ScalePad
Partner storyOctober 4, 20227 min read

River Run is securing data and creating revenue with Backup Radar

River Run was looking for a way to automate backup monitoring to prevent missed backups and maintain up-to-date coverage for all of their clients. They found that Backup Radar met that need perfectly.

Evan Pappas
Backup Radar
RiverRun-and-Backup-Radar

It is not uncommon for backups to fail. MSPs are often notified when that happens. But for many in the industry, uncompleted backups can easily go unreported. This has been a major risk, as MSPs often do not receive notifications for backups that do not run. They do not count as failures, so backup systems do not create notifications to warn that something has gone wrong.

When backup problems are unreported, MSPs have to spend hours manually managing and tracking a client's backup environment. This can be an enormous task. Between multiple clients and a variety of backup methods and platforms, MSPs know that it can take countless hours of time and effort to make sure that their clients' data is safe.

It's not just an issue of losing data internally. Non-functioning backups also create vulnerabilities for a business' overall data security and make a potential malicious cyber attack more damaging.

River Run, an MSP operating in the Midwest and serving clients nationally for more than 30 years, works hard to provide top-tier backup support for clients. However, even they have experience with non-functioning backups, which led a client to restore to an older state, losing more recent data.

To prevent this from happening again, River Run wanted to improve their reporting and management of backups in a way that was more efficient for staff. The answer they found was Backup Radar.

Matthew Moog has been an employee at River Run for 16 years as a Senior Systems Engineer and a member of the Senior Technical Leadership Team. Moog oversees the engineering team at River Run that ensures focused precision on backups and firewalls. Moog shared that River Run started using Backup Radar to improve the backup reporting processes that had troubled them with other services.

Creating a Better Backup Process

River Run’s first-hand experience with non-functional backups sparked the conversation that led them to Backup Radar. After losing a client due to a missed backup, Moog realized they needed a better method for monitoring their backups.

As missed backups became a recurring issue, Backup Radar was recommended to Moog, who researched the platform and implemented it into their workflow.

As issues with missed backups continued, Backup Radar was recommended to Moog, who researched the platform and chose to implement it into their workflow.

The revenue lost when a client leaves is an incredibly important consideration for MSPs, which made the safety and security of Backup Radar the right fit for River Run. They wanted to preserve their existing relationships with clients and build a sense of trust and security.

Backup Radar allowed River Run to sync their backup information to the app and get comprehensive backup notifications even when those backups were non-operational or did not generate a failure status that would normally be reported. This comprehensive monitoring allowed the MSP to trust their processes and catch any problems that may have otherwise slipped by their notice.

Improving their backup notifications saved time for River Run staff, who used to manually check a spreadsheet every day against their backup’s data portal. The team would conduct checks every morning and afternoon, leading to a significant time commitment just to oversee backups for any missed failures.

Improving their backup notifications also saved time for River Run staff, who used to manually check a spreadsheet every day against their backup’s data portal. The team would conduct checks every morning and afternoon, leading to a ton of time spent per week just to monitor backups for any missed failures.

River Run now has proactive ticketing based around backup failures and has tuned the system to generate notifications daily to reduce backup noise. It’s not uncommon for a job to fail once or twice a day out of 25 backups, but if the failure persists beyond a single day, a notification will be generated. This allows most failures to self-correct by the next day’s scheduled backup, avoiding unwanted ticket noise.

Automation, Backup Monitoring, Backup automation, Demo, Watch Demo, Backup Radar

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Building Trust in Backup Monitoring

Backup Radar has also been used in communication with River Run’s clients. They can demonstrate the value they provide by outlining the rate of backup failures and how the team proactively addresses those issues before they become problems.

For Moog, the proactive alerting of backup issues has significantly impacted their clients. In the past, data issues were often identified only when the client needed a restore, which couldn’t happen due to a backup not running. Clarified trust in backup monitoring has allowed River Run and their clients to have a consistent experience and confidence in their data security.

For Moog, that proactive alerting of backup issues has made a big impact on their clients. In the past, backup issues were often found only when the client needed a restore, and it couldn’t be done because a backup was not running. Improving the trust in backup monitoringhas allowed River Run and their clients to have a more consistent experience, and have faith in the security of their data.

That trust in the security of data starts with the River Run team. Moog said he does not need to check the health of backups in the Backup Radar dashboard because he relies on the ticketing system to keep his team informed.

Generating Revenue with Backup Radar

When operating a successful MSP, the value of service and revenue generated is vital for maintaining a sustainable business and fostering further growth. Moog stated that Backup Radar helps preserve revenue and ensure that current expenses generate more value. The time saved from no longer needing to manually check backup health schedules has added at least eight hours a week for staff to focus on clients.

When it comes to operating a successful MSP, the value of service and revenue that the organization can generate is vital to maintaining a sustainable business and growing even further. At River Run, Moog said Backup Radar is playing a role in helping to preserve revenue and make sure that the current expenses are generating more value. Saving staff time by no longer needing to manually check backup health spreadsheets has saved at least eight hours a week. This adds up to a lot more time the staff can spend being focused on clients.

“This proactive approach to backup monitoring and addressing tickets that generate due to non-responsive backups does have the potential to generate new revenue that was not there before,” Moog said.

“We preserve revenue with Backup Radar in the respect that we are aware of those backup issues before they become problems and a pain point for the client. We generate some revenue and we preserve some revenue. Generate with the respect that we create actionable items as they come up within a reasonable timeframe. Preserving in the respect that we do not lose clients because backups were not working or because we do not have bodies that are literally wasting their days checking the health of backups.”

With concrete benefits like saving revenue and less tangible aspects such as improved relationships with clients due to more proactive monitoring and service, River Run has elevated their already high-quality service. More efficient internal processes keep their team informed and ready to address whatever comes up. River Run can be there when their clients need them most. Get started with Backup Radar. Book a personalized demo now and tailor a package to meet your requirements.

With concrete benefits like saving on revenue and even less tangible aspects like improved relationships with clients due to more proactive monitoring and service, River Run has been able to take their already high-quality service to the next level. More efficient internal processes keep their team informed and ready to address anything that comes up. River Run can be there when their clients need them most. Get started with Backup Radar. Book a personalized demo now and tailor a package to suit your needs.

Backup Radar Impact Comparison

Impact AreaBefore Backup RadarAfter Backup Radar
Unreported BackupsNo alerts for missed/unrun backupsComprehensive alerts even for unrun jobs
Manual Monitoring Effort8 hours/week checking spreadsheetsMonitoring time reduced to near zero
Client Trust & RetentionClients lost due to missed backupsImproved communication, retained clients
Staff EfficiencyTechnical staff manually monitoringEngineers focus on higher-value tasks
Revenue PreservationLost revenue from client attritionRevenue preserved through issue prevention
Proactive AlertingIssues found only when restore neededAutomated ticketing for unresolved issues

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