Customer Story: National Health Agency

National Health Agency consolidates and streamlines their ICT operations and governance to deliver better staff and patient outcomes

Objective

To simplify and consolidate ICT operations and governance from five IT departments into a single national team responsible for the holistic delivery of ICT services.

Approach

Design, build and implement a new Windows 10 managed desktop operating environment, including the deployment of Microsoft System Center Configuration Management (SCCM).

IT Outcome

A powerful new desktop management platform that can easily perform Windows 10 deployment, application installation, patch management, configuration management, and reporting.

Business Outcome

A standardised platform that provides both time and cost efficiencies across the organisation, and gives staff the tools and technology required to deliver exceptional patient and resident outcomes.

The Background

The Agency has a long history providing healthcare services to communities across eastern Australia and leads the nation in medical research capabilities.

The Challenge

Recently, the Agency set out to consolidate its ICT operations and governance from five IT departments into a single national team. This team would be responsible for the holistic delivery of ICT services across the entire organisation.

The previous governance model meant the Agency had a fragmented technology environment with disparate systems and lacked standardised tools and processes. This was creating cost and workflow inefficiencies as well as having a negative impact on user experience.

“We worked closely with their ICT team to understand what they needed in a new solution. This understanding allowed us to demonstrate how moving to a Windows 10 managed desktop operating environment, and deploying a Microsoft SCCM platform would reduce complexity and improve support,” says Para Gnanendran, Account Executive at Data^#3 Limited.

IT Outcome

After an extensive tender process, Data^#3 was engaged to design and build a new desktop configuration platform using Microsoft SCCM and a Windows 10 SOE, as well as re-packaging existing Tier 1 and Tier 2 applications for automated deployment.Due to the size and complexity of the project, the new solution was first executed via an open pilot with a small group of users to provide quality assurance.

Data^#3 then transitioned the solution to the Agency’s ICT team and provided operational handover and documentation to ensure they were fully prepared for the deployment of Windows 10. This documentation provided included guidelines, governance model, administrative roles’ and standards.

From there, Windows 10 was then deployed in phases across the organisation in line with other ICT consolidation activities.

The result is that the Agency now has a powerful desktop management platform that can easily perform Windows 10 deployment, application deployment, patch management, configuration management, and reporting. The platform also provides for ongoing updates to Windows 10 and can be extended to support mobile device management, thereby reducing cost duplication on Mobile Device Management software.

What’s more, by consolidating multiple hospital and aged care facilities onto a single standardised platform, it’s now much easier and more efficient for the ICT team to operate and manage their technology environment.

This includes the seamless deployment of hardware to end users, more capacity to provide technical support, the ability to respond quickly and efficiently to security threats, and increased control over the organisation’s risk posture.

Business Outcome

The business benefits of the new solution extend right across the organisation. For example, having a standardised platform to view and manage every device creates operational efficiencies, which in turn leads to significant time and cost savings.

The deployment of Windows 10 provides access to the latest operating system, enhancing user experience and enabling staff to perform their work as efficiently and productively as possible. Whether it’s monitoring surgical procedures, accessing patient information or collaborating with off-site teams, the new desktop operating environment gives staff greater control and flexibility.

Importantly, the new solution means the ICT team is now able to respond to cybersecurity threats faster and more effectively than ever before. The business now has the ability to quickly push out the required security patches and updates to thousands of devices, which minimises risk to the organisation and helps ensure business continuity.

From a holistic perspective, having the latest tools and technology also helps with the retention and attraction of top talent. Also, when the best talent has access to the best technology, it means better service delivery to the most important people at the Agency: the community.

Conclusion

It’s clear that moving to a common SCCM platform nationally has resulted in substantial improvements in the way the Agency operates and manages its ICT environment.

After wrestling with a previously complex and disparate technology landscape, systems and processes are now consistent across the organisation, meaning both the ICT team and end users are enjoying unprecedented productivity and efficiency benefits.

Significantly, improved operational efficiencies and access to the latest technology means the Agency is now able to deliver more informed and more focused patient care.

“The ability to provide streamlined, holistic ICT services across the entire organisation not only makes life easier and more efficient, it also puts the Agency in a position to grow and prosper well into the future,” finished Gnanendran.

“We worked closely with their ICT team to understand what they needed in a new solution. This understanding allowed us to demonstrate how moving to a Windows 10 managed desktop operating environment, and deploying a Microsoft SCCM platform would reduce complexity and improve support,”

Para Gnanendran, Account Executive, Data^#3 Limited

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