- Avaya VENA provides underlying technology for Oslo University Hospital merger, generating operational efficiencies and standardising processes

- Scalable network will absorb new acquisitions and third party services

- Oslo University Hospital network now set up for future growth

OSLO, Norway, 8 May, 2012 – Avaya has successfully completed a network transformation project for Norway’s largest and most influential medical centre. Newly formed as the result of a merger between three local health trusts, Oslo University Hospital required a shared network capable of supporting a variety of applications, services and projects for the various groups brought together by the merger. The step-by-step implementation began in late 2011.

Oslo University Hospital was created as part of a government initiative to centralise services, generate operational efficiencies and standardise processes. It is a highly specialised facility that operates across 40 locations in Norway, employs 20,000 staff and has an annual operating budget of €2.2bn. As well as being responsible for patient care and emergency services for the citizens of Oslo, the hospital is also a hub for much of Norway’s medical research. Sykhuspartner IKT, a division of South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority, provides IT services to the hospitals in the region, including Oslo University Hospital.

The hospital set out to create a common, standard network to support all three health trusts. Their aim was to drive efficiencies by delivering a standard user experience for staff as well as patients, allow management to share best practices, link specialists in different locations and create workplace flexibility.

Oslo University Hospital selected Avaya’s Virtual Enterprise Network Architecture (VENA) to provide it with a new flexible, high performance enterprise network. As a result, the hospital was able to create a shared network that brought together three hospitals, extending the virtualisation of the network to support different user groups, projects, services and applications.

Based on the Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) open standard, the Avaya VENA Enterprise Fabric capability minimises the risk of errors by simplifying the provisioning of new services and the configuration of networks. As new services are required and new specialist departments within the hospital are created, Avaya VENA Enterprise Fabric enables changes to be made only at the edge of the network, rather than on every device and every link, so that they take place more efficiently and with less risk. This flexibility enables the hospital to improve time-to-service rather than needing to plan months in advance.

Oslo University Hospital’s new network is now robust and secure, eliminating the potential for traffic to ripple through untraced, affecting distribution switches and slowing performance. Third-party suppliers, such as the hospital’s hotel and parking services, can leverage the common infrastructure without the risk of collateral impact. And it maximises access to expensive medical equipment, helping to improve the overall standard of patient care. With Avaya’s Enterprise Fabric as the foundation, Oslo University Hospital’s network can maintain a high level of availability for its critical care services at all times.

Quotes
“High availability is a critical requirement for our network. The doctors here make life and death decisions every day and we can’t afford any downtime. Hospitals are inherently risk-averse and are rarely early adopters, but we were struck by the benefits that Avaya VENA Enterprise Fabric implementation of Shortest Path Bridging could provide our network. We knew the risks of undertaking this project, but found Avaya to be the ideal partner to help us succeed. As soon as the technology was available, we signed up.”
-Espen Holthe, network engineer at Sykehuspartner IKT

“Hospitals run some of the most data-intensive, mission-critical networks on the planet – they can’t afford to take risks at the expense of their patients. We’ve been able to leverage our experience in deploying large, multi-campus environments at medical institutions around the world to create a new core network for Oslo University Hospital that is flexible, secure and easy to manage. By bringing to life The Power of We™, Avaya is allowing the Hospital make changes more quickly and easily. We’re helping them build for the future so that they can provide better care for their patients.
-Olivier Baraquin, Head of Data and Video, Avaya EMEA