Customer
When it comes to priorities, health is number one. That applies to both personal well-being and to the organizations that service and support our healthcare networks. TransForm Shared Services Organization (TransForm SSO) is one such enterprise. Since 2013, it has been providing a range of supply chain services, information technology/information management services and project management to the five member hospitals in southwestern Ontario’s Erie St. Clair Local Health Information Network (ESC LHIN).
Challenge
TransForm SSO is always striving to improve its existing services and seek out new ways to
support the hospitals in their delivery of exceptional patient care. The company’s IT staff was
struggling to keep pace with daily operations, let alone finding the time to plan and implement
new projects – such as the development of a new backup strategy for growing volumes of data.
TransForm SSO’s tape infrastructure was aging, so a newer and more efficient solution was required.
Bob Swiatoschik, Director of Information Technology at TransForm SSO, saw the immediate need
to take action: “With the explosion of data we’re handling, we needed to increase our speed and
capabilities for backup and recoverability,” he stated.
Mr. Swiatoschik realized that while the talent on his team were strong, they were already quite
stretched and there was a need for a helping hand. “We have good people but they are buried
doing day-to-day support so we needed the skills and experience of a technology partner to
help execute a backup infrastructure refresh.”
Solution
Through a rigorous RFP process, TransForm SSO selected Sentia to implement the new system. In addition to criteria such as key technical certifications and solid expertise in virtualization and other leading technologies, the organization sought a team with whom they could develop a long-term relationship.
“Sentia has a proven track record, solid recognition within the industry, and they provided creative options to solve our issues. The people at Sentia truly understand our organizational needs and the unique requirements of the healthcare industry,” explained Mr. Swiatoschik.
After scoping out TransForm’s existing environment, Sentia crafted a modern backup strategy that would scale along with the company’s growth and provide a cohesive solution for the member hospitals.
The solution allows TransForm to take advantage of the latest backup techniques and technologies for simplified and highly efficient data protection. Elements include:
● IBM Spectrum Protect combined with IBM Spectrum Protect for Virtual
Environments data protection platform
● TS 4500 Enterprise tape library with LTO 7 drives
● IBM Storwize V7000 SAN
● IBM Power System S824 server with flash drives
Sentia applied its best-practices approach and comprehensive professional
services – including assessment, design and implementation – to ensure the
backup infrastructure upgrade was successfully deployed.
This project was the starting point of what has become a long-term
partnership between TransForm SSO and Sentia.