Sebata Deploying Attix5

Sebata Municipal Solutions (Pty) Ltd is a provider of integrated technology solutions, enterprise management systems and multidisciplinary professional services to municipalities, public entities and provincial government.

The company provides backup for local governments’ financial data, and as such, helps to prevent data loss and protect the integrity of this information.

The data required to operate and document the day-to-day financials of local government is mission-critical and highly confidential. In the event of data loss, it is crucial that normality is restored and this function is operational as quickly as possible.

In the world of government service delivery and daily operation, real-time access to stored data and backups is non-negotiable. This access needs to be expedient, secure and user-friendly – personalised as if the backups were stored on users’ local machines. Any prospective backup solution would have to facilitate this access.

Attix5 Ltd, a provider of data protection software and cloud solutions, provided its offsite backup solution, Attix5 Pro.

Riaan Schlebusch, ICT resource manager, Sebata, explains how Attix5 emerged as a solution provider and expert services partners. He says his relationship with Attix5 dates back to 2008, when he joined Sebata as an IT technician at the company’s Kimberley office.

Schlebusch mentioned ease of deployment, simplicity of systems and speed of backup as value-adds. He describes Attix5 as suited to meet the requirements of a tight regulatory environment that demands data is kept secure and regularly backed up. In addition, it has enabled minimum downtime in the case of a disaster, and ensures data is secure whether backed up on-premises or off-site.

As Schlebusch explains, it is the software’s VirtualRestore feature that has given impetus to Sebata’s value proposition to clients.

VirtualRestore provides real-time access to backups. It is as simple as selecting a backup folder from within Attix5 Pro and clicking the VirtualRestore button, which will mount the backup as a virtual drive on a local machine, with the data immediately accessible, requiring no additional storage. One main benefit of this feature is the ability to test and audit backups without having to actually transfer files or databases to a temporary local drive.

Customers who backup multiple branch locations to single HQs can now access aggregated data for data mining purposes, which is a massive time and resources saving.

A secure connection is made to the backup, which can be located on the cloud or on the LAN, and only the data required to access requested files and databases is transferred, facilitating the instant access to backups with no delay.

Heidi Weyers, GM sales, Attix5, says the solution is a fit for local government: “In the event of data loss, instant recovery is simply a mouse click away. In addition, critical data is protected automatically and sent offsite, completely secure and encrypted, and in the event of data lost, can be recovered instantly.“

The provision of this solution has helped establish a relationship between client and service provider, one based on mutual trust and commitment.

Open discussion and constant input is encouraged, which facilitates an environment in which queries and issues are dealt with quickly and effectively.