Challenge
A leading developer of senior-care facilities with more than 500 properties in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom was poised for rapid growth via multiple acquisitions. One of their key concerns in making these acquisitions was the technology demands that would come with owning and operating additional data centers to support newly acquired properties and residents.
The company’s challenges consisted of four key components:
- Data center dominance: Owning and operating two data centers was not a core competency and it distracted the company’s small IT staff from focusing on the primary business. The company wanted out of the data center business altogether.
- Ambitious growth plans: The company needed a more standardized technical environment to enable acquisitions and improve customer service.
- Disaster recovery and testing: The company lacked a strong DR program to keep critical systems live in a crisis, and it needed better capacity to test software before it went live.
- Security and compliance: With cyber threats and privacy regulations becoming ever more complex, the company needed a partner with a strong track record on these critical responsibilities.
Solution
OnX developed a fully managed production and disaster recovery solution that has allowed the company to offload its data center requirements. The company avoided the expense of new equipment while streamlining and standardizing its IT environment.
OnX and the company established an outcome-driven service level agreement guaranteeing the delivery of four key objectives:
- VMware assessment: OnX performed a baseline assessment to establish the company’s VMware footprint and developed a process that is documented and repeatable.
- Secondary failover for disaster recovery at a remote location: OnX’s managed disaster recovery program documented the environment, mapped the recovery process and provides regular managed tests to ensure users can get to the applications they need, even if they’re in disaster-recovery mode.
- Robust testing: OnX agreed to take over non-production tasks like testing, development and staging.
- Better security/compliance: OnX’s expertise in cyber security and regulatory compliance helps protect patient data and adheres to all privacy laws.
Results
Getting out of the data center business helps this company do more of what it does best: improving the lives of its residents.
The company’s IT staff now has the means to more easily coordinate IT processes during acquisitions.
A comprehensive disaster recovery program ensures that patients’ vital data remains secure and key healthcare operations stay up and running in the event of a critical incident. And with an outcome-based commitment from OnX, the company can rest assured that the services it hands off to OnX will be delivered as promised.
The company’s IT professionals are the brains between the company and its technology infrastructure. They’re adding high-value capabilities that strengthen the company’s bottom line while subtracting tasks that lie outside the company’s core competency.