Acronis President reveals why motorsport teams choose Acronis

On February 13, 2018, Acronis and Williams Martini Racing announced a new technology partnership that will allow one of the world’s leading Formula 1 teams to streamline its data protection with the help of Acronis’ innovative solutions.

In this interview, Acronis President John Zanni explains why Acronis partnered with Williams Martini Racing and what makes motorsport teams choose Acronis when updating their data protection infrastructure.

John, how did Acronis find itself in the motorsport industry?

It’s a natural fit. Acronis has a significant presence in the manufacturing and automotive industries, and it was only logical to extend our expertise to motorsport. Our innovative data protection solutions are easy, fast, and reliable. In an industry where every second counts, these qualities are very important. We also share similar values and goals. We have a lot in common.

What are those values?

Take innovation, for example. In Formula 1, the teams push the limits of what’s possible in motorsport. In the same way, Acronis leads the market in the area of data protection.

Innovation is a fundamental part of who we are as a company, which can be seen in our addition of blockchain-based data certification and artificial intelligence-based active ransomware protection to backup and storage. When motorsport teams deal with Acronis, they receive complete protection for all data, including an indisputable way to verify the integrity of their protected data and built-in defenses against ransomware attacks. No other vendor offers such comprehensive data protection.

Then, there is our shared commitment to speed. Formula 1 is a fast sport, where every hundredth of a second counts. With fast cars, the team’s reaction time must be just as fast – and with everything depending on data, there is no room for downtime. Efficient data protection becomes critical in this environment, and again, Acronis has the best solution. Our backup and software-defined storage products are the fastest in the market and we intend to keep it that way.

Data is as critical to the success of a Formula 1 team as choosing the right tyres. Losing data means losing races. So we have a natural technology fit between what we offer and what they need.

Why did Acronis decide to partner with Williams?

Williams took the fifth spot in the Constructor’s Championship last year and has a really good chance of becoming number one, reclaiming the success it had in the ‘90s. They’ve been a great team to partner with, both in terms of technical collaboration and ease of working together.

Williams also has a well-established partner ecosystem. We have an opportunity for a productive partnership together.

Our goal is to grow our business together and support Williams in their quest to become number one again.

What has Acronis learned from being involved in motorsport?

We’ve learned that the need for secure data protection is much greater than we ever anticipated. We also learned that working with the best teams in the world challenges us and helps us become the best in the world as well.

On the marketing side, we’ve learned how valuable it is to bring our partners and customers to Acronis Racing Weekends. Watching a race together generates great interactions and discussions – as well as camaraderie – allowing us to learn more about and satisfy their needs.

Has it affected the development of Acronis products in any way?

We’ve become more visible in the enterprise space. The volume of data produced and protected in motorsport specifically, and the automotive industry in general, is extremely high. Our products are perfect for large deployments, capable of dealing with countless protected devices and enormous volumes of data.

Our latest product updates introduced a number of features designed to optimize data management, making it easier to support such enterprise-grade scenarios. These enhancements include centralized management of all protected devices, interactive dashboards, data deduplication, instant restore, and a new hybrid cloud architecture – all of which combine to give users complete flexibility and control of what they do with their data.

Finally, why should other motorsport teams consider switching to Acronis?

They are dealing with a lot of data and that data needs to be protected. With Acronis, data protection is fast, easy, secure, and reliable — a winning combination that’s an absolute necessity in motorsport.