More than ever before, healthcare organizations are evaluating the possibility of partnering with a vendor for remote-hosted solutions, instead of keeping the responsibility in-house. Several factors have contributed to this trend, including a heightened awareness and focus on data security, pressures to reduce IT costs and constant changes in technology requiring skilled technical resources.
But it's a complex process to consider whether to keep solutions in house, or partner with a vendor who offers remote hosting. Cost remains one of the most prominent factors.
Hosted solutions are often more cost effective than in-house processing for many organizations, because keeping solutions in-house drives expenses, including:
- Server and storage – Both servers and storage require a substantial upfront investment that is cost prohibitive for some organizations
- Middleware software –Required underlying software such VMware, Windows, SQL and Citrix, licenses represent substantial upfront costs.
- Ongoing vendor maintenance – Servers, storage and middleware licenses require ongoing support fees in additional to the upfront investment. Know what they are before you sign the contract.
- Staff – Effective solution management requires a technical team on the back end, including System Administrators, Database Administrators, Citrix Administrators, Backup and Storage Administrators and Application Administrators. Related to this challenge, not all communities offer a robust set of candidates to meet these needs, which introduces risk and requires additional training costs.
- Data Center operations – One of the hidden costs of keeping solutions in house are the operational costs associated with a data center, such as electrical, air conditioning and core data center infrastructure. These utilities alone can be significant.
- Backup and monitoring – You must ensure data is backed up and protected, as well as proactively monitor infrastructure to prevent against potential performance bottlenecks. These functions require enterprise tools and expertise, which carry additional IT expense.
- Disaster recovery – Preventing against data center outages or major infrastructure outages require extensive documented procedures and expenses to restore services in to disaster recovery site.
What makes an ideal candidate for remote and hosted technology?
Despite cost advantages, remote hosting can benefit every organization. Here are some questions to ask yourselves as you prepare for this decision:
- Do you have aging hardware needing a refresh?
- Do you need hardware deployed with high availability?
- Do you want robust backup and recovery processes?
- Are you missing Disaster Recovery capabilities?
- Are you experiencing application performance issues?
- Do you struggle with skilled technical staffing?
- Are you having challenges with your data center?
- Are you concerned about cybersecurity risks?
If you answered “yes” to these questions, then remote hosting may be the right choice for your organization. To learn more about lowering the cost of care, click here.
