Attix5 secures data at PIC
Issued by: Kuyima Communications
[Johannesburg, 31 May 2005] - Remote backup and retrieval
specialist, Attix5, has signed a three-year outsourcing
agreement with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC)
for the provision of a real-time disk-to-disk backup
and disaster recovery solution which will cater for
the investment management organisation's growing data
storage needs.
The PIC, known as the Public Investment Commissioners
before it was corporatised on 1 April 2005, invests
funds on behalf of public sector entities. Its largest
client is the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF),
which accounts for 91% of assets under management.
Comments PIC Head: Information Management, Walter
Baloyi: "We are one of the largest investment
managers in the country with assets under management
of over R377 billion as at 31 March 2004. Our mandate
is to invest and grow funds on behalf of pensioners
and other state institutions, and it is clear that
the security, availability and stability of our data
are paramount. As a result, we identified the need
for a solution that would not only meet our growing
backup and storage requirements, but would also replace
our existing tape-based backup media," he says.
A request for proposals (RFP) was issued and seven
companies were then asked to put forward their solutions.
Says Baloyi: "The majority came up with 'traditional'
solutions that rely on outdated technologies. It was
only Attix5 that understood the brief and proposed
a true end-to-end solution. This involved sourcing,
deploying and manning the equipment as well as managing
the entire solution in accordance with strict service
level agreements - in essence - a true outsourcing
agreement."
PIC's data is now mirrored offsite and, in the event
of an incident, disaster recovery is achieved in real-time
and online. "Also impressive was time of implementation,
just 90 days before we went live in December last
year," Baloyi concludes.
Comments Attix5 marketing director, Gary Novitzkas:
"Attix5 has an established presence in the financial
services sector and we believe this deal with the
PIC demonstrates our ability to provide flexible and
cost-effective end-to-end solutions to both the public
and private sectors.
"We are confident that the improved remote management
and lower infrastructural impact of the Attix5 solution
will result in significant productivity gains and
cost savings at the PIC," he says.
