CASE STUDY

UNACEM North America Achieves Unified Data Resilience Across Complex IT and OT Environments with Arcserve and Ochser Consulting Group

Company: UNACEM North America
Country: United States
Industry: Cement Manufacturing
Partner: Ochser Consulting Group
Solutions: Arcserve UDP, Arcserve SaaS Backup

The Challenges of Securing Critical Data in Cement Manufacturing

UNACEM North America, one of the leading suppliers of cement and aggregate building materials in the southwest United States, manages complex IT and operational technology environments with Arcserve data resilience products.

These complex operational environments require sophisticated protection of critical engineering documentation, plant configurations, and detailed specifications, which constitute valuable intellectual property. Cement plants maintain intricate documentation down to detailed engineering drawings, control system configurations, production documentation, and plant specifications demanding robust data protection strategies for both business systems and operational technology.

Overcoming Fragmented Backup and Security Gaps Across IT and OT Environments

Before implementing Arcserve data resilience solutions, the environment at UNACEM North America suffered fragmentation that created operational inefficiencies and security challenges. The company operated both Information Technology (IT) environments (business systems) and Operational Technology (OT) environments (cement plant operations) requiring different protection approaches.

Three separate NAS devices and three separate backup installations using a competing product

Inconsistent replication and no centralized management

Three panes of glass instead of one

Maintaining the required air gaps between IT and OT environments while enabling centralized backup management and recovery capabilities

Unifying Data Protection in Complex Manufacturing Environments

UNACEM North America evaluated at least three different data resilience technologies by company policy, with Arcserve and another vendor emerging as finalists. Two issues eliminated the other backup vendor: inability to meet OT requirements and pushing a virtual-only approach that would force multiple environments with separate tooling.

The partnership between UNACEM North America and Ochser Consulting Group (OCG) proved instrumental. After a technology conference meeting with David Ochser, Principal at OCG, UNACEM North America found a services partner who understood their unique requirements. OCG designed a model maintaining security segmentation while delivering centralized backup, replication, and recovery — building cyber resilience into the UNACEM North America infrastructure.

Implementing a Scalable, Repeatable Data Protection Architecture with Arcserve

The transition from a legacy backup product to Arcserve UDP data resilience quickly enhanced data protection capabilities at UNACEM North America.

UNACEM North America implementation began with two Arcserve UDP appliances, expanding to four units after acquiring a cement company in Southern California. The modular, repeatable Arcserve backup architecture scales easily to support the operational model at UNACEM North America.

Each plant features dual backup systems — one on-site and another in the UNACEM North America data center with replication between them. This delivers continuity beyond basic data protection.

William Gilbert, IT Systems Manager at UNACEM North America, notes the smooth transition with hands-on support.

UNACEM North America saw a 60% decrease in troubleshooting effort because UDP operates faster than the previous backup product. UDP logs expose issues clearly and point to root causes, saving time and effort.

William Gilbert IT Systems Manager, UNACEM North America

Extending Data Protection to the Cloud with Arcserve SaaS Backup

UNACEM North America previously relied on Barracuda Cloud Backup to protect its Microsoft 365 environment — but the solution only covered Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive, leaving gaps across the broader Azure environment. Arcserve SaaS Backup delivered wider coverage at a comparable price point, making the decision straightforward. Key benefits of the transition:

Rapid deployment. The setup took under an hour, with full replication completed within 24 hours. “Matt and I set it up in like 30 minutes, 40 minutes — maybe it took about 24 hours to replicate all the groups to start backing them up correctly, and we have not had one single problem,” says William Gilbert, IT Systems Manager at UNACEM North America.

Built-in endpoint coverage. All users are automatically enrolled in OneDrive through Group Policy, redirecting files from local storage to the cloud. With SaaS Backup protecting OneDrive, user data is covered without a separate endpoint backup agent — reducing complexity while closing a critical gap in the data protection architecture.

Intuitive management. The SaaS Backup console proved easy to navigate, reducing the learning curve for the IT team.

One of the primary reasons we decided to make the switch was because it did more for basically almost the same price.

Jason Marchal Director of IT, UNACEM North America

Measurable Gains in Operational Efficiency and Data Resilience with Arcserve Solutions

The unified data protection approach with Arcserve transformed the data protection capabilities at UNACEM North America while supporting critical business requirements:

Unified Management with Security Segmentation

Maintains required air-gaps between IT and OT environments while providing centralized management.

Simplified Scaling Through Acquisition

UNACEM North America rapidly deploys standardized backup architecture to new locations using their repeatable model.

Enhanced Operational Efficiency

Troubleshooting effort decreased by an estimated 60%, freeing IT resources for strategic initiatives.

Comprehensive Protection for Critical IP

The solution secures complex engineering documentation and specifications protecting competitive advantage.

Audit-Ready Compliance

Arcserve UDP verifies backups and provides confidence through logs, reporting, and restore testing evidence — supported audit activities through reporting, verification, and recovery testing at UNACEM North America.

Resilient Business Continuity

UNACEM North America can recover entire plant operations from other locations, providing continuity during site-level disasters.

“Our team can now focus on innovation rather than firefighting — that’s transforming how we operate as a business,” says Jason Marchal, Director of IT.

About UNACEM North America

UNACEM North America is a leading building materials provider with operations in Arizona, Nevada, California, and the broader Southwest. Through advanced cement manufacturing operations and a growing portfolio that includes ready mix concrete and aggregates, UNACEM North America delivers the consistent quality, supply reliability, and technical expertise today’s construction projects demand.

Innovation and sustainability are core to how we operate. We invest in modern production processes and efficiency-driven systems that reduce environmental impact while improving product performance. This approach allows us to offer an exceptional experience in the concrete industry, one defined by dependability, quality, and trust.

About Ochser Consulting Group

Ochser Consulting Group (OCG) has grown from a small startup into a leading Arcserve partner in the Desert Southwest, serving both state, local and education and commercial customers. As a premier reseller, OCG delivers end-to-end backup, business continuity, and ransomware recovery solutions using proven hardware and software platforms. With Arcserve’s Cyber Resilient Storage and immutable backup, OCG helps customers like UNACEM North America recover from ransomware attacks and maintain operations through a single, easy-to-use management interface.

About Arcserve

Arcserve, the pioneer in unified data resilience, protects data from ransomware, cyberattacks, and disasters through simple, flexible, and affordable data protection solutions for small and mid-size organizations. Arcserve is trusted by customers, channel partners, and managed service providers around the globe. Arcserve delivers AI-enabled cyber resilience protection and world class customer support, so IT teams can have streamlined, cost-effective data management and recovery with low TCO.

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