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Cloud
Converged Infrastructure
Services
THE RISING CLOUD
In healthcare, cloud has come into its own. Rising demand is fueled by the maturity of the technology, and with that the breaking down of misconceptions that cloud is not secure. The drive for efficiency, resource alignment and more agile care is also taking providers to a cloud-y conclusion as, given its greater efficiency and adaptability, they see the merits of leveraging cloud computing for Big Data, personalized medicine, population health and EHR.
But implementing the cloud doesn’t happen in a vacuum. And it’s only as successful as the technology that’s integrated into it. This means taking stock of your infrastructure and data center and making sure you have the right structure in place to support a scalable cloud investment. Converged infrastructure (network, computing, storage) is one option that can align with cloud computing (Compute as a Service).
According to MarketsandMarkets, currently 4% of the healthcare industry is doing some kind of cloud computing. This percentage is predicted to
grow to 20% by 2017.
11Source: healthcaredive.com, “Healthcare Looks to the Future in Cloud Computing,” October 2015
BENEFITS AND DRIVERS OF CLOUD IN HEALTHCARE
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Improved data storage•
Enhanced interoperability/ agile communication•
Streamlined data management•
Greater population health management support•
Improved data mobility platforms•
Reinforced security/ compliance alignmentWHY CONVERGED INFRASTRUCTURE MAKES SENSE
Converged infrastructure (CI) combats data center sprawl and the array of unrelated systems and technologies still all too common for many healthcare organizations. How? By combining servers, data storage, networking equipment and software into a single system.
This comprehensive approach means IT staff can more quickly, flexibly and efficiently provision resources to streamline management and more readily push out programs, apps and solutions. It also means that because end users are ultimately separated from applications and devices, the level of security across the entire infrastructure is improved. This makes CI an ideal resource upon which to deploy a cloud solution, especially because it gives healthcare entities the flexibility to keep pace with constantly growing and changing data requirements.
THE BENEFITS OF CI
•
Faster application development and deployment•
Better compliance adherence•
Reduced costs•
Streamlined operations•
More agile infrastructure•
Greater IT efficiencyConverged infrastructure can
help healthcare organizations
address data center issues.
According to market research firm IDC, an IT operations team spends more than 70% of its time on day-to-day IT management operations — monitoring, troubleshooting, patching, updating and configuring resources.2
2Source: IDC, Converged and Integrated Datacenter Systems: Creating Operational Efficiencies, February 2014
CONVERGED INFRASTRUCTURE,
COMPREHENSIVE CLOUD
CONVERGED INFRASTRUCTURE AND CLOUD:
A NATURAL FIT
Cloud on its own already helps open up space in the data center and improve disaster recovery capability because efforts aren’t tied to one location. With deployment on a converged infrastructure, these benefits are amplified, giving IT staff even more flexibility to respond to changing system demands. This ability to adjust to capacity issues without the need for downtime or an impact on system performance is essential for healthcare organizations — where lives and quality care are at stake.
In addition, IT staff can easily access private, hybrid and public clouds, depending on the healthcare organization’s needs. By using cloud via a converged infrastructure, providers can more readily adhere to compliance requirements for storage, access and sharing of business applications or patient data.
CDW HEALTHCARE’S TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT
CDW Healthcare can help you create the converged infrastructure that will best support your healthcare organization’s data center and storage needs. Your solution might include the following typical converged infrastructure technologies:
•
Networking. Usually large modular core switches•
Servers. Blade servers•
Virtualization software. Hypervisor and management software•
Data storage. Storage arraysTRADITIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE CONVERGED INFRASTRUCTURE
SWITCHES NETWORK ROUTERS SWITCHES SWITCHES SWITCHES COMPUTE COMPUTE STORAGE
NETWORK SERVER POOL
HYPERVISOR APPLICATION SOFTWARE ORCHESTRATION SOFTWARE STORAGE POOL STORAGE
CDW HEALTHCARE’S SERVICES
CDW Healthcare can help ensure your organization is cloud-ready and able to seamlessly integrate new architectures, including converged infrastructure. Our data center and cloud experts, along with valuable industry-leading partnerships, give you unmatched resources to help determine your ideal converged infrastructure and/or cloud approach with:
•
Data center assessments. Whether conducted by CDW Healthcare or a valuedpartner, we evaluate your current data center environment and conduct health checks to help with data migration and assess cloud/infrastructure readiness.
•
Aggregation services. CDW Healthcare works objectively with data centerand cloud service providers to determine the best providers for your unique environment, and then partners with them throughout the implementation and management process and provides support for the lifecycle of your solution.
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Cloud planning services. Whether you’re just beginning to consider thecloud or are ready to begin workload migration, we can assess your goals and work with you to select the right cloud provider and solution via:
•
A one-day Cloud 101 Workshop•
Cloud diagnostic servicesData Center Workshop. In addition, our Private Cloud Accelerator offering
includes our Data Center Workshop. This half-day session with a CDW data center solution architect provides:
•
Technical discussion of today’s data center optimization technologies and best practices•
An overview of your current data center, including:•
Application delivery methods and requirements•
Disaster recovery and continuity requirements•
Standards compliance•
IT governanceDiscovery Workshops. Based on information gathered in the Data Center
Workshop, we recommend a series of Discovery Workshops to capture a complete and accurate picture of your current data center environment. Topic areas may include networks, servers, storage and/or physical environments. Discovery Workshops are led by highly specialized solution architects who document and address:
•
Your current infrastructure•
Known challenges such as performance issues or inefficiencies•
Process and procedures for adds, moves and changes•
Technical knowledge gapsCONVERGED
INFRASTRUCTURE
IN ACTION
CHILDREN’S MIRACLE NETWORK HOSPITALS
Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals greatly improved the efficiency of its data center by deploying a converged infrastructure. The charity, which raises money and awareness for 170 member hospitals across the United States and Canada, wanted to increase its fundraising efforts and needed an IT infrastructure to match this growth.
CMN deployed a converged infrastructure solution far more quickly than a traditional data center setup would have taken. This allowed CMN to reduce the number of physical services in its data center from 24 to three and shrink the time needed to deploy a new server from weeks to a day.
The APC™ by Schneider Electric Smart-UPS system provides protection for electronic equipment from utility power blackouts, brownouts, sags and surges, small utility power fluctuations and large disturbances. It also provides battery backup power for connected equipment until utility power returns to safe levels or the batteries are fully discharged. Microsoft Office 365 gives you everything you need, from anywhere at any time. That’s why CDW gives you Microsoft Office 365 with complete cloud service and signature CDW support that operates on your schedule. From personalized plans and subscriptions to rapid migration and round-the-clock support — it’s all right here so you can get the Microsoft Office 365 collaborative advantage right now.
Trend Micro can help provide a Smart Protection strategy for healthcare providers to protect the digital lives of their patients — so healthcare providers can be confident and focus on protecting and improving human lives. Trend Micro Smart Protection suites delivers the best protection at multiple layers using the broadest range of anti-malware techniques available. And you can manage users across multiple platforms, from a single pane of glass. Time-saving and hassle-free.
VCE accelerates the adoption of converged infrastructure and cloud-based computing models that reduce IT costs while improving time to market.
MKT12139 | ©2016 CDW Corporation
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