The client is a leading provider of telecom analytics solutions covering roaming, core network, security, risk management, domestic and international connectivity testing, and customer intelligence. More than 1,000 customers rely on its Active Intelligence platform, which delivers advanced analytics that connect deep network and operational intelligence with real-time actions. When its hosting environment was taken down by ransomware, services to those key customers were interrupted.

Just before the Memorial Day weekend, the company's previous cloud provider was attacked by ransomware. The company was left needing to get back up and running as soon as possible, with services to key customers interrupted at the start of a holiday weekend when most vendors were unavailable.

It contacted five other providers, none of which would engage for a week. Every additional day offline put the company's client relationships and brand reputation at risk, and its more than 1,000 platform customers depended on a fast return to service.

The attack also exposed a longer-term gap. Rather than a like-for-like rebuild, the company wanted a new and more secure data protection solution, including off-site and immutable backups and endpoint protection, and it wanted that added resilience without paying more than it had been paying its previous provider.

CloudFirst understood the urgency and set up a meeting right away, while the other providers the company had approached would not engage for a week. The CloudFirst team then worked hand-in-hand with the customer over the holiday weekend to get it back online.

CloudFirst built a new VMware private cloud environment, delivered as a VMware Private Pod, and paired it with full off-site backups and endpoint protection. The complete environment was delivered within 13 days, one full day ahead of schedule, and the company was able to resume services to key customers within days of engaging CloudFirst.

The rebuild was designed as a more secure operation rather than a straight replacement. Immutable backups and endpoint security were added to the platform, supported by CloudFirst Enterprise Security, Disaster Recovery as a Service and Cloud Managed Services, at the same overall cost the company had been paying its previous provider. CloudFirst credits its flexibility, speed of engagement and delivery as the factors that set it apart from the competition in this recovery.

• New VMware private cloud with off-site backups and endpoint protection delivered in 13 days, one day ahead of schedule
• Services to key customers resumed within days of the ransomware attack
• Endpoint security and immutable backups added at the same overall cost as the previous provider
• CloudFirst engaged immediately while five other providers would not meet for a week
• Brand reputation and client relationships preserved through the recovery