LONDON, UK – January 8, 2021: Veeam Software, the leader in backup solutions enabling Cloud Data Management, today announced that Lincolnshire Co-operative, one of the most successful independent consumer co-operatives in the United Kingdom, has chosen Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365 to protect store operations as it migrates to Microsoft Office 365. Veeam provides total access and control of Office 365 data and leverages the cost efficiency, simplicity and scalability of Azure Blob Storage. Veeam also supports the design, development and construction of new Co-op stores.
The Co-op has been serving the people of Lincolnshire and surrounding areas for more than 150 years. It has 290,000 members, 3,200 colleagues (employees) and more than 200 stores throughout the East Midlands that provide food, pharmacy, funeral, travel and post office services. A large portion of the Co-op’s business-critical data is in Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive for Business and Microsoft Teams. The challenge was protecting data as the Co-op migrated to Office 365. Losing data could impact some store operations.
“One of our biggest concerns was being able to recover data quickly and easily in case colleagues accidentally delete it,” said Ryan Niblett, Infrastructure Manager at the Co-op. “So much of the data in Office 365 is vital to the business, so if we cannot recover it, business operations would be impacted. For example, employees rely on Teams to collaborate on seasonal inventory, using Microsoft 365 to communicate with suppliers. If someone accidently deletes this information, we need to have the ability to restore that data quickly so that we can remain on top of issues and not run out of seasonal goods at that critical time of year.”
The Co-op won’t run out of seasonal goods with Veeam. “It’s the only solution we considered that provides the flexibility, speed, ease of use and affordability to meet our precise data protection requirements,” Niblett said. “Veeam backs up to Azure Blob, giving us data accessibility, retention and visibility while also saving money.”
Niblett said one of the things he appreciates most about Veeam is visibility into the storage size of data contained in Office 365. “Microsoft doesn’t provide great visibility into size, but that information is important when you’re paying per gigabyte and per access. When you use Veeam to back up to Azure Blob, size becomes evident, plus Veeam compresses data, enabling us to maximize storage efficiency.”
Niblett said Veeam also ensures data availability. “Our colleagues work a wide spread of hours across the week, so having access to data at all times means that they can work efficiently. They use a range of devices to access data, and with Veeam we’re able to ensure that this data remains accessible at all times.”
Veeam supports the design, development and construction of new stores too. “A lot of the planning we do for our new stores and refits takes place in Office 365, so it’s important everyone has access to the wide range of information required for scheduling and for installations of everything from telecommunications and electricity to shelving and refrigeration,” Niblett said. “Veeam keeps that information available.”
Moreover, Veeam keeps COVID-19 information available so employees know what’s being done in each retail environment to protect their safety and the public’s safety. “Office 365 is critical to everything we do,” Niblett said. “Veeam protects it so it’s always accessible.”
To learn more, visit https://www.veeam.com/success-stories/lincolnshire-coop.html or https://www.veeam.com.