Summary:
Inflexible IT infrastructure, increased security concerns, and escalating scalability challenges led Recor Medical to explore more effective IT configuration alternatives. Working with BACS, the company was able to consolidate its existing server infrastructure into a cloud-based file sharing solution that addresses the company’s scalability and security issues while helping to streamline data management and ease compliance burdens.
INTRODUCTION
In today’s highly competitive healthcare market, technology can be an enabler of success or the barrier that holds you back. That was the scenario facing Recor Medical as it sought to scale its IT infrastructure in preparation for rapid business growth.
Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, Recor Medical is a private, development-stage medical device company that designs and manufactures a proprietary ultrasound ablation system designed to treat resistant hypertension and high-blood pressure. As the company added staff and assembled the resources it would need to conduct a series of clinical trials in the United States and Europe, it realized its IT infrastructure would need a significant upgrade to meet the performance, security, and data governance requirements this effort would demand.
CHALLENGE
With clinical trial preparations underway in Europe and the majority of its files housed on a server in California, Recor needed a more efficient, streamlined approach to file sharing and collaboration. Managing permissions for data access also emerged a top priority in light of impending General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) that were nearing final approval in Europe at the time.
After losing confidence in the ability of its current IT consultant to effectively guide them through this critical transition, Recor turned to BACS for assistance. BACS began with a detailed assessment of Recor’s existing IT environment, which uncovered several opportunities for performance and cost improvements, including ways to strengthen its network security and bolster its threat defenses.
Multiple business users accessing and sharing files across continents was beginning to strain the company’s existing server and internet connection. Any network downtime could greatly impact productivity and bring collaboration to a standstill. To help ease bandwidth constraints and network disruptions, BACS recommended Recor upgrade its existing server to a cloud-based file sharing solution.
Key to the success of the project was making sure the new platform would provide Recor’s users with reliable and secure access to confidential files and data while delivering the speed and performance needed to meet the company’s escalating file sharing and collaboration demands.
Another area of focus centered on the company’s existing wireless network, which lacked important enterprise-grade capabilities, including the ability to meet the reliability, performance, and robust security demands required by a fast-growing medical device company.
SOLUTION
With built-in agility and efficiency advantages, the cloud-based file sharing platform offered the ideal solution. The systems helps Recor better manage storage costs while providing improved file sharing, file security, and data governance capabilities in a centrally managed system. Users can easily share files and collaborate remotely with greater ease and efficiency and less downtime.
Detailed folder permissions within the file sharing solution provide tightly defined rules around access to certain data. The system detects changes to files and syncs them, keeping both copies up to date while hybrid storage and backup provides redundant protection.
“Granular control and shared permissions in a cloud-based platform is precisely what we needed for secure, efficient collaboration across the business,” says Rancor. “The ability to access files without worrying about network slowdowns and workload constraints opens the door to greater productivity.”
To help bolster its security, BACS recommended Recor upgrade to an enterprise-class wireless network and replace its existing firewall with a next-generation unified communications firewall from Cisco. The new firewall, along with advanced malware and threat detection capabilities, help Recor quickly detect and contain threats that evade front-line defenses.
BACS also helped Recor implement a new document management platform and worked with a third-party provider to validate the system. The centrally managed system captures, stores, and retrieves both paper and electronic documents, helping to ease regulatory compliance burdens and improve collaboration through better workflow monitoring and version control.
RESULTS
By moving its data and server infrastructure to a cloud-based file-sharing environment, Recor gained the flexibility it needed to rapidly scale its business. Meanwhile, the more robust and resilient wireless network, along with advanced threat detection capabilities, gives Recor the security reinforcement and data governance capabilities it needs to operate in a highly regulated environment.
“The granular permissions provide Recor with significantly stronger data security measures while the cloud-based platform gives them the efficiency and scalability need to files it needed,” says James Berger, BACS.
The file share platform’s cloud-based functionality was essential to helping the company gain the flexibility and reliability it needed without adding management complexity and support costs. Meanwhile, the new wireless network’s enhanced reliability and faster download speeds bring a new level of efficiency and productivity for content sharing and collaboration.
The deep expertise BACS brought to the project proved instrumental in helping to tip the scales in their favor. Once BACS gained the trust of core stakeholders and were able to answer all of their questions openly and honestly, the BACS team was able to bring everyone onboard quickly.
“We were very upfront in our approach, sharing with them our success with similar projects and explaining to them why our recommendations offered the best fit for their needs,” says James Berger, BACS. “Ultimately, it was our honest feedback, deep expertise, and solid references that gave them confidence in our ability to deliver.”
Intelligent planning and efficient execution factored heavily in Recor’s ability to scale its operations quickly and securely. The cloud-based file sharing platform proved to be the ideal solution, giving Recor reliable, centralized control and management of corporate data, along with fast, efficient collaboration across the organization.
“Our ability to execute the project with minimal disruption across different time zones was critical to the success of the project,” says James Berger, BACS.”
With its new cloud-based file server environment, Recor has improved its collaboration capabilities, streamlined its compliance efforts, strengthened data security, and reduced infrastructure management costs. As a result, Recor can now focus more attention on discovering new treatments, improving productivity, and driving business growth.
