Transitioning to cloud services may be the next big
technology move for your organization. What’s involved? How much does it cost?
Is it worth it? We talked to some folks familiar with cloud computing for
“Navigating the Cloud,” an e-supplement available on our websites in November.
Here’s an excerpt from “Financing your transition to the cloud.”
What is the cloud and why does my healthcare organization
need it?
Terry Rennaker, vice president, Skanska USA's Mission
Critical Center of Excellence, and Andrew Quirk, senior vice president, Skanska
USA’s Healthcare Center of Excellence: Cloud is a term for computing that is
done on multiple servers and possibly in multiple data centers on a flexible
platform that can move the computing around as computing demand and capacity
change. A cloud can be small and contained within a single data center and can
serve a private use, or can be large, covering multiple data centers and
serving multiple clients. … In both cases computing and storage capacity is
purchased from the provider who then hosts the computing of the procuring
company. This provides a flexible computing base to the customer providing
computing and storage in a utility like model; use it when you need it and pay
only for what you use.
This decouples the need for building your own facilities and
buying servers to satisfy your computing needs.
This is important to healthcare organizations as an outlet
for their computing needs, which are growing exponentially as a result of bring
your own device (BYOD) pressure, electronic medical records, electronically
interconnected medical equipment and
many other demands on IT infrastructure. The cloud can
provide a rapidly responsive computing capacity to ever-changing and escalating
computing needs.
The challenge for healthcare organizations is to move to the
cloud while maintaining all of the security and compartmentalization required
by healthcare regulation and patient record security.
What are the costs associated with transitioning to the
cloud, and are there “hidden” costs?
Tony Vitelli, director of managed services, Infor: There are
costs necessary to facilitate the transition to the cloud, but they are quickly
recoverable and can provide an attractive ROI. Depending upon the application,
up-front costs may include a migration project and all that those entail
(testing, data validation, etc). In many cases the application will not change
with a migration to the cloud (no end user effect). Also, by timing these moves
to previously planned hardware spend, we find that the initial investment
needed can be significantly lower than continuing with the status quo.
By doing the proper amount of due diligence and planning,
hidden costs can be greatly minimized or even eliminated. As mentioned
previously, by timing your move to the cloud with previously planned
activities, the cost of migration can usually be accomplished with existing
budget. Even in cases where an existing contract may not have an out clause,
changing business requirements may still allow for an attractive ROI. Regarding
security, this is always a concern, with a proper amount of due diligence and proper
architecture you can be comfortable that your data is safe.
Source: chiroeco
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