Veeam boosts data resilience for North Devon Council

North Devon District Council has overhauled its data protection strategy with Veeam software, cutting data recovery times in half and shortening backup windows as it responds to rising cyber threats and ongoing budget pressures.

The local authority relies on digital systems to deliver essential services, from waste collection to support for more than 4,000 small businesses in the region. It has faced a combination of constrained funding, growing demand for services and uncertainty over future local government reorganisation.

Andrew Tapp, ICT Manager at North Devon District Council, said the council had to extract more value from its technology estate while maintaining service levels for residents.

"Like all UK councils, we've experienced significant budget cuts over the past decade," said Andrew Tapp, ICT Manager, North Devon District Council. "Increased demand means we must do more with less, leveraging IT to boost productivity. At the same time, local government reorganisation will likely see the North Devon District merge with other districts in the next few years. This presents uncertainty, but also opportunity."

The council reviewed its data resilience strategy during this period. It identified gaps in backup immutability and secure cloud storage that left it more exposed to data loss or disruption.

Tapp said the resilience of core systems had become a priority as ransomware incidents grew more frequent across the public sector. "North Devon residents are our priority," said Tapp. "Losing access to our data would jeopardise our service levels, finances, and reputation. With ransomware threats rising, we chose to tackle the challenge head on."

The authority selected Veeam for backup and recovery across its IT estate. The software now protects business-critical applications and about 50 TB of on-premises data. It also secures Microsoft 365 workloads, covering roughly 2 TB of collaboration data.

Tapp said the platform aligned with the council's requirements around cyber security and cloud integration. "Veeam delivered all the capabilities we needed, from cyber resilience to cloud integration," said Tapp. "It is excellent value and easy to procure, with attentive support."

The deployment of Veeam Data Cloud for Microsoft 365 took place over a short implementation window. The product backs up SharePoint and related collaboration data in an automated way. "Deployment of Veeam Data Cloud for Microsoft 365 was remarkably smooth - just a couple of days," said Tapp. "Veeam automatically backs up new SharePoint sites, reducing the risk of human error. With robust data resilience in place, we're proceeding with a SharePoint and OneDrive migration."

The council has adopted the 3-2-1-1-0 backup rule using Veeam. It stores immutable copies in hardened Linux repositories and uses Veeam Data Cloud Vault for air-gapped, cloud-based backups. This design separates backup data from production systems and aims to reduce the impact of a cyber incident or accidental deletion.

Faster recovery has been one of the most visible outcomes. The council estimates that it now restores data 50% faster than before. Administrators used Veeam's granular recovery tools when a SharePoint team site was deleted by mistake. "With Veeam, we recover our data 50% faster and much more easily," said Tapp. "When a SharePoint team site was accidently deleted, Veeam's granular recovery tools restored it seamlessly, which was a big relief all around."

Backup operations have also changed. The organisation has moved from once-daily backups to twice-daily schedules. It reports that backup jobs complete around 20% quicker, which shortens the period of impact on production environments.

Tapp said the change of supplier had prompted a broader review of backup processes and disaster recovery planning. "We now back up twice daily instead of once, reducing the risk of data loss," said Tapp. "Veeam also cuts our backup times by about 20%, minimising impact on production systems."

The council frames these improvements as a way to safeguard public data and public services in the face of future change. It expects that any merger with neighbouring districts would place additional demands on its IT function and data protection regime.

Tapp said the current setup gives the authority more assurance about the integrity and recoverability of resident data. "With Veeam, we have significantly improved our data resilience; our previous solution doesn't compare," said Tapp. "I sleep better knowing Veeam protects the data of North Devon residents."