Eliminating Backup Failure and Cutting IT Overhead by 90% for a UK Housing Association

When a UK housing association managing over 10,000 properties needed a reliable disaster recovery solution to support a 24/7/365 tenant service operation, Newcorp's Disaster Recovery as a Service delivered near-zero recovery time and 55% TCO savings.

Background

With more than 100,000 tenant calls handled annually, the organisation's IT infrastructure had to remain operational around the clock. Any period of downtime carried direct consequences for service delivery.

The IT team had little confidence in their existing backup solution. Backups were unreliable, frequently failed, and recovery was a significant operational pain point. The infrastructure was not fit for purpose.

The Challenge

Data was archived to a virtual tape library in the cloud - a process that was cumbersome and slow. Recovering files required downloading the tape before restoration could begin, a process that could take several hours.

With systems required to support a high-volume tenant service operation, the risk of extended downtime was unacceptable. The organisation needed a solution built for speed, simplicity, and reliability.

• Avoid lengthy downtime and maintain 24/7/365 system availability
• Improve backup reliability and speed
• Integrate seamlessly into a fully virtualised environment
• Meet business and compliance requirements through automated backup processes

The Solution

Following an evaluation of available options, the organisation selected Newcorp's Disaster Recovery as a Service. The solution offered automated backup using SLA policies, a single management interface across all applications, and the ability to restore data in seconds rather than hours.

Tape was eliminated entirely, replaced by cloud archival that removed the complexity of the previous recovery process. The platform integrated fully into the organisation's virtualised environment, covering Windows, Linux, SQL, Exchange, and other business-critical applications.

Newcorp's fully managed service provided proactive support and deep technical expertise throughout, removing the burden of backup management from the internal team.

The Outcome

The impact was immediate and measurable. The organisation achieved 55% TCO savings through consolidation of tape, backup software, and servers into a single platform - removing ongoing licensing and hardware costs in the process.

Time spent managing backup infrastructure fell from two to three hours per day to just a few minutes. Where a failure previously required a full day to resolve, issues are now addressed rapidly with minimal disruption.
Storage savings were equally significant. The data centre footprint was reduced from 10U to 2U - an 80% reduction - and the organisation's SAN was eliminated entirely.

The Ongoing Partnership

With a fully managed disaster recovery service in place, the organisation is well positioned to meet the evolving demands of its digital infrastructure - without diverting IT resource from its core focus of delivering services to tenants.

Newcorp's 24/7/365 monitoring and expert support ensures the team can focus on strategic initiatives that improve operational resilience and tenant experience, with confidence that their data protection environment will perform when it counts.

AT A GLANCE

Near-Zero Recovery Time

Recovery time was reduced to near-zero, eliminating the risk of extended outages following a system failure.

55% TCO Reduction

Consolidating tape, backup software, and servers into one platform delivered immediate and sustained cost savings.

80% Smaller Data Centre Footprint

The data centre footprint was reduced from 10U to 2U, with the organisation's SAN eliminated entirely.

90% Less IT Management Time

Backup management time fell from two to three hours per day to just a few minutes.

Fully Virtualised Coverage

Windows, Linux, SQL, Exchange, and other business-critical applications all protected across the virtualised environment.

Fully Managed Service

Newcorp's team manages the entire backup environment with proactive support and deep technical expertise.

Need a reliable disaster recovery partner for your organisation?

Call us at 01477 500766 or email enquiries@newcorp.co.uk