KSW processes, from patient admission to discharge, are becoming ever more digital and interconnected. Data must be available faster, and it must be secured and protected from cyberattacks. With ITpoint and NetApp, KSW has implemented an infrastructure that combines performance with security and supports important processes in the treatment of patients with fast and secure file service.
KSW has already digitized a lot, but we need to link everything more closely. Data must therefore be available quickly and securely at every spot.
Roger Schwegler Server and Storage Specialist, Kantonsspital Winterthur
At KSW, the directive is “less paper and more digital information. In the future, all patient data will be available digitally so that it can be exchanged online beyond the boundaries of the KSW organization. Forty percent of KSW’s data is file data. Almost 4,000 users in medicine, care and administration need the files every day. They are crucial for numerous applications. The hospital handels more than 270,000 cases annually, generating a broad range of application data: from ultrasound imaging to recorded speech medical records to cost accounting. Any interruption in data access can affect patient care and must therefore be avoided. Robust systems, high security and availability, and pinpoint recoverability in the event of an emergency are key requirements. With regard to possible data recovery, one external security threat is considered particularly critical and must be guarded against: Ransomware.
Together with ITpoint, the KSW team implemented a new storage and backup/recovery infrastructure with integrated ransomware protection that meets the high demands placed on file services.
The project was implemented without interrupting production or hospital procedures. Thanks to ITpoint’s planning, the changeover had no impact on patients or systems. The interruption in data access lasted only 3 seconds. For the procedure in the event of a ransomware attack, ITpoint and KSW created an action guide based on scenarios and corresponding simulations.
Stability, Snapshot technology, and flawless integration with the Microsoft world are NetApp strengths. And with NetApp, we keep the option of a data fabric open so that we can move data directly to the cloud one day.
Roger Schwegler Server and Storage Specialist, Kantonsspital Winterthur
Thanks to the new solution, various previously decentralized file servers were consolidated onto the new NetApp environment, whose data now benefits from the higher performance and integrated protection mechanisms. Experience with the new infrastructure at KSW has been very positive. Operational stability and performance are high, and the administration effort is low. The most important advantages:
The Kantonsspital Winterthur is one of the ten largest hospitals in Switzerland. It provides basic clinical care in the greater Winterthur area and has developed into a supra-regional center hospital. Over 240,000 patients are treated annually, 27,000 of whom are inpatients.
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Michael Trutmann, Solution Architect & Consultant