Managing data and its storage is a significant challenge for today's organisations. The growing amount of information we generate is not slowing down: some predict that by 2025, the world will create the equivalent of 212 million DVDs of data every day. This might not be a terrific issue if all data were equal. But data exists in many forms and for varied purposes. Some data needs to be accessible quickly - no delays or high latency. Other types of data are stored for the long term, and a lot of data sits somewhere in between or hasn't been defined in terms of usage and outcomes.

How one manages and stores data can create a competitive advantage. Doing so incorrectly leads to massive costs and performance headaches. Vodacom Business is no stranger to these challenges, partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to create dynamic data management solutions which serve the Vodacom family and our broad customers base ranging from the Public Sector and large enterprises to SMMEs. AWS' storage solutions fix data storage challenges and remove the barriers to always-available, cost-effective storage solutions - and Vodacom Business leverages these solutions at Vodacom Business to resolve our internal data demands.

Vodacom Business' Challenge

At Vodacom Business, we can relate to the storage challenges our customers have to tackle. We store petabytes of data across multiple storage types and for different reasons. Data is highly significant to our operations and strategy, and our backup retention policies can span from months to years, depending on the relevant use cases and business continuity plans. Storage infrastructure requirements result in extensive maintenance, power and resource expenses. Vodacom Business needed a more visible, seamless and flexible way to manage our different types of data across various scenarios.

The AWS Solution

Vodacom and AWS established a strategic partnership in 2019, offering solutions that incorporate AWS services, including its revolutionary S3 storage products. Vodacom Business uses AWS technologies to deliver performance and choice to our customers, and we rely on the same solutions for our internal data storage requirements. We integrate our existing backup services with the AWS Storage Gateway and archive our backups to AWS S3 Glacier - a set of storage classes with the highest performance, most retrieval flexibility, and the lowest cost archive storage in the cloud. These changes radically reduced our OPEX spend on storage and backups, and significantly reduced our reliance on off-site tape backups and manual data restoration.

Solving Storage for Our Customers

Data fuels innovation and progress. Constrained, ill-suited or wasteful data storage will inhibit growth and opportunities. Too few organisations don't appreciate the link between their ability to prosper and their data storage strategies. Vodacom Business' project with AWS demonstrates this advantage. We have realised lower costs, faster data storage and recovery, and better use of our professionals' time and skills. The impact is evident on our bottom line and how it reinvigorated our teams' focus on cloud adoption and digital innovation.

Vodacom Business customers of any size and sector can expect the best from our storage solutions. Collaborate with Vodacom Business and AWS to access the best balance of services across a portfolio of storage types and management services that meet your performance, cost, business continuity, governance, and regulatory needs.

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