SIB replaces Rubrik with Veeam to regain control and freedom of data protection

SIB offers its own hosted electronic patient record (EPR) software to members and also hosts third-party EPR solutions from other software vendors. In either scenario, it is officially treated as an HDS (Hébergeur de Données de Santé, a hosting provider for health data), which is a highly regulated category in France.

“We provide a mutualized platform for hosting healthcare data and systems,” says Franck Jeannès, DTSIO Director at SIB. “We offer healthcare organizations our operational, functional and technical expertise within the highly regulated context of health data.”

As a standard part of offering highly secure hosting services in full compliance with HDS regulations, SIB protects data; any loss of healthcare data would have an impact on follow-ups and care for patients.

Given the number of its member institutions and its level of engagement with them, SIB wants technology partners with a clear long- term roadmap and similar strategic outlook. This requirement led SIB to call into question its choice of Rubrik backup software when the solution was repositioned with greater emphasis on cloud.

“Rubrik moved to a SaaS model, with backups managed via a portal hosted on the cloud,” says Aymeric Birotheau, Manager of Hosting Infrastructure at SIB. “This wasn’t really something we could envisage: We need assurance that operations on our hosted data remain within the perimeters of our data centers. In addition, we want long cycles between major versions of software for reasons of operational stability. Rubrik moved to two major versions per year with an insufficiently long support period.”

SIB also wanted better control and visibility into the location and status of backups in its technical environment. Moreover, the licensing model did not match the rhythm of SIB’s growth.

SIB chose to replace Rubrik with Veeam for its own infrastructure and is now extending the solution to its hosted subscriber landscape.

“We chose Veeam as a product universally known in our team and of which everyone had positive experiences,” says Jeannès. “Another factor was Veeam’s strong support for virtualization platforms other than VMware, which keeps our options open.”

Moving to Veeam has enabled SIB to take back control of its backups. The organization can now more easily check that backups are complete, accurate, and recoverable, providing reassurance for the healthcare organizations it serves.

“We can now see where our backups are and what condition they are in,” says Birotheau. “This is a crucial benefit given the highly regulated domain we operate in.”

The adoption of Veeam is part of a broader overhaul of the backup landscape, including the rationalization of backup policies and the introduction of immutable backups.

“Immutability was a native feature in Rubrik, but we couldn’t see what was happening under the covers,” says Birotheau. “With Veeam, we can see the backups and verify their immutable status, so we’re much more confident of protection against encryption attacks.”

SIB uses Veeam to replicate local backups with immutability to remote data centers, adding a layer of protection against the loss or corruption of a full data center.

“In addition, Veeam offers security tools such as malware detection at no extra cost,” says Birotheau.

SIB was previously required to invest in physical backup appliances and license their full capacity — even though it could not fill this backup capacity immediately.

“With Rubrik, it was hard to understand or explain the cost of backup,” says Jeannès. “We were potentially over-investing in order to have room for growth. With Veeam, we buy the licenses based on the number of systems we want to protect, and we choose our own storage hardware.”

Birotheau adds, “It’s important for us not to have thousands of different solutions to manage; Veeam is simple but not simplistic, giving us everything we need in an easy-to-manage solution. We also benefit from a strong support organization and genuine accompaniment from the vendor.

• Regained full control over backups with increased visibility into their environment.
  SIB can now understand the location, status and recoverability of backed-up data at all times — vital for ensuring compliance with strict HDS regulations in France.
• Unlocks more granularity and greater cost- efficiency in licensing. 
  SIB can offer clear information to subscribers on the cost of backup and can grow its landscape more cost-efficiently by licensing according to systems rather than backup size.
• Achieves peace of mind through easy access to skills and support. 
  Veeam’s local team is accompanying SIB on its transformation journey, providing access to high- quality technical support and architectural advice.