Rottendorf Pharma boosts resilience with 1,200 daily backup runs and recovery in minutes

Overview

People around the world depend on the oral tablet medications that Rottendorf Pharma manufactures for its pharmaceutical customers. The previous data-protection solutions limited backup frequency and restoration speed. Rottendorf strengthened cyber resilience by backing up all workloads, including Microsoft 365 and Windows machines controlling production equipment, with Cohesity solutions. Stronger security and ransomware protections avoid disruptions to production, and usage-based licensing reduces total cost of ownership.

Challenge

For Rottendorf Pharma, resilience after a system failure or attack is essential to avoid interruptions to tablet manufacturing. “If it takes too long to restore a lab machine, for instance, regulations can sometimes force us to discard the batch,” says Oliver Lamm, IT Infrastructure Manager. 

Previously, Rottendorf backed up file shares to tape with IBM Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM), approximately 200 virtual machines with another solution, and Windows-based lab machines that control tablet presses with the Clonezilla open-source tool. “Managing multiple data-protection solutions was time-consuming, and it was difficult to confirm that all backups had succeeded,”  Oliver says. In 2023, the company decided to switch to a single data-protection platform for all on-premises and software-as-a-service (SaaS_ data, including Microsoft 365 and Salesforce. Criteria included reliability, data security and ransomware protection, and rapid restores.

Solution

After reviewing Gartner research on data-protection platforms, Rottendorf selected Cohesity. “The Cohesity licensing model reduces total cost of ownership because we pay only for the capacity we actually use,” he says. “Cohesity makes security a priority, with hardened Linux, multifactor authentication, role-based access controls, a requirement for two admins to change or delete backups, and more. Management takes less time because we can access Cohesity clusters locally, without going through the cloud. And the responsiveness of Cohesity’s sales and technical people during the proof of concept gave me confidence that I can rely on Cohesity in stressful situations.”

Today Rottendorf backs up all data—file shares, VMs, lab machines, and SaaS data—to two 4-node Cohesity clusters that replicate to each other. The most critical data is also replicated to Cohesity FortKnox, the Cohesity-managed cyber vault. Lamm configured Cohesity FortKnox to require two admins to approve any critical system changes. “Customers who have products under development always want to know how we secure data and make sure it cannot be altered,” Oliver says. “When we explain that FortKnox isolates critical data in a secure cyber vault with strict access controls, and that the copies are immutable, our customers are reassured.”

To restore Windows-based lab machines, the company uses Cohesity Bare Metal Restore (CoBMR) from Cohesity partner Cristie Software. “Recovering lab machines with Cohesity and CoBMR takes just a few minutes, compared to several hours with Clonezilla,” says Oliver. “Restoration is also faster because we can restore to any physical, virtual, or cloud target. Clonezilla could only restore to the same hardware platform.”

Result

Rottendorf increased cyber resilience after a system failure or attack, helping to protect the supply chain for critical medications. One reason for increased resilience is that the company now conducts up to 1,200 backup runs a day instead of relying on a single overnight backup. Microsoft 365 data is backed up every 12 hours, and lab machines every four hours. Backing up lab machines more frequently gives administrators early warning about problems like full disks. 

Recovery is also faster with Cohesity, helping to keep tablet production on track. “Cohesity’s instant mass restore capability is incredible,” Oliver says. “Hundreds of VMs are back online within minutes. When we refresh hardware, we use instant mass restore to get our systems up and running quickly.”

Total cost of ownership dropped, a result of Cohesity’s data reduction, usage-based licensing, and lower management overhead. “Cohesity’s unified interface gives an overview of all workloads,” says Oliver. “I can check the status of production and packaging VMs as well as lab machines on a single report.”

Cohesity proved its value soon after implementation. “When a Windows machine controlling a tablet press failed, with Cohesity we recovered it in minutes,” says Oliver. “We completely restored it on new hardware in less than four hours and did not need to discard the batch. When we had a similar failure before adopting Cohesity, restoration took weeks and we lost the batch.”

Building on the success of their Cohesity implementation, Rottendorf is actively exploring additional modules and capabilities to further strengthen their data management and security posture.

“When it comes to cyber resilience, you can’t shrink risk to zero. We trust Cohesity backups as our last line of defense. It’s also reassuring to know that Cohesity CERT [Cyber Event Response Team] is ready to assist us should we need it.”

Key Benefits:

• 1 backup platform for all workloads
• 1,200 backup runs every 24 hours
• Up to 99% faster recovery of lab machines—a few minutes, down from hours
• Up to 100s of VMs online in minutes with instant mass restore
• An estimated 4-hour restoration of lab machines, down from weeks
• Virtual air-gapped, immutable protection for critical data
• Lower total cost of ownership
• ~3x more protected clients (from 30 to >100)

About Rottendorf Pharma

Rottendorf Pharma is a leading contract manufacturer and developer (CDMO). The company has been active for more than 95 years in the manufacture, packaging, and development of formulations and analytical processes for oral solid dosage forms for the international pharmaceutical industry. The company does not market its own products and therefore never competes with its customers.