Veeam puts the sparkle in data protection for SodaStream

The business challenges

SodaStream is the world’s largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of home carbonation systems. The company not only makes great sparkling water, but it also helps save the planet from plastic waste. People drink and discard 200 billion plastic water bottles annually, and each bottle takes roughly 1,000 years to biodegrade. If bottles are incinerated, they will produce toxic fumes. SodaStream is committed to reducing waste. Just one of the company’s reusable bottles rids the world of up to 3,000 single-use plastic bottles.

SodaStream manufactures millions of carbonation systems and reusable bottles, so ensuring the IT systems supporting manufacturing (Scada WINCC, WMS) are protected is a top business priority. Protecting the systems supporting business intelligence (QlikView) and finance (IBM TM1 and Controller) is equally important. SodaStream must have the ability to recover them quickly.

“Our challenge was slow recovery,” said Hen Ron, Global Infrastructure Manager & Chief Information Security Officer at SodaStream. “We were backing up to tape, so recovery could be slow, taking hours or up to a day in some cases. Backing up to tape was also expensive. We were spending $25,000 annually on tapes, drives and storage.”

Another challenge was backup management. SodaStream used several solutions: Backup Exec, NetBackup, NetApp SMVI, Azure Backup, Azure Site Recovery and Veeam Backup Essentials.

“There were too many solutions, so backup management was complex and time-consuming,” Ron said. “One of our systems administrators spent half of each day managing backup. That wasn’t a good use of his time.”

The goal was to replace all solutions with a single solution, so the IT team considered Commvault, Veritas and Veeam Availability Suite, which is designed for enterprises, whereas Veeam Backup Essentials best fits small businesses. Ron scheduled proof-of-concept demonstrations for Veeam and Veritas.

“I had worked with Commvault in the past, so I knew it wasn’t intuitive enough for our needs,” he said. “Twenty clicks with Commvault gives you the same result as two clicks with Veeam. We needed a solution that was intuitive and capable of more than backup—we needed disaster recovery (DR) capabilities in Azure.”

The Veeam solution

SodaStream replaced all solutions with Veeam Availability Suite. Veeam provides secure, enterprise-ready Azure backup for disaster preparedness, enabling the IT team to quickly recover critical systems supporting manufacturing, business intelligence and finance. Veeam also simplifies and consolidates backup management, saving the equivalent of a part-time position and $25,000 in tape costs annually. Furthermore, Veeam supports compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX).

“Veeam is the only solution we considered that provides more than backup,” Ron said. “Veeam extends DR to Azure so we can restore critical systems fast.”

Veeam backs up 55 TB across 300 Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware vSphere virtual machines on-premises to HPE StoreOnce and off-premises to Azure. In an emergency situation, Veeam Direct Restore to Microsoft Azure will restore on-premises workloads to Azure in minutes. In a non-emergency situation, Veeam Explorers for Microsoft Active Directory and SQL Server restore granularly. Veeam also monitors and reports on the IT infrastructure, alerting the team to issues that can be resolved proactively before they impact manufacturing.

“Veeam is intuitive, simple to use and affordable, so we save the equivalent of a part-time position and $25,000 in tape costs,” Ron said. “Veeam also supports compliance with theSOX because it protects seven years of backups.”

Next SodaStream deployed Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365 to avoid losing total access and control of data in Microsoft Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business and Microsoft Teams. Veeam protects against accidental deletion, security threats and retention policy gaps. Familiar search tools including Veeam Explorers for Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Teams help restore individual items and files fast.

“Again, it’s critical that our data is always protected and accessible, and that’s what Veeam does best,” Ron said. “Veeam consolidates backup and drives DR. It’s a reliable solution that lets you take control of your data.”

The results

• Provides secure, enterprise-ready backup to Azure for disaster preparedness
  “One of the biggest advantages of using Veeam is having the ability to restore our on-premises infrastructure in Azure,” Ron said. “Veeam extends our DR capabilities.”
• Simplifies backup management, saving the equivalent of a parttime position
  “Another advantage of using Veeam is ease of use — it requires minimal resources to manage, so we save at least 20 hours per week,” Ron said.
• Saves $25,000 in tape costs each year and complies with SOX
  In addition to helping SodaStream save money, Veeam supports regulatory compliance by maintaining seven years of backups and copies on-premises and in Azure.