Elmet consolidates four data protection vendors and saves $40K annually with Druva

Elmet Technologies is a fully integrated global leader in the production of high purity molybdenum and tungsten products and fabrications. Founded in 1929 and 100% US-owned and operated, Elmet serves a wide array of industries including defense, lighting, electronics, semiconductor, thin film, automotive, aircraft, and medical. With its corporate headquarters and manufacturing site in Lewiston, Maine, Elmet Technologies is ITAR registered, and its production management systems are certified to AS9100 and ISO9001.

Joe Sheridan, Director of IT at Elmet Technologies, joined the company in March 2024 to find a complex and inefficient data protection landscape. A recent acquisition had left Elmet with four disparate backup solutions in place including Veeam, Azure, Cove and Rubrik. This fragmented approach led to significant operational overhead, unnecessary costs, and a lack of unified visibility into their data protection posture. Specifically, their Microsoft 365 environment, crucial for daily operations, was not adequately backed up, creating substantial risk and a constant sense of unease.

The existing solutions created a "cumbersome and convoluted" environment, as Sheridan described, where managing backups became a time-consuming and manual process. The absence of a standardized, reliable backup for Microsoft 365 was a critical vulnerability, exposing the company to potential data loss, compliance issues, and extended recovery times in the event of an incident. 

Elmet Technologies recognized an urgent need to consolidate, simplify, and strengthen their data protection strategy to support their robust manufacturing operations and meet stringent industry and security standards like those found in FedRAMP compliant solutions.

Elmet Technologies' search for a unified, efficient, and reliable data protection platform led them to Druva. Their primary objective was to consolidate their fractured backup infrastructure protecting endpoint, data center, and SaaS workloads, improve data recovery capabilities, and ensure comprehensive protection for their critical Microsoft 365 data. Druva’s cloud-native platform emerged as the ideal solution, offering the ability to standardize backup operations and deliver robust protection across their environment.

Druva's seamless integration with Microsoft and VMware technologies and its intuitive interface immediately addressed Elmet's challenges. By adopting Druva, Elmet gained a single pane of glass for managing all their backup needs, eliminating the complexity and inefficiency of their previous multi-vendor setup. This streamlined approach was particularly impactful for their Microsoft 365 data, which previously lacked air-gapped protection outside of their Microsoft account. Druva's ability to provide comprehensive backup for Microsoft 365 gave Sheridan and his team "significant peace of mind," knowing their vital communication and collaboration data was secure.

Furthermore, Druva’s capabilities extended to both their enterprise workloads (e.g., VMware data) and six remote sites (ROBO) globally. The fact that Druva is FedRAMP certified was a key factor in their decision, ensuring compliance with the necessary governmental standards.

The implementation of Druva brought immediate and significant improvements to Elmet Technologies' data protection strategy. By standardizing on Druva, Elmet achieved an impressive $40,000 in annual savings, a direct result of consolidating their multiple, inefficient backup solutions. This financial impact underscored Druva's value proposition beyond just data protection.

Equally impactful were the operational efficiencies gained. Sheridan noted a 50% time saving for system administrators with Druva. This dramatic reduction in administrative overhead allowed the IT team to focus on more strategic initiatives, rather than managing complex backup routines. The ability to centrally manage and automate backups liberated valuable IT resources.

For their Microsoft 365 environment, the peace of mind gained from comprehensively backed up of their data was invaluable. As Sheridan emphasized, "Knowing our Microsoft 365 data is securely backed up now provides a significant increase in peace of mind. That alone is invaluable." This newfound assurance means Elmet is better prepared for potential cyber events and disasters, aligning with their incident management plan.

Elmet Technologie’ successful consolidation with Druva has laid a strong foundation for a more resilient and secure IT environment allowing them to maintain leadership in performance metals with confidence.