Connected shelters UMiami from all PC surprises (including hurricanes)

Skeptics won over by performance of "voodoo technology"

The University of Miami knows vulnerability. The IT staff of the private, 13,000-student school is charged with operating and providing support and disaster recovery protection for 10,000 desktops, and computer data for 8,500 employees spread among three networked campuses, - in a hurricane zone.

The problem: cost control, user demand, and a very short window

Walt Bechtel, director of end user support, and Ismael Pimienta, a network specialist, would often talk about the luxury of an automated disaster recovery system which could be rapidly activated before an oncoming tropical storm, never dreaming that the solution to their problem already existed...until they heard about Connected.

"This was the closest product to what we had imagined. We didn't know if it was vaporware or what, but Pimienta followed up and became extremely impressed," Bechtel recalled. "It seemed so logical and obvious (a product) but it hasn't been a reality until now. It was almost identical to what we wanted." Not only did Connected's protect the entire university, but it didn't waste network bandwidth or storage space by storing multiple copies of the same application; nor did it require separate storage space for every user.

During the ensuing months, Pimienta continued to test Connected on a few desktops and learn as much as he could about the product and the company to confirm in his mind that the performance claims were genuine. Before finalizing a recommendation for Connected, Bechtel and Pimienta evaluated "all the major players," but failed to uncover anything comparable, according to Bechtel.

Search findings: Nothing else out there

"We were unable to find anything that performed as well or anything like it at all," said Bechtel. "We found nothing equal to Connected."

By the time the installations began in earnest, Connected's - hosted in-house on the university's own server - was a known commodity to the IT staff, but the other departments were skeptical.

"They called it voodoo technology; they couldn't believe it," Bechtel said. "But after they tested it themselves, they humbly returned to me and admitted that it was everything and more that I had said." What gave Connected the edge? Speed and user friendliness were two key features that made TLM a realistic solution and gave the win to Connected.

Great news: users can do it themselves

"It was the speed and convenience of users supporting themselves," Bechtel recalled. "If they can do it, then they don't have to ask us to do it. That's great news. Secondly, files were no longer captured redundantly (wasting bandwidth). So now we have a system that is online all the time, and users can do their own recoveries. "These two features made it workable."

A year after the initial installs, Connected's has demonstrated its business value and shown that it does everything it promises, and more.

A PC Data Protection system that "just works"

"It just works!" Bechtel said. "We are now covered in an area that is very difficult to provide timely attention. We are providing appropriate support and backup without exorbitant investment, cumbersome administration, or loss in network bandwidth."

The speed and destructive power of approaching hurricanes makes Connected's a critical linchpin for UMiami's IT department, which is also charged with protection of its network and data while situated in the direct path of oncoming tropical storms.

"Hurricanes are a fact of life," said Bechtel, "The overriding issue is how much time and effort is spent on securing the information on our PC's. Sometimes the window of opportunity is very short. Hurricane Andrew materialized over the weekend," Bechtel recalled. "On Saturday, we were growing alarmed and by Sunday night, we were sequestered in our homes. We have a very short window to batten down our systems."

With the conventional tape systems, each workstation could take 45 minutes to an hour and a half to backup, excluding scheduling and changing tape drives. With 275 workstations and 10,000 desktops, it would be impossible for IT to back up everything before each hurricane.

"In addition, during a hurricane alert, the IT staff themselves have homes and families to tend to before the storm and they really need to finish backup operations quickly and leave," he said. One of the big advantages of Connected is that many people can backup quickly without scheduling in advance; it really "shortens the window."

Desktop snapshots speed self healing

Connected also makes IT staffs more productive in performing system healing and upgrades because it takes a quick snapshot of a workstation, saving all of its settings and its 'look and feel.' When IT staffers are trying to solve a debugging problem or install new software, they can make the modifications, see if they work, and restore the machines to their exact previous condition with the press of a button, and then try something else. "Connected gives us all kinds of confidence in the process," Bechtel said.

"Connected's automated healing capability is also a critical weapon in UMiami's defense arsenal against viruses. The university's desktops all have the best possible virus protection, but if they are breached by a new virus, Connected will restore the desktops quickly." Bechtel also gave Connected high marks for its customer service, noting that tech support has "walked me through some configuration issues and got them working."

A "quantum leap in best business practices"

"Connected has been extremely supportive of my needs and made a great effort to get me going," Bechtel said. "I haven't given them any problem they haven't been able to get me out of again." The bottom line: Connected has enabled Miami's IT staff to do more...and to do it right, and it has given them peace of mind.

"Once in a while, you find a product that helps you make a quantum jump in best business practices," Bechtel said. "Connected is one of them."