A POWERFUL TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIP DELIVER SECURE BACKUP TO FULHAM FOOTBALL CLUB

Fulham Football Club scores secure backup through the Acronis #TeamUp Program and protects over 21,000 GB of data and 600 Microsoft 365 seats.

‍CHALLENGES:

 
• High volumes of data across diverse environments, including Microsoft 365
 
• Dissimilar data contributed to complexity
 
• The complex threat landscape loomed and reducing cyber risk was a top concern

KEY REQUIREMENTS:

 
• Efficient, swift backups were integral to the fast-paced sports organisation
 
• Robust backup that protects data for the business and for the Fulham Foundation

KEY BENEFITS:

 
• Peace of mind that data is secure and accessible to stakeholders across the organisation.
 
• Reinforced business continuity to ensure staff could focus on their daily responsibilities
 
• Simple, easy-to-use cloud console to manage data protection

PROJECTED RESOURCES:

 
• 21,000 GB of data storage
 
• Over 600 Microsoft 365 seats
 
• Three virtual machines

BACKGROUND

Established in 1879, Fulham Football Club (FFC) is London’s oldest professional football club and has garnered a long-standing connection with the community. Located at Craven Cottage, the organisation is not only a renowned football club, but also a cherished institution in the hearts of athletes, employees and fans across Greater London. Fulham FC has a rich history as a high-performance sports organisation and has built a reputation as a community-centric business.

The Fulham FC Foundation is the official charity of Fulham that focuses on making a lasting impact on the lives of those engaged within their London and Surrey boroughs of operations and helps strengthen the community through sport. The foundation leverages the love of sports as a backdrop to support the development, collaboration and engagement of underrepresented groups, youth and community members. The Fulham FC Foundation aims to create a sense of belonging and inspiration for participants.

CHALLENGES

Sports is a fast-paced and multifaceted industry that utilises data at every turn. Fulham’s high-performance organisation leverages data across all aspects of their business, including monitoring player health and performance, shaping data-backed physiotherapy strategies, developing scouting reports and personalising fan engagement. Moreover, Fulham’s data is integral to the Fulham FC Foundation, which impacts the lives of 10,000 people each year.

Fulham recognised that the sheer volume of their data would only continue to grow, and protecting it is critical to Fulham’s success and business continuity. Because data plays a widespread role across the organisation — both internally and externally — and in different areas of the organisation, Fulham also needs to protect vast amounts of dissimilar data, which adds complexity. Additionally, Fulham identified that cyberthreats are increasing in sophistication, and Fulham needs full confidence in their data’s security and swift recovery of backups from an unforeseen event. Fulham data also needs to be accessible and readily available to key stakeholders, including players, employees and fans — without disrupting daily operations or the responsibilities of employees. Fulham required robust backup and disaster recovery capabilities that would secure high volumes of dissimilar data in various IT environments, including Microsoft 365, virtual machines and servers. These intricate and industry-specific data protection challenges motivated Fulham to seek a new data protection solution. The team turned to their managed service provider (MSP) and Acronis #TeamUp partner for their IT expertise.

SOLUTION

EveryCloud IT Security is a London-based MSP and Acronis technology partner through the Acronis #TeamUp Program. Acronis #TeamUp is a sports marketing program designed to help MSPs of various sizes increase brand recognition, elevate their business profile and generate new business by connecting elite professional sports teams and their IT departments with participating MSP partners. Through their partnership with Acronis, EveryCloud IT Security introduced Fulham to Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud.

Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud combines cybersecurity, backup, disaster recovery and management in a single solution. Its integrated approach enables MSPs to better mitigate cyber risk and holistically protect client IT environments, including collaboration applications such as Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

Fulham primarily uses Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud for its robust and highly efficient backup capabilities. Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud is an award-winning solution that continually gains the favourable attention of esteemed data protection analysts, peer review websites and third party evaluators.

“Through our relationship, EveryCloud IT Security and Acronis protect the vast amounts of data that we are collecting, analysing and using on a daily basis across the business. And ultimately, this reliable backing up of data gives peace of mind so that everyone across the club can focus on their core roles and responsibilities.”

Tim Griffith, Head of Strategy and Insights, Fulham Football Club

THE RESULT

With Acronis backup, according to Tim Griffith, Head of Strategy and Insights, Fulham Football Club, “Acronis and EveryCloud IT Security offer a comprehensive suite of solutions across cyber protection. Our club operates on and off the pitch 24/7, and the Microsoft 365 backup solutions enable us to safely and securely stay connected with an expansive network of employees, players, communities and fans.”

With the combination of EveryCloud IT Security and Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud, Fulham is now confident in their data protection and enjoys peace of mind. Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud has become a regular fixture in Fulham’s operations. “Daily backups ensure that we are keeping pace with the extensive data management demands that come with being a high-performance sports organisation,” said Griffith.

Acronis has empowered Fulham to protect mounting and dissimilar data. Whether information is related to the sports industry, the Fulham FC Foundation or targeted fanbase campaigns, Griffith is assured that critical data is securely stored, managed and accessible throughout the organisation and Microsoft 365.

Griffith reports that EveryCloud IT Security helped Fulham navigate the world of complex threat management and data security and that their data protection was reinforced with Acronis’ simple and easy-to-use cloud console. Fulham is empowered to secure, back up and easily recover data because of Acronis’ MSP-focused solution and EveryCloud IT Security’s expertise.

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