Key Takeaways

• Healthcare organizations are shifting to new virtualization platforms due to rising costs and the complexity of existing systems.
• The migration process demands careful planning to balance technical and business needs, ensuring patient care remains a priority.
• Best practices include employing automated migration tools, conducting thorough audits, and considering alternative storage solutions.

Rising to the Challenge of Virtualization in Healthcare

Healthcare organizations are increasingly moving to new virtualization platforms to alleviate financial pressures and cope with complex infrastructure needs. Virtualization allows health systems to run applications virtually, facilitating access across various computing environments. Key components of virtualization involve the hypervisor, networking, storage, and management systems.

Traditionally viewed as a straightforward solution, virtualization is now considered more problematic due to significant price increases and obligatory bundles, according to Scott Ragsdale from Nutanix. He emphasizes that virtualization isn’t merely software; it represents a decade’s worth of operational practices, technical debts, and architectural choices.

As organizations transition to new virtualization providers, the complexity of these migrations must be managed carefully to avoid adverse impacts on patient care. Ragsdale suggests executing the transition in “phased waves,” aligning migrations with both clinical impact and business objectives.

The Migration Process Explained

To ensure patient safety, Ragsdale advises that virtualization migrations be thorough and deliberate. A critical first step is understanding the context of an organization’s applications and virtual machines, an idea reinforced by Stephen Manley of Druva. This process requires examining both technical and business dependencies, such as acceptable downtime and risk profiles, to create a well-informed migration plan.

Conducting a comprehensive audit to uncover hidden interdependencies within systems is advisable. Establishing a clear vision of the desired end state of migration is essential.

Key considerations during virtualization migration include:

• Tool Selection and Testing: Using migration toolkits like Nutanix Move can reduce manual workloads for stretched healthcare IT teams. Automation of VM cutovers with minimal downtime is beneficial.

• Host Sizing: Accurate load assessments for electronic health records (EHRs), picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), and other applications are crucial. Teams should avoid merely replicating old specifications.

• Cluster and Storage Layout: Planning clusters effectively ensures system resiliency. Decisions on whether to segregate workloads can significantly impact performance.

• Workload Phasing: Start with low-complexity applications to familiarize the team with the new environment before tackling critical systems.

Best Practices for a Smooth Migration

Prioritizing security and data protection is vital during virtualization migration. A clear map of interdependencies should be created to mitigate risks associated with security baselines and data protection tools.

Considering alternatives to direct one-to-one migrations can also streamline the process. For instance, moving data to platforms like Microsoft 365 can reduce the complexity of managing multiple VMs.

Working with specialized partners can enhance understanding of healthcare workloads and address performance concerns effectively. Additionally, backing up applications prior to migration ensures a safety net against unexpected issues that may arise during the transition.

In conclusion, although virtualization migration in healthcare presents several challenges, employing best practices and a systematic approach can facilitate a successful transition while safeguarding patient care.

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