SUCCESS STORY: Springhill Medical Center
Customer Company Size
Mid-size Company
Region
- America
Country
- United States
Product
- Brocade ICX 7750 Switches
- Brocade ICX 6610 Switches
- Brocade ICX 6450 Switches
- Brocade Network Advisor
Tech Stack
- sFlow
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Cost Savings
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Networks & Connectivity - Ethernet
Applicable Industries
- Healthcare & Hospitals
Applicable Functions
- Maintenance
Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
Springhill Medical Center (SMC) is a 252-bed medical center located in Mobile, Alabama. Founded in 1975 by Dr. Gerald L. Wallace, the center is still family-owned and operates on a for-profit basis. SMC operates according to its original mission to 'accept challenge, anticipate, then answer the needs' of its patients and caregivers. The center relies heavily on its network to provide state-of-the-art healthcare services. SMC was the first healthcare organization to deploy a Cisco voice solution in 2001. However, over time, high equipment and maintenance costs had prevented timely upgrades. The center needed to upgrade its network infrastructure to support its wireless capabilities, Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS), Allscripts Sunrise platform, and be ready to support emerging healthcare technologies.
The Challenge
Springhill Medical Center (SMC) was facing issues with its existing network infrastructure. The switches were failing due to heat and age, and high equipment and maintenance costs were preventing timely upgrades. The network was also difficult to manage and was a source of frustration for the staff. SMC needed to upgrade to a 10 GbE infrastructure to support its wireless capabilities, Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS), Allscripts Sunrise platform, and be ready to support emerging healthcare technologies. The new network also needed to be easy to operate and maintain, even for less experienced staff members. SMC also wanted to improve the return on its networking investment by achieving a longer lifecycle, reducing maintenance and support costs, and gaining greater flexibility.
The Solution
SMC chose to implement Brocade's solutions, including Brocade ICX 7750 Switches, Brocade ICX 6610 Switches, and Brocade ICX 6450 Switches. These switches provided a robust, high-availability 10 to 40 GbE network for critical healthcare applications. The switches were considerably less expensive than the previous ones, saving SMC more than 30% in capital costs alone. The implementation process was quick and smooth, with the Brocade ICX 7750 Switches up and running in the data center in just two days. The switches were easy to configure and manage, even for SMC's engineers who had no previous experience with Brocade switches. SMC also used Brocade Network Advisor for network management, which provided unprecedented visibility into network traffic and made it easy to pinpoint anomalies.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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