RDA Northern Rivers (RDA NR) is part of Regional Development Australia’s (RDA) national network of community-based agencies that work with government, business, and community to support the economic growth of their region.
Covering the Tweed, Byron, Ballina, Clarence and Richmond Valleys, Lismore and Kyogle local government areas, RDA NR assists with access to government funding and programs; facilitates partnerships and linkages with all tiers of government and the community; and manages a diverse range of projects that create economic, social, and natural capital.
In supporting the communities within its region, RDA NR is committed to best practice
data management and protection.
“Knowing that our corporate data remains onshore is very important to us. We rely on government funding to support a range of initiatives that drive the economic and social prosperity of our region. It is imperative that government is confident that we understand the risks of operating in an online environment and that we have taken steps to ensure our organisation is protected against cyber threats. This is critical to operating our business effectively. The AUCloud solution provides us with the confidence we need to support the objectives of RDA and the stakeholders and communities across our region”
The Problem
Until recently RDA NR used a third party NAS (Network Attached Storage) device for all its file
management. This was supplemented by RDA NR employees’ backing up corporate documents locally – a process heavily reliant on physical devices, supported by a regular manual process.
Increased awareness of growing cyber security threats and the Federal Government’s focus on cyber security mitigation, prompted RDA NR to review its data management and protection practices. RDA NR started with two core requirements.
The need for an additional, non-physical storage solution to supplement current arrangements. and second, for the solution to satisfy strict government security requirements. Because RDA NR heavily relies on government funds to support its initiatives, compliance with government best practice cyber security regulations and standards was a priority.
As their storage backup solution was implemented, the RDA NR office was hit by floods, destroying all their primary data source devices. The need for a broader, more complete data management solution instantly took priority.
The Solution
When initially looking for a more reliable backup solution, RDA NR had already decided it wanted the flexibility of a cloud-based solution. They noted however, that in many cases, cloud providers, particularly global providers, do not guarantee that the data they host will be stored in Australia. Given recent government announcements regarding the protection of sovereign data, RDA NR decided early on that its backup storage solution had to be hosted on a sovereign cloud provider.
Referred to AUCloud, RDA NR was immediately impressed by the focus on shaping a solution that met their specific needs. A personalised approach, solution expertise and access to local support in real time, provided RDA NR with a high level of confidence in the proposed solution.
When issues caused by a third party emerged, work arounds provided by AUCloud, at no additional cost, prevented further delays. Once these were resolved, RDA NR’s planned solution was implemented. When major flooding impacted the RDA NR office, destroying NAS storage hardware a potentially catastrophic situation was averted, with critical data already backed up to AUCloud.
With immediate benefits of their cloud solution realised, RDA NR pivoted from their historical on-premise data storage approach to seeking an end to end cloud solution as its replacement. Working closely with AUCloud and Managed Service Provider Qirx, RDA NR migrated immediately to a full serviced cloud infrastructure solution providing remote desktop, storage and backup services.
Outcomes
The most immediate outcome for RDA NR was peace of mind that their corporate data was secure – despite the office suffering extensive flooding.
From an ongoing operational perspective, the need to manually back up office data ceased immediately, and staff enjoyed reliable, stable access to business systems, anytime from anywhere.
Importantly, they had certainty that their data would be securely stored, managed and backed up in a government recognised geo-resilient cloud environment located in a government credentialed onshore data centre.
Further using tools available through the AUCloud solution, RDA NR can ‘see’ their data in the AUCloud environment and have easy access to files and data should they require anything to be accessed or restored.
“AUCloud have provided excellent support throughout the journey to our current end to end cloud based infrastructure service. The AUCloud team have been very responsive in our time of need, ensuring we had access to a solution and that the solution was working for us. Access to personalised, local support was invaluable – not just from a technical perspective but because we can access our data seamlessly with confidence that data is backed up automatically in the background. We now have assurance our corporate data is secure and safe.”
