryption solutions.

4. Uses less bandwidth and less storage for backup. VAULT400 architecture is designed to use as little bandwidth and storage as possible. That means faster backup/restore times. It also means less money spent to store your backup data. VAULT400 algorithms evaluate your data, offering unbelievable compression with very small footprints for sizable data sets. For IFS systems, that means 2:1 compression. For non-IFS systems? It’s common to see 10:1 compression—or significantly greater. Curious? Ask us to walk you through a concrete example based on an average 100GB database.

5. Extreme DB2 compression. DB2 environments are a perfect example of IFS backup savings. For DB2, we routinely see 10:1 compression with iSeries customers. We’ve also seen as high as 25:1 compression ratios! How much could that save you on bandwidth or storage? It could easily mean the difference of hundreds of gigabytes per database backup, per week.

6. Forget tape multiplexing. Shorten backup windows with concurrent LPAR backups. Many iSeries environments now manage multiple LPAR environments from the same system. VAULT400 helps you shrink backup windows further by streaming multiple LPAR backups at the same time.

7. Easy command interface, easy management. Anyone who’s ever waded through the intricacies of tape or VTL operations will appreciate how easy VAULT400 makes it to automate data protection.

8. Multiple platforms beyond iSeries? We’ve got you covered. You’ll find VAULT400 is one of the few solutions to offer robust, similar backup/restore operation across virtually any operating system. 

9. DR testing that works like a charm. VAULT400 automation makes it easy to run routine tests of your iSeries DR procedures. We help companies perform over 400 successful DR tests each year.

10. Help that’s there when you need it most. Every vendor talks about how great their support is, but United Computer Group’s VAULT400 customers speak for themselves with a 98% customer satisfaction rating. Ever need answers? We’ve got ‘em and are happy to help!


UCG is dedicated to the swift, sure handling of your backup and restore data. With VAULT400 BaaS, you also know one thing: You always get your data back. If you truly want to reclaim your time, contact us today at 800.211.8798. We’ll show you more ways VAULT400 BaaS can collapse your backup windows and streamline your DR.

Download this article as a PDF.

View Backup Options

Download White Paper: Five Key Questions for Assessing Backup & Recovery Solutions

Download Data Sheet: VAULT400 BaaS

End of Life for MiMix RecoverNow

On May 1, 2014, Vision Solutions announced that they had stopped producing service packs and fixes for RecoverNow v5.1 release. Vision's customers with current maintenance contracts are entitled to receive source and target licenses for MIMIX DR at no charge (High Availability). 

In order to receive these "bereavement benefits", customers are required to purchase a second iSeries (Power 8 CBU machine) plus annual maintenance, installation and educational training. 

If you are looking for options, UCG offers cost-effective solutions for your business.  

UCG provide a full turnkey managed service H/A solution, as well as a more cost effective BaaS (VAULT400) and remote hardware DR. Pricing is generally 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of H/A. 

Call UCG at 800.211.8798 or email info@ucgrp.com for more information. We'll discuss the business issues you are looking to solve and provide you with a quote within 24 hours. 

How to have it all with Mobility: Security, Productivity, and Privacy

Everyone is talking about what mobility can do for their business, yet it can seem so challenging. See what the industry leaders have to say. 

Roger Bjork, Dell, Inc., Director of Global Product Marketing, Mobile/BYOD Solutions

Additional Insight on mobility trends by Pervasive Path Consulting, Shoretel, Verizon and more!

Date:        Thursday, January 15, 2015

Time:        7:30 AM - sign in

Location:  Kehoe Center Shelby, Ohio (perfectly situated between Cleveland and Columbus and a short drive West from Wooster)

Attendee admission fees are covered by NCORITA and include light breakfast, lunch, parking.

A vendor fair will be featured during lunch. Prizes and raffles throughout the day. United Computer Group will be exhibiting, so be sure to stop by our table!

Click Register or go to www.NCORITA.org and click on Events.

Presented by NCORITA. NCORITA was formed in 2011 to create a venue for IT professionals to gather and exchange ideas in the heart of Ohio.

Dell Keynote Speaker Bio: Roger Bjork

Roger Bjork has been with Dell, Inc. for 15 years. He holds a BSCS in Computer Science from Texas A&M University and has been in the mobile industry for over three decades in various capacities, including R&D, product planning, business development, and marketing.

How to have it all with Mobility: security, productivity and privacy

Tech Czar Michael DeAloia hosts UCG President Jim Kandrac on Cleveland Confidential Radio!

Tech Czar Michael DeAloia hosts Jim Kandrac, United Computer Group President & Founder  

Cleveland Confidential Radio

Sunday, December 14, 2014

6:00 pm EST

Tune in to Cleveland’s AM1420 Radio

Don’t miss Tech Czar Michael DeAloia’s interview with UCG’s President & Founder Jim Kandrac on Cleveland Confidential Radio! 

Cleveland Confidential Radio is all about exploring the big personalities, great entrepreneurs and the exciting creative class that are making a difference in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Jim will be sharing some knowledge on his entrepreneurial experiences and the challenges of leading a tech company in Cleveland since 1987.

In the meantime, check out the article published a few months ago in the Cleveland Plain Dealer: Tech Czar Talk: Reinvention is key for tech companies featuring United Computer Group, Inc.

IBM i Shops Climb Into the VAULT

Alex Woodie

By Alex Woodie, Editor IT Jungle

United Computer Group has landed two new customers for VAULT400, its hosted offering for IBM i backups and disaster recovery as a service. The new customers include R.W. Sidley of Ohio and Mid-America Door of Oklahoma.

R.W. Sidley has been a UCG customer for more than 20 years and recently included backup as a service (BaaS) using VAULT400. The company, which supplies ready-mix concrete among other construction materials, decided to bolster the security of its IBM i-resident data by utilizing the VAULT400 service to house backups.

Instead of handling the backups manually, the company uses VAULT400 to automatically process the nightly backups. After compressing and encrypting the data, VAULT400 sends the backups offsite to two UCG data centers, located in Cleveland, Ohio, and Atlanta, Georgia.

"VAULT400 is working great," says Brad Buescher, the HR director for the Painesville, Ohio, company. The fact that R.W. Sidley worked with UCG for 20 years played heavily in the decision to use VAULT400, he added. The company elected not to buy the DR option, which is available in 12- and 24-hour recovery time objective (RTO) options.

Meanwhile, Mid-America Door seems to be happy with its VAULT400 implementation. The Ponca City, Oklahoma, company uses an IBM i ERP system from Friedman and was shopping for online backup solutions.

After initially selecting a different online backup solution, Mid-America Door decided to cancel the implementation and seek a second opinion. Carl Christensen, vice president and COO of the company, consulted with Friedman, which recommended UCG and its VAULT400 solution.

The implementation went smoothly, and now Mid-America Door's IBM i data is protected by VAULT400. "I have peace of mind now that I know our data is securely backed up every day, and that I picked the right team with the knowledge to make it happen," Christensen says.

RELATED STORIES

UCG Grows BaaS Biz with VAULT400

Two More Customer Wins for VAULT400

Medical Supply Firm Protects Data with Vault400

UCG Lauded for Test Work by VAULT400 Customer

VAULT400 to Protect Food Service Company

Manufacturer Taps VAULT400 for Cloud Backup

Join EXTOL University Conference Sponsor United Computer Group October 6 - 9 in Dallas!

The 2014 EXTOL University promises to give customers a personalized educational experience in the heart of downtown Dallas, TX.

UCG is a proud sponsor of the 2014 Extol University Conference. Be sure to stop by our booth to say hello and learn about our latest innovations! 

"Prepare for a brand new educational experience at this year's EXTOL University! We've added several new hands-on sessions for advanced users, along with some "back to basics" refresher courses to ensure that all attendees have the flexibility to maximize every learning opportunity.

We've been listening to your suggestions and feedback, and believe that the 2014 EXTOL University will provide the best source of education that not only will positively impact your role, but improve your company's business operations."

(Left to right)
Jim Kandrac, UCG; Gina Parry and Dan Bivona, VAI
at EXTOL University

ucgrp.com

UCG Business Partner Optimum Solutions Chooses VAULT400 BaaS

United Computer Group, Inc. is pleased to announce that Optimum Solutions has chosen UCG’s VAULT400 BaaS as its backup and DR solution. VAULT400 BaaS provides cloud backup for Optimum’s multiple IBM i servers to ensure quick and reliable backup and restores. Their daily backup time has been cut from hours to minutes. Data backup is automated and encrypted throughout the process with only the user having access to the data.

VAULT400 BaaS was chosen by Dave Waters, Manager of IT Operations for Optimum Solutions, to backup mission-critical engineering development data on the IBM i. 

"Beginning in 2011 we started discussions with UCG on backup and DR solutions. At that time we were testing the waters with various backup methods to move our data from tape. Tape backup had become burdensome, and when we were ready to make the transition in 2014, VAULT400 BaaS was our solution of choice," says Dave. "We did our homework."

As B2B partners, UCG and Optimum Solutions have opened many doors to provide clients with complete HRIS and cloud backup and DR solutions. UCG's IBM i clients have strong support with their strategic partner in making payroll and HR management simple. Optimum Solutions clients have a proven backup and DR solution available to them for IBM i, Windows, VMware and all supported platforms with VAULT400 BaaS.

Cloud backup has become very competitive, but UCG has found their niche business as others have seen their doors shuttered. Focus on the IBM i and Open Systems from 10GB to >100TB coupled with disaster recovery options has proven UCG's strength in the market. 

Optimum Solutions is an industry software leader for Payroll, Human Resources and Time & Attendance. Their successful history in the HRIS software arena has placed them as an Inc. 500 award winner and named them one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S.

Request an Optimum Demo Sign Up For an Optimum Webinar VAULT400 BaaS & DR Proposal

Balancing BUDGETS and PROTECTION

Published in IBM Systems Magazine June 2014

By James A. Kandrac, Founder and President, United Computer Group, Inc. 

Backup as a service can be a cost-effective part of your company’s budget

Determining budgetary priorities is a balancing act. Often, business executives keep a tight rein on budgets, sometimes making the IT department’s priority of protecting data difficult. However, if business-critical data is lost and a company folds, keeping the lights on or employee benefits coming won’t really matter.

Before you think BaaS is a luxury and perhaps an unnecessary one at that, consider nationwide studies have indicated that firms have a 1 to 2 percent chance annually of experiencing a complete disaster, but upwards of a 70 percent chance annually of experiencing data loss. In my opinion, only two kinds of companies exist—companies that have lost data and companies that will lose data. Losing data has significant consequences for your business and your clients—not just from a financial perspective in lost time and recovery costs, but also damaged reputation and the long-term consequences of permanent loss of critical data.

Link to full article in IBM Systems Magazine or download PDF.

Download White Paper: Five Key Questions for Assessing Backup & Recovery Solutions

Download Data Sheet: VAULT400 BaaS

Carswell Protects 150 Year-Old Business with VAULT400 BaaS

Carswell, a Thomson Reuters business founded in 1864, is Canada’s leading source of intelligent information solutions for legal, tax, finance and human resource professionals. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Carswell provides integrated information in a range of formats, including books, loose-leaf services, journals, newsletters, CD-ROMs and online.

Due to the nature of their business, Fred Neeser, Technical Lead, and Margaret Banks, Manager Business Information Systems, thoroughly investigated their options when choosing an online data backup provider for their IBM i system. They needed to ensure their data was safely backed up in the cloud with the BaaS package they selected; and that the provider’s data centers were secure. Other key requirements include a yearly Auditors Letter for SSAE 16 SOC II Type II and full compliance with HIPAA/ HITECH regulations.

UCG met or exceeded all of Carswell’s key requirements to protect their IBM i 9406-810 system with their VAULT400 BaaS solution. VAULT400 provides daily automated backups to the cloud, provides secure transmissions and an easy-to-use interface to retrieve files, folders, or libraries for quick restores.  

L-R: Margaret Banks, Manager Business Information Systems, Carswell;

 +Michael Seday, UCG; and Fred Neeser, Technical Lead, Carswell

Carswell is a division of Thomson Reuters Canada Limited. In business for 150 years, they actually pre-date Canada as a country by a few years! We are pleased to welcome Carswell as our newest Canadian VAULT400 client and wish them continued success. 

What happens when your cloud provider goes out of business?

In this article, Thoran Rodrigues succinctly captures the importance of conducting due diligence on prospective cloud vendors. We encourage you to consider each carefully thought-out point. Then, when your organization is ready to make this business-critical decision, United Computer Group, Inc. should be at the top of your evaluation process. Founded in 1987 by James A. Kandrac, UCG has been an IBM Business Partner since 1989 and an IBM Advanced Business Partner since 1991. Customers have rated UCG in the top 1% of IBM Business Partners nationwide.

UCG’s VAULT400 BaaS is the premier managed risk mitigation and business continuity planning service. VAULT400 backs up an entire organization's business-critical data to their secure data centers, ensuring financial, HIPAA, and legal compliance for their clients. Safe and off-site, the encrypted data is available online at all times for immediate, user-initiated recovery. 

Going with cloud providers doesn't mean you can forget about disaster planning. What if they go out of business, taking your server capacity and data with them?

"The real solution is due diligence and risk management."
-  Thoran Rodrigues

There is no doubt that cloud computing is one of the greatest advances in IT in recent years. Regardless of the fears and uncertainty that many companies experience before moving to the cloud, the benefits that are realized once the move is made are simply too large to ignore. Cloud computing has enabled companies of all sizes and in all markets to speed up implementation times, to become more agile, and to optimize their infrastructure costs.

While many cloud proponents (myself included) will often argue that a lot of the concerns that surround the cloud stem from nothing more than lack of knowledge and an improper understanding of the underlying technological issues, some concerns are not only valid, but should actually be taken into careful consideration when contemplating a move to the cloud. I’ve recently come across one such concern that I feel merits being explored in more detail: what do I do if my cloud provider goes out of business?

Disappearing resources

On the cloud, you don’t actually own anything; you are “renting” the resources you are using, for however long you want to use them. It doesn't matter if these resources are virtual machines, storage space, databases or even software, they are only available to you for as long as you are paying for them, or for as long as your provider stays in business.

What happens, then, if your cloud provider goes out of business? If we actually think about it, this is not a strange question to ask. The cloud is still a growing and new market, with plenty of new entrants and small players offering their services. As the market matures, it’s only natural that some of these companies disappear either by being purchased by others, or simply by going out of business.

Interestingly enough, this problem doesn't really exist on the conventional IT market. In the case of conventional hardware, you actually own whatever hardware you purchase, so even if the manufacturer goes out of business, you still have the equipment, and can keep using it. In the case of software, or higher level services, contracts will usually specify that license holders receive a copy of the source code in such an event.

On the cloud, such assurances don’t exist, and probably don’t even make sense in the first place. If the company that provides you with cloud servers goes out of business, your servers are gone; if your cloud storage provider goes under, your data will probably be going along with them. Let’s take the example of a cloud data storage service further: if your systems are deeply integrated with your storage provider—very likely, in this age of rich APIs and automation—and that provider shuts down, it may be close to impossible to migrate your data, even if you have a grace period.

Avoiding disaster

Is the solution then to simply stay away from the cloud? Or should I only hire the most well-known brands on the cloud space? Neither, actually. In spite of all these risks, moving to the cloud is still fundamental for companies of all sizes, simply due to the potential advantages such a move may bring. And restricting yourself to only the top tier providers may well result in you missing out on some very interesting products and services.

The real solution is due diligence and risk management. Performing due diligence on prospective vendors has always been an important role of the IT department. The cloud makes this an even more important role. IT departments need to establish a good relationship with business users so that they are involved in the decision-making process, and can properly vet providers. At the same time, IT needs to develop contingency plans to handle possible disaster situations: what is the plan if the cloud provider goes offline (for whatever reason)? Using a cloud provider does not mean you can forget about disaster recovery planning. The more these scenarios are thought about and planned for, the smaller the impact of a given provider going out of business.

One fundamental point to remember is to keep an open mind. Too often IT is seen by business users as the naysayers, the guys who reject any company who isn’t <insert large enterprise name here>. While smaller service providers may be much harder to vet, their services can have a huge impact on business results, so not discarding them out of hand simply due to their size can not only keep IT on the good side of business users, but also bring positive results for the company as a whole.

A final tip for evaluating the risk of cloud companies: understand their business model. Is it sustainable? Are they actually making money, or simply burning through it? Is their long-term plan compatible with your companies’ needs? Answering these questions goes a long way towards ensuring that you don’t partner with the wrong provider down the road. In a future post, I'll provide some more detail about how working with a cloud provider affects your disaster recovery planning.

Thoran Rodrigues of Rio de Janeiro Area, Brazil, is a Cloud and Big Data enthusiast and Regular Contributor to The Enterprise Cloud.

Thank you for this excellent article, Thoran. We couldn't have said it better ourselves! 

Jim Kandrac, Founder and President

Mike Powall, Vice President

United Computer Group, Inc. 

Client Spotlight: F. Christiana and Company, Marrero, LA

We are pleased to introduce UCG's longtime VAULT400 client, F. Christiana and Company, a family run food distribution business located in Marrero, Louisiana. This thriving company was founded in 1934 by Nick Christiana Sr., who started the business as an egg packer and wholesale poultry dealer. In 1963, Nick's son Frank purchased the company from his father and renamed it F. Christiana & Company. 

Today, the company employs over 125 people, operates 36 delivery trucks, and the product line has expanded to over 2,000 different items including canned and dry goods, condiments, cheese, paper, and cleaning products, along with a long list of fresh and frozen meat items. 

View F. Christiana's brief overview video

As one of the first companies to open their doors after Hurricane Katrina, they are all too familiar with the devastation that can occur in the event of disaster. In order to protect their business critical data, F. Christiana and Company selected UCG's VAULT400 as their backup solution. 

Recently, F. Christiana added VAULT400 <24-Hour Hardware Disaster Recovery Services. In the event of a disaster, VAULT400 <24-Hour DR Services will provide systems for 30-days while working closely with F. Christiana to ensure business continuity and conduct planning and testing. All DR services are managed by UCG so the client can concentrate on other immediate needs as systems are brought back online.The result is a smooth transition that is transparent to F. Christiana customers, allowing them to continue operating their business as usual. 

Learn more about UCG's VAULT400 Hardware Disaster Recovery options by clicking here. When a disaster occurs, the clock is ticking!

Customer Care: Walking the Talk at UCG

Today we received a most sincere and thoughtful note from new VAULT400 client, +EMI Corp. Kay Frieders, Controller and IT Manager for the firm, took the time to let us know that she was exceptionally happy with UCG's customer service, and in particular, our Sr. Technical Engineer, Vladimir Capitanov. Delighting our customers is, without question, a UCG core value. Learn more about UCG Customer Care and Best Practices. For additional UCG customer testimonials, click here.

Vladimir Capitanov

Sr. Technical Engineer, UCG

"Mike, I just wanted to let you know what an outstanding employee United Computer Group, Inc. has in Vladimir Capitanov. The VAULT400 installation on our iSeries was flawless and could not have been better. In addition to the smooth installation,​Vladimir promptly followed up with me on the seeding completion of all the backup jobs that were scheduled to make sure that everything is perfect for EMI Corp. I’ve been working for 30 years with IT people all over and it is refreshing to work with Vladimir. He cares and it shows. It’s that kind of detail to attention that keeps customers coming back.

EMI will need a new iSeries Server this year. Whether we purchase, offsite or cloud, I am definitely interested in doing business with United Computer Group, Inc. because of employees like Vladimir and yourself. Both of you have shown outstanding support to EMI Corp." 

         ​- ​ Kay Frieders, Controller / IT Manager, EMI Corp., Jackson Center, OH​

Thank you, Kay and EMI Corp.! Kay's note is a great reminder to us all to always acknowledge exceptional customer service. The impact it has on the business and the individuals involved is priceless. 

Mike Powall

Vice President, United Computer Group, Inc.