Vizioncore Virtualization Review™ (VVR™) Survey Confirms Virtualization Investments Power Major Improvements in Healthcare

Survey identifies many benefits through virtualization including improved patient care, secure patient data and enhanced service levels

Buffalo Grove, IL, October 28th, 2008 – The vast majority of global healthcare organisations are making important investments in virtualization infrastructure that are having a profound, positive effect on the quality of services delivered by their IT organisations, according to a new Vizioncore Virtualization Review (VVR) survey. These investments have allowed healthcare organisations to more quickly implement new technologies and lower hardware acquisition costs, among other key benefits, according to the survey of healthcare IT professionals conducted by Vizioncore Inc. earlier this year. Vizioncore is the market leader in server virtualization management solutions that help organisations safeguard and optimise their virtualized environments and maximise ROI.

“This survey confirms that virtualization is a vital component of healthcare IT infrastructure, and that it has dramatically improved services provided to patients and customers,” said Chris Akerberg, President and Chief Operating Officer, Vizioncore.   “With 93 percent of survey participants indicating their organisations are making further virtualization investments in 2008, and with 93 percent saying that those investments have had a direct, positive impact on IT service quality, virtualization is more than a trend in healthcare — it is a key strategy   for  improving patient care.”

Primary Drivers, Business Benefits
The VVR survey asked healthcare IT professionals to identify all of the primary drivers for server virtualization investments in 2008. The need to improve aging IT infrastructure was the biggest factor selected, at 78 percent, followed by backup and recovery at 71 percent, and business continuity at 65 percent. Much further down the list was the ability to implement new patient-centric technologies (15 percent) and HIMSS/compliance requirements (3 percent).

Chris Wolf, senior analyst for Burton Group Data Center Strategies, Midvale, Utah, explains a key reason for virtualization infrastructure’s rapid advance into healthcare IT operations.  “The primary goal of healthcare organisations must be to deliver the highest quality patient care. This agenda requires that these organisation are able to utilise the latest healthcare applications, such as PACS, EMR and CPOE. Virtualization can help healthcare organisations seamlessly deliver these applications, creating end-user confidence in them and, ultimately, higher patient satisfaction. As healthcare organisations move to provide more critical, cutting edge clinical technologies, virtualization will increasingly be the backbone of the technology delivery system.”

The survey also asked what IT and business benefits companies had experienced from virtualization investments. The most important factor, according to respondents, was faster implementation of new technologies, selected by 84 percent. Lower hardware acquisition cost was the second most important factor, at 77 percent, followed by cost reduction/lower total cost of ownership (72 percent); lower energy costs (61 percent); and greater service quality (42 percent). An improved ability to support remote operations was cited as a benefit by 29 percent of respondents.

One healthcare organization which has seen the benefits of virtualization first-hand is Leeds Partnerships NHS Foundation Trust which began implementing virtualization in 2007 as part of a modernization project for its IT infrastructure. The trust implemented technology from VMware and Vizioncore to increase resource utilisation, improve service delivery, lower costs and management overheads and improve disaster recovery.

“Virtualization has provided us with a very robust and cost effective way of running our IT systems,” said Russell Hornshaw, IT Manager at Leeds Partnerships NHS Foundation Trusts. “Like all NHS trusts we are under pressure to keep our costs down while still providing a very high level of service to users. The data and applications we deliver must be secure and highly available in order for our staff to deliver the best possible levels of care to patients and virtualization is a key technology in our overall strategy.”
For more details on Leeds Partnerships NHS Foundation Trust’s implementation view the full case study here: http://www.vizioncore.com/Articles/CaseStudies/Leeds_CaseStudyHQ.pdf

Vital Patient Benefits
The patients and customers of healthcare organisations also benefit from virtualization investments in many different ways according to the VVR survey. Secure access to patient information was the most important benefit cited by respondents, at 38 percent; followed by anywhere, anytime access to critical patient information at 34 percent; increased health care professional face time with patients at 18 percent; and easier bedside access to patient records at 16 percent. An “all other benefits” category was cited by 41 percent of respondents.

Moving forward, virtualization technologies will continue to play a vital role in healthcare IT spending,” added Akerberg. “The Vizioncore Virtualization Review survey clearly indicates robust IT investment plans in 2009 for advanced healthcare virtualization technology.” According to the VVR survey, 14 percent of respondents said that more than 20 percent of their organisation's IT spending in 2009 will be focused on virtualization technologies, while 28 percent indicated spending would range between 11 and 20 percent. About 40 percent said spending would be from 5 to 10 percent of their IT budgets, and the remaining 18 percent indicated the spending range would be 1 to 4 percent.