Tinton Falls School District Protects 9 TB of Google Classroom Data with AvePoint Cloud Backup, Providing Assurance to Educators and Administrators
Success Highlights
Protection of 9 TB of data, including learning materials and confidential student information
Significant time and labor savings with easy-to-use interface and seamless restorations
Automated daily backups up to four times a day to speed continuity in the event of data loss
Robust protection against data loss and cyberthreats
Customer Location Tinton Falls, New Jersey
Industry Education
Platform Google Classroom
Tinton Falls School District is a K-8 school district located in South Central New Jersey, serving approximately 1,400 students across three schools: Mahala F. Atchison Elementary School, Swimming River Elementary School, and Tinton Falls Middle School. The district employs about 250 staff members, with nearly 200 serving as full-time teachers. Most of the teachers use Google Classroom for their teaching activities, and the district currently backs up around 9 TB of data.
Critical Needs
• Simple and reliable backup of Google Classroom data
• Easily find, retrieve, and restore content
• Cost-effective protection of large volumes of data
• User-friendly backup solution that doesn’t require extensive technical knowledge
The Challenge
Tinton Falls School District, located in New Jersey, needed a reliable solution to back up and restore their Google Workspace content for over 3,000 users. The district relies heavily on Google Workspace for daily operations, including emails between colleagues and parents, lesson plans, student documents, and classroom interactions. However, they found that Google’s built-in solution, Google Vault, was neither fast nor user-friendly enough for their needs.
The school district faced challenges finding an efficient method to protect their critical data against accidental deletions, ransomware attacks, and other data loss events. According to Dennis Gilliand-Duarte, Network Administrator of Tinton Falls District, once something was deleted in the trash, it was irretrievable, with no other backups readily available. This was a particular concern for teachers who had collected a decade’s worth of presentations, documents, and other teaching materials, the loss of which would result in disaster.
As for confidential data like student information, this was stored in the cloud but usually discussed via email, which opens any classified data like an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for example, to the risk of exposure. Trusting that every faculty or staff member stayed vigilant over their emails was, therefore, also an issue for Dennis. “There are multiple times where I have sat down on somebody’s computer,” he shares, “And lo and behold, their email pops up. If I were somebody else, I could just delete every single email in there, I could forward every single email.”
For Dennis, business continuity – or, in their case, teaching continuity – was a top priority. If, for example, a teacher lost their lesson plans due to accidental data deletion (or worse, a widespread cyberattack), this would have implications on student learning and long-term success. While the teacher scrambled to re-create coursework, quality of learning would decline, parents would become concerned and teachers would face burnout, in an increasingly difficult market to find and retain educators.
To avoid hypothetical situations like those, Tinton Falls required a solution that could provide automated, reliable backups and fast, granular restores to ensure continuity and compliance with data retention policies.
Implementing Cloud Backup was very smooth and AvePoint knows what they're talking about as opposed to other companies who don't quite have their offerings polished. Using Cloud Backup to protect Google Classroom has significantly reduced my stress, to the point where, if I had to, I'd pay for it out of my own pocket!
Network Administrator, Tinton Falls School District
The AvePoint Solution
AvePoint Cloud Backup for Google Workspace provided Tinton Falls School District with a comprehensive solution to their data protection needs. The implementation process was straightforward, and AvePoint’s team guided the district through each step, ensuring a smooth transition.
With AvePoint Cloud Backup, the district benefits from automated daily backups, secure storage, and the ability to quickly restore individual items or entire accounts. This capability is crucial for maintaining uninterrupted access to important educational materials and administrative data. Dennis emphasized the sense of insurance that Cloud Backup for Google Workspace brought to the table, saying, “I get emails from the system every day about the backups completing. Ever since we installed it, I haven’t had to look at the system once.”
In fact, the decision to start looking at third-party vendors was driven by proactivity rather than a response to a previous security incident – something Dennis was eager to prevent not just for peace of mind but also for daily operational security. Tinton Falls had previously explored using Syskit and Backupify, but Dennis shared that they decided on AvePoint instead because of the company’s solid client base. He stated, “If you’re protecting highly classified information for public sector and high-profile enterprise organizations, then I have confidence our data will be held to the same standard.” Dennis also praised Cloud Backup’s ease of use and pointed out that six to eight months ago, when Tinton Falls was still searching for vendors, AvePoint was the only one offering backup for Google Classroom.
With 9 TB of data to back up, Dennis believed the cost of AvePoint Cloud Backup for Google Workspace was not only reasonable but worth the security it provided for Tinton Falls School District, and his district agreed. Dennis reports, “The fewer things I have to worry about, the better. If something ever happened to our data, having AvePoint Cloud Backup would lessen my stress.”
The Road Ahead
Using AvePoint Cloud Backup has transformed Tinton Falls School District’s approach to data protection and given them confidence that critical learning materials are secure. The seamless restoration process ensures that any lost or compromised data can be quickly recovered, minimizing disruption to educational activities.
Asked about AvePoint’s service, Dennis reports that their experience has been hassle-free. “Implementation was smooth, and training was great,” he shares, praising AvePoint’s quick response to queries. He advises other school districts to consider the advantages of efficient cloud backup, saying, “When considering the cost, it’s not that much, but the benefit of having a data protection solution that works is huge.”
