“No hurricane needed to occur for that question to matter. The exposure already existed in the design.”
The situation
A healthcare organization in Florida with multiple locations wanted a smaller computing footprint and room to grow. The approach underway concentrated computing at headquarters, with other sites connecting into it. The service provider responsible had brought only one remote location online.
The stakes
The concern went beyond a stalled install. If headquarters became unavailable during a major storm, what would the other locations do? The design put a substantial operational dependency in one place without an adequate recovery plan.
What we did
Leadership was understandably cautious about cloud services and had already invested in one direction. VocalPoint Consulting assessed the environment and compared three approaches: a different managed service provider, a hybrid arrangement, and a cloud-delivered service. We worked through requirements with suppliers, narrowed the field, and brought leadership into focused demonstrations.
The result
The complete cloud option was projected to save more than $10,000 a month and offered a better way to support growth. The platform they chose later supported substantial expansion, including a merger that increased the user population significantly.
The lesson
Resilience is a design decision, not something you add after the storm.