How a large healthcare provider simplified management of hundreds of cloud environments and enabled secure partner connectivity while avoiding four additional network hires

Company Profile

Industry	Healthcare Provider
Size	25,000+ Employees
Revenue	$1B-$10B Annual
Scope	Multi-Region Operations
Culture	Aggressive Growth
Challenge	Application Scalability

The Challenge

This large healthcare provider operated scores of applications distributed across hundreds of AWS VPCs and Azure VNets in a single region. Managing connectivity between these environments was becoming increasingly difficult and non-scalable.

Complex Multicloud Challenges:

• Massive Scale: Scores of applications across hundreds of cloud environments
• Manual Management: Highly manual approach requiring significant staffing increases
• Single Region Limitation: All environments concentrated in one region, limiting performance and reliability
• Firewall Complexity: Numerous firewalls requiring extensive rule changes for new applications
• No Partner Integration: No process or standards for secure extranet connections
• Scalability Crisis: Existing approach would require four additional network engineers to scale

The Alkira Solution

Alkira provided the scalable foundation needed to manage inter-region connectivity and simplify multicloud deployment, enabling expansion to a second region while dramatically improving operational efficiency.

Alkira’s Scalable Approach:

• Simplified Connectivity: Streamlined management of hundreds of cloud environments
• Multi-Region Expansion: Enabled secure, high-performance connectivity to second region
• Firewall as a Service: Eliminated firewall platform management and over-provisioning
• DevOps Integration: Seamless integration into application development pipelines
• Autoscaling Security: Dynamic firewall scaling based on demand
• Defined-Trust Extranet: First-time capability for secure partner connections

Measurable Results

The transformation enabled massive scale expansion while dramatically improving deployment efficiency and reducing operational overhead.

Business Impact:

• 300% Increase: Cloud environments enabled through simplified management
• 99% Faster: Staff time to migrate applications to cloud
• 99.8% Faster: Calendar time to migrate applications to cloud
• 96% Faster: Calendar time to add new clouds
• 50% Reduction: Firewalls needed through service model
• 70% Less Time: Staff time to add new security services
• 4 Hires Avoided: Through automated, scalable approach

Healthcare-Specific Value

Performance and Reliability: Multi-region expansion improves application performance and reliability for critical healthcare systems serving patients and providers.

Partner Connectivity: For the first time, the organization can establish secure, defined-trust connections with healthcare partners, enabling better care coordination and data sharing.

Rapid Application Deployment: 99% faster deployment supports the rapid pace of healthcare innovation and regulatory requirements.

Customer Quote

“One is what we have. We NEEDED more than one prior to Alkira. Now with Alkira, one is more than sufficient.”

Associate Director, Network Security Engineering
on how many FTEs are needed to manage cloud-related firewalls

The Scalability Breakthrough

From Manual to Automated: The transition from a highly manual approach to Alkira’s automated platform prevented the need for four additional network engineers while enabling 300% growth in cloud environments.

DevOps Integration: Integration into development pipelines ensures that application deployment scales automatically with the organization’s growth, supporting the aggressive culture of innovation.

Partner Ecosystem: The newly enabled extranet capabilities open possibilities for enhanced healthcare collaboration, telemedicine partnerships, and health information exchange.

FAQ

Ready to Overcome Your Network Limitations?  See how Alkira can help you manage hundreds of cloud environments while enabling 99% faster application deployment and secure partner connectivity. For more information or to speak with a network specialist, contact us.