1. AGENT INSTALLATION: Engineers will deploy the DataShield software agent to all servers and workstations to be protected. The installation procedure can be performed onsite if necessary but in most cases we will establish a secure connection to your systems and install the agent remotely.

2. INITIAL SEED LOAD (FULL BACKUP): We’ll begin the process of imaging each protected server or workstation in your environment and then transfer the backup data directly to our cloud or to an onsite storage device at your location.

Data is encrypted prior to being transmitted offsite to our network of highly secure North American based data centers.

Depending upon the amount of data to be backed up this process can take a few hours to as much as several weeks in some cases. If there is a significant amount of data that needs to be backed up offsite then a seed load may be required. We will inform you if an onsite seed load is required.

3. ENABLE ONSITE BACKUP (Optional): We highly recommend storing a copy of your backup data on a local storage device for faster recovery. The DataShield^™ Local Speed Vault is optional but can be very beneficial when performing large file restores.

In a disaster time is of the essence and restoring from a local device will dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes to fully recover from a loss. We offer several options for the types of storage devices you may use for your onsite backup location.

The Local Speed Vault improves our ability to meet your organization’s Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO) by reducing the time it takes to recover individual files, entire volumes, or a complete system.

There are no additional fees to enable the Local Speed Vault option.

4. VERIFY COMPLETION OF SEED LOAD: Once the full backup has completed we’ll verify that all backup data is fully synchronized with our remote cloud locations and even restore a small amount of test data from the cloud to ensure that data is recoverable.

5. CONFIGURE INCREMENTAL BACKUP SCHEDULE(S): From this point forward all new backup jobs will be Incremental jobs. That means only new, or changed data, will be backed up. Incremental backup jobs reduce the amount of time and bandwidth required to keep your backups current. And, instead of backing up an entire file, our backup software transfers only the bits of data that have changed since the last backup. This means backup jobs complete on time, every time, without impacting your ability to do business.

6. INITIATE REMOTE MONITORING PROCEDURES: At this phase of the process we shift into 24/7/365 monitoring and management of your DataShield^™ Managed Backup & Disaster Recovery deployment. We’ll monitor the status of all backup jobs and remediate any issues that arise to ensure your data backups are always current.

7. SCHEDULE QUARTERLY RESTORE TESTING: Once per quarter, or monthly if you prefer, we’ll conduct scheduled restore testing of a select data set to ensure that data stored in backups are fully recoverable. If your company requires more advanced or intensive restore testing be sure to discuss that with us during the sales phase of our engagement with you.