AWS re:Invent 2025 - Motability Operations' unified backup strategy: From fragmented to fortified

Motability Operations' Unified Backup Strategy: From Fragmented to Fortified

Overview

Motability Operations, a leading provider of leasing services for disabled individuals in the UK, embarked on a journey to transform its backup and recovery strategy. This presentation, delivered at AWS re:Invent 2025, showcases how Motability Operations transitioned from a fragmented approach to a fortified, resilient, and secure backup solution.

Motability Operations: The Company

• Motability Operations provides all-inclusive leasing for cars, wheelchair-accessible vehicles, scooters, and power chairs, serving over 900,000 customers.
• The company is undergoing a transition to green and electric vehicles, with 100,000 EV drivers.
• Motability Operations has a strong focus on customer service, with satisfaction scores between 9.4 and 10, and employs over 1,500 people across London, Bristol, and Edinburgh.
• The company's vision is to deliver affordable and sustainable mobility for disabled people, both now and in the future.

The Need for Immutable Backups

Motability Operations identified several key drivers for implementing an immutable backup strategy:

1. Ransomware and Cyber Attacks: Immutable backups are locked and protected, unlike traditional backups that can be compromised.
2. Compliance and Audit Readiness: Immutable storage meets regulatory compliance requirements with guaranteed data retention and audit trails.
3. Data Integrity and Recoverability: Each backup is pristine, with a known cadence and content, ensuring trusted system restoration.
4. Business Continuity and Resilience: Immutable backups provide reliable and rapid recovery, meeting Motability Operations' business continuity goals.

The Transformation Approach

Motability Operations' transformation approach consisted of four key stages:

1. Design Workshop: The company collaborated with AWS architects to design the deployment of the immutable backup and recovery system.
2. Proof of Concept: Motability Operations conducted a POC to ensure the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of the proposed solution.
3. Scope Definition: The team defined the specific Motability services and technologies that would be in scope for the immutable backup implementation.
4. Agile Deployment: Motability Operations deployed the project over the course of a year, using an agile approach with different milestones.

The Backup Solution

Motability Operations' backup solution consisted of the following key components:

1. Centralized Immutable Backup Vault: A tier-2 backup vault, with separate vaults per platform, locked in compliance mode and with defined retention policies.
2. Account-level Backups: Tier-1 backups stored in intermediate vaults, encrypted with AWS-managed keys.
3. Backup Workflow: Separate vaults per platform, locked in compliance mode and with defined retention policies, based on resource type.
4. Event-driven Copy Workflow: Separate vaults per platform, locked in compliance mode and with defined retention policies, for event-driven backup copies.
5. CMK Strategy: Separate vaults per platform, locked in compliance mode, with a focus on key and certificate management policies.

Elastio for Backup Integrity

Motability Operations leveraged the Elastio platform to ensure the integrity of their backup data:

• Elastio provides machine learning-driven detection of hidden data compromise, with a 99.99% detection accuracy.
• It ensures uncompromised recovery points, verifying the cleanliness and recoverability of the backup data.
• Elastio integrates seamlessly with Motability Operations' AWS accounts, enabling easy implementation.

Project Timeline and Milestones

• January 2025: Technical planning
• February 2025: Centralized AWS backup account setup
• March 2025: Forensic account and Elastio configuration
• November 2025: Penetration testing and auditing
• December 2025 (pushed to January-February 2026): Low-level documentation and project closure

Key Takeaways

1. Defining a clear vision and end-state is crucial for a successful backup and recovery strategy.
2. Leveraging AWS services and working closely with the AWS team can help tailor the solution to specific business requirements.
3. Automation and the use of AI-driven agents can enhance the efficiency and scalability of the backup and recovery process.
4. Ensuring backup data integrity through solutions like Elastio is essential for building a resilient and trustworthy recovery system.
5. Continuous monitoring, testing, and adaptation are necessary to maintain the effectiveness of the backup and recovery strategy.