THE BACKGROUND
ITHQ helps businesses across the private and public sectors achieve technological and operational resilience through strategy-led, managed solutions.
Launched in 2020, ITHQ designs solutions around specialized technologies from a select set of vendors. This ensures the depth of engagement and expertise necessary for them to deliver on their mantra of ‘solve for the
customer’ and supports their mission to source the best tech for each of their solutions.
Having previously worked with Rubrik, ITHQ’s Head of Hybrid Cloud, Nik Grove recognized that this was the clear choice for it’s client data protection needs. However, its traditional CAPEX-heavy solution wasn’t ideal for all businesses, as he explained:
“The ‘as a service’ model is increasingly in demand by customers of all sizes, especially as people are consuming more public cloud. Finance teams would rather pay smaller amounts monthly to manage their business, but compromising on quality can be a dangerous false economy when it comes to data backup. What they need is enterprise level data protection that safeguards their business while it’s smaller, and that can scale with them as their infrastructure grows.
“Traditionally, services like Rubrik have been out of reach from any SMEs and small businesses, but thanks to this model with Assured, it’s readily available as a managed service to businesses with smaller footprints. And all for a monthly subscription, which generates a regular income for us”.
THE IT SOLUTION
Assured Data Protection’s market-leading managed service solution featuring Rubrik’s cloud data management impressed Nik and his team at ITHQ. Rubrik seamlessly integrates with databases and equips businesses with the advanced functions (backup, archival, instant recovery, compliance, replication and copy data management) they need to work securely and confidently – both on-premises and in the cloud.
“Importantly, Rubrik has a scale architecture, so we can add capacity when we need it,” continued Nik. “Being able to deliver that enterprise-level solution with Assured – with no impact on the customer.
It works better financially as businesses are finding they can consume technology as, and when, they need it, rather than having to make huge upfront investments.” But this isn’t restricted to the lower end of the market, this type of
deployment also suits larger organizations, helping ITHQ to drive engagements with businesses that have international footprints.
The TRUSTED PARTNER
Having previously worked with the team at Assured, Nik feels confident in their ability to meet ITHQ’s high customer service standards.
“I know the Assured team from previous engagements when I worked at Rubrik,” Nik explained. “They’re serious and wholly committed to Rubrik. I’ve got complete faith that when we put one of our customers on an Assured platform that it’s going to be serviced properly, using the right equipment and the right software. Assured delivers what it promises, and I know that will continue and that’s why we don’t white label the service or hide the fact that we work with Assured.
While ease of access is a “big plus”, Assured’s technical resources are also a valuable asset for ITHQ. “Although we have a highly skilled and experienced technical team ourselves, it’s great having access to a team who work with Rubrik day in, day out with senior technical resources,” explained Nik. “It just makes things very quick and simple.”
“Assured also enables us as we look to expand our horizons beyond the UK,” he continued. “Their global operations allow us to attract bigger customers. When we encounter customers in the US for example, partnering with an organization with US operations is really beneficial: helping us build credibility.”
The RELATIONSHIP
Partnering with Assured Data Protection allows ITHQ to respond quickly to new data backup and recovery opportunities, as well as offering existing customers a fresh way of engaging with Rubrik’s technology.
“One of the main benefits,” Nik explained, “is that we can move much more quickly for the customer. Assured makes it quicker and easier to engage and access the Rubrik software that we need – increasing the speed of getting customers signed up.
“The flexibility of having a monthly service model from Assured in our portfolio makes it really easy for us to start a conversation with a customer at any stage and with any technical solution, and have an answer for them. It works really well as a business model.”