The new solutions designed and implemented by NextiraOne will help ensure the continuity of critical medical and business applications. The new Data Centre completes the creation of a highly resilient network infrastructure supporting storage area networking and server virtualisation which will underpin the Trust’s growing range of administrative functions, clinical applications and admission-critical systems for A&E and Theatre, including the PACS digital X-ray system and links to the National Patient’s Records System.
The new project allows the Trust to migrate to virtualised blade servers and employ the latest environmental technologies to help towards meeting the Trust’s carbon reduction objectives. The contract, worth over £1.5M in total, includes a three-year Managed Services, Operational Support Agreement covering both the new and the existing Data Centre equipment and networking. Services will be deployed across both Data Centres to eliminate any single point of failure, thereby achieving increased service availability, enhanced productivity and contributing to improved patient outcomes.
Now fully operational, the project followed NextiraOne’s successful implementation of the first phase – the ‘Nexus Suite’ - in 2008. The new Data Centre will provide additional resilience and complete the process of consolidating and moving all the Trusts’ IT and communications technology into dedicated, purpose-built facilities, providing the best-in-class infrastructure and environment required for a state-of-the-art healthcare provider in the 21st century.
The James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides acute hospital services for the Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft and Waveney areas, serving a population of some 230,000. With over 500 beds in total, the Trust also provides community hospital care at Lowestoft Hospital and at Northgate Hospital in Great Yarmouth, together with an integrated hospital and community children's service.
The new Data Centre uses Cisco’s latest NEXUS 5000 range of switches and Cisco ASA 5520 Adaptive Security Appliance, plus a centralised UPS system, new fibre cabling and includes also an upgrade of the Trust’s existing data switching infrastructure.
NextiraOne designed the new infrastructure specifically also to meet the Trust’s targets in carbon reduction – NextiraOne is supplying in-row cooling in a self-contained rack solution and free cooling air conditioning, and an electrical solution based around the provision of UPS with generator back-up. The Data Centre will use the best of the new technologies in order to provide a suitable and energy-efficient operating environment, especially for the new blade servers. It is expected that the power consumption profile of the free cooling air conditioning will provide a payback within two years of installation - and the UPS solution is expected to achieve a 25% reduction in energy costs.
“We had very clear objectives around reducing our carbon footprint, at the same time as providing failsafe systems for critical medical applications and business continuity,” said Stephen Kirk, Infrastructure Operations Manager at the James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. “NextiraOne built our first Nexus Suite Data Centre and so the team knew our requirements and expectations intimately. They have given us expert advice throughout and we are confident that the system we are building together will provide the Trust, our staff and our patients with a highly resilient, environmentally friendly IT and communications infrastructure that is also scalable for our future needs as more and more clinical and administrative functions become digitised.”
NextiraOne is Europe’s leading expert in communications services and has a direct sales and service presence in 17 countries, serving more than 60,000 customers. The company designs, installs, maintains and supports solutions to meet the communications needs of its customers - from voice, data and video to mobility, security and applications. NextiraOne currently serves over 150 public sector organisations in the UK, delivering innovative solutions for a number of other healthcare providers, including the North Bristol NHS Trust and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
Steven Skakel, Managing Director UK & Ireland at NextiraOne, said: “When completed, this project will make James Paget one of the foremost NHS Trusts in the country in terms of harnessing leading edge technology to deliver better patient care outcomes. NextiraOne has been working alongside the Trust for some time and it is a joy for our experts to work in such an innovative environment and to deliver the solutions that will shape the future of healthcare IT and networking provision.”