RSMUS.comThe clinic, known for its excellence in healthcare, employed over 100 Infectious Disease (ID) physicians across multiple states. Each office offered outpatient antibiotic therapy and operated a Hospital Avoidance Program, significantly enhancing patient care and outcomes. However, the clinic’s aging physical infrastructure was becoming a significant hurdle to maintaining its high standards of service. To address these challenges, the clinic turned to RSM for assistance.
Advise
Initial Assessment
RSM began the project with a comprehensive assessment of the clinic’s existing infrastructure. The primary objective was to understand the current state of the systems and identify critical areas needing improvement. This assessment revealed several key issues. The existing infrastructure was outdated, with many systems, including those running on Windows Server 2008 R2, approaching the end of their useful lives. Reliability was a major concern, as the systems lacked the necessary redundancy to ensure continuous operation, crucial for the clinic’s mission-critical activities.
Security vulnerabilities were also evident. The outdated security protocols posed significant risks to the clinic’s sensitive patient data, necessitating an immediate overhaul to protect against breaches and unauthorized access. Additionally, the operational costs were high, driven by the need for frequent hardware maintenance and substantial energy consumption. Manual workflows further compounded these challenges, leading to inefficiencies and reduced productivity. Performance issues were apparent, with the infrastructure struggling to handle peak loads, resulting in frequent bottlenecks.
Strategic Recommendations
RSM recommended a comprehensive migration of the clinic’s critical infrastructure to Azure. This migration would leverage both Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) offerings, providing a robust solution to address the identified issues. The Azure Well-Architected Framework guided this recommendation, ensuring a future-proof infrastructure that would enhance reliability, security, cost efficiency, operational excellence, and performance.
Deliver
Crafting the Migration Plan
With a clear strategy in place, RSM developed a detailed migration plan. The plan aimed to ensure a smooth transition with minimal disruption to the clinic’s operations. It included a new solution design that utilized Azure’s capabilities to enhance reliability, security, and scalability. The plan also detailed the migration of on-premises files, Active Directory, and applications running on Windows Server 2008 R2 to Azure VMs and PaaS services. This move extended the life of the servers with Extended Security Updates, ensuring continued support and security compliance.
A thorough cost analysis projected the financial impact of the migration and highlighted potential savings, making the business case for cloud adoption compelling. The planning phase also involved resource allocation, ensuring the necessary technical and human resources were available to execute the migration effectively. RSM then moved on to the execution phase, implementing the migration in carefully planned stages to ensure continuous operation and minimal downtime.
Executing the Migration
The migration was carried out in multiple phases. Initially, the necessary Azure infrastructure, including virtual machines, databases, and storage accounts, was provisioned. Secure data migration followed, ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of sensitive patient data throughout the process. On-premises files, Active Directory, and applications running on Windows Server 2008 R2 were migrated to Azure VMs and PaaS services, extending their lifecycle with Extended Security Updates. Applications were re-hosted and refactored to run optimally on Azure, taking full advantage of the cloud’s capabilities.
Extensive testing was conducted to validate the functionality, performance, and security of the migrated systems. This rigorous testing ensured that all components operated as expected in the new environment. Finally, the systems were transitioned to production in a carefully managed go-live process, ensuring a seamless switch with minimal disruption to ongoing operations.
Transformation Highlights
The migration brought about significant improvements. Azure’s global infrastructure and built-in redundancy ensured high availability, addressing the reliability concerns. Security was markedly enhanced with Azure Security Center and other advanced tools providing robust protection for sensitive data. The cost savings were substantial, primarily due to the reduced need for hardware maintenance and lower energy consumption. Operational efficiency saw a significant boost as automation of routine tasks streamlined workflows, reducing manual intervention and increasing productivity. The performance efficiency of the infrastructure was greatly enhanced, with Azure’s scalable resources effectively handling peak loads without degradation.
Manage
Ongoing Support with Hybrid Azure Managed Services
Post-migration, RSM implemented a hybrid Azure managed service model to ensure the ongoing support and maintenance of the clinic’s new infrastructure. This model included round-the-clock monitoring and support, ensuring system availability and performance at all times. Regular backups were instituted to safeguard data and ensure business continuity, while continuous updates and patch management kept systems secure and compliant.
Commitment to Continuous Improvement
RSM’s commitment to continuous improvement was a cornerstone of the maintain phase. Regular performance reviews were conducted to ensure the infrastructure continued to meet the clinic’s needs efficiently. Ongoing cost management efforts identified further savings and optimized resource usage, enhancing the cost-effectiveness of the solution. Periodic security audits were also carried out, detecting and mitigating potential vulnerabilities to maintain a strong security posture.
Outcomes
The outcomes of the Azure migration were transformative. The clinic experienced enhanced system reliability and significantly improved uptime, crucial for its operations. The strengthened security posture provided peace of mind, knowing that sensitive patient data was well protected. Cost savings were realized through more efficient resource management and the elimination of legacy hardware maintenance expenses. Operational efficiency was markedly improved, with streamlined workflows and reduced manual tasks boosting productivity. The new infrastructure’s scalability ensured it could easily adapt to meet growing demands, positioning the clinic for future growth and success.
Conclusion
Through a strategic and meticulously executed approach, guided by the Azure Well-Architected Framework, RSM successfully modernized the clinic’s infrastructure. The project’s success in advising, delivering, and maintaining the new solution ensured a robust, secure, and cost-effective infrastructure. This transformation enabled the clinic to continue its mission of delivering exceptional healthcare services, supported by a future-proof IT environment.
Thomas Turner
Thomas supports middle-market companies to achieve their security and compliance goals with a focus on Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and Azure solutions. Let’s talk if you’re interested in Defender for Cloud, Defender for Endpoint, Insider Risk Management, Communication Compliance, Azure/Microsoft Information Protection, and more under the Microsoft 365 E5 or Azure Security & Compliance stack.