In 2017, CoreLogic, the property and data analytics provider formerly known as RP Data, put its disaster recovery and backup strategy on Commvault’s data platform, delivered as a service. The aim was to shorten the time it took to turn data into new products and to move away from tape.
The deployment went through Venn IT Solutions, a Queensland-based Commvault partner. ARN reported that the disaster recovery strategy was provided as a service on Commvault’s platform.
What was agreed
Commvault said the arrangement would free resources for higher-value parts of CoreLogic’s business and speed the shift from rigid tape backups to more agile processes. Head of ICT Adrian Jansz said the backup scope went beyond servers and platforms. Desktops and laptops were also being backed up to the cloud.
Jansz also said the company no longer needed tape or offsite storage. In 2017 CoreLogic had set a target of replacing tape backups by 2018.
The scale of the data
CoreLogic described itself in 2017 as the leading property and data analytics provider in Australia and New Zealand. It was founded in 1991 and had more than 20,000 customers and 120,000 end users. Those customers ranged across banking, wealth management, insurance and real estate, and also included government agencies and consumer investors.
Its database held 40 years of property sales. It drew on more than 600 data sources and supplied about 500 million decision points a day. The company said this produced more than a petabyte of customer data. It compared that volume with 20 million four-drawer filing cabinets of text documents.
The company said the growing number of data sources, which it put at 600, was straining its ageing data management architecture during Australia’s property boom.
Why disaster recovery mattered
CoreLogic is based in Brisbane. It had been through the 2010-11 Queensland floods and a major power outage, so disaster recovery was a stated priority. The company needed to protect its data and keep its traditional services running. At the same time it wanted to build new revenue streams on new technology platforms.
Jansz said in 2017 that data was the company’s lifeblood. Without the data and a way to protect it, he said, there was no business and it could not give customers accurate insights. He said data had grown sharply every year since the property boom. Backing it up and reusing it had become both critical and difficult.
Cloud as a launchpad
Jansz said the cloud would act as the data foundation for faster product releases. It would also let CoreLogic try technology that once needed heavy upfront investment. He expected the cloud to help the company keep pace with growth, improve efficiency and lower costs.
The effect on staff was a point he stressed. CoreLogic kept its skilled backup engineers and re-skilled them. According to Jansz, that gave the company greater velocity in product releases and better IT security. He said the backup strategy let the company concentrate on areas that gave customers more value.
He also drew a line between suppliers. Some vendors, he said, simply sell a solution, but Commvault offered an enterprise-grade strategy with future integration points. He argued that many businesses overlook this.
Commvault’s side
Dan Kieran was Commvault’s vice president and managing director for Australia and New Zealand at the time. He said a key part of the company’s strategy was helping organisations speed up business transformation while protecting their intellectual property.
Commvault’s product line has since changed. Its current offering is branded Commvault Cloud and includes backup and recovery, disaster recovery and cyber recovery packages.