As healthcare organizations continue to ramp up their reliance on the cloud — primarily to store and move large amounts of data and strengthen the foundation for artificial intelligence-powered solutions — they’ll need to optimize their connectivity.
Though cloud integrations require health systems to change, leaders should embrace transformation, not fear it. “Fundamentally, it changes the way we architect from the beginning and automate deployment. It changes the support models, and it also changes the skill sets needed,” Sentara Health Vice President and CTO Jeffrey T. Thomas tells HealthTech.
DIVE DEEPER: Explore how to optimize healthcare’s connection to the hybrid cloud.
Health systems that don’t optimize their connections to the cloud risk increased latency that can add downtime, hamper application performance, and muddle monitoring and management. They may also have difficulty maintaining compliance or creating a unified security effort, which can take on added weight in an already complex multicloud environment.
Though many organizations still rely on VPNs for their connectivity, options have expanded. Software-defined WAN, for instance, supports connections that are scalable, on-demand and adaptable.
When evaluating cloud connectivity, consider application optimization as a starting point for assessment. Other essential areas for review include automation, compliance (adherence to data privacy and security regulations such as HIPAA and the California Consumer Privacy Act is crucial) and, of course, cybersecurity.
