Month: October 2015

Healthcode safeguards application delivery with Claranet

New UK-based infrastructure supports Healthcode’s business-critical data processing services

Online application software provider for the private healthcare industry, Healthcode, has implemented a resilient, scalable and secure hosting platform from Claranet. The managed services provider’s enhanced solution ensures Healthcode’s customer data is protected to the highest standards and includes disaster recovery capabilities.

Healthcode’s core business is electronic billing, and the company is the official medical bill clearing-house for the private healthcare sector in the UK. Its services and applications are critical to the functioning of private hospitals, insurers, consultants and practices, who entrust them with extremely confidential, personal and commercially sensitive data. To meet its commitment to service delivery and data protection, Healthcode turned to Claranet to design and implement a robust and resilient managed hosting solution.

Peter Connor, Managing Director at Healthcode explained: “A huge volume of data goes through our systems – on average, we process and clear 18,000 bills from providers to insurers every day, a number we expect to increase rapidly. We also process over 600,000 clinical records annually for private hospitals so they can meet their new obligation to report information for quality and outcomes statistics. Given the critical nature of our work, our customers expect us to be operational at all times to support their businesses and to meet the highest security standards.

“As we handle such high volumes of personally identifiable information, we operate our systems to ISO27001 standards. We wanted Claranet to supply us with a dedicated private infrastructure which met the stringent compliance criteria.

Based on our five year relationship with Claranet, we had every confidence they could provide clear, actionable advice and guidance as we enhanced our data hosting services. Our new platform is more resilient and robust against data breaches with an in-built disaster recovery system so we can offer a truly secure service to the private health sector. Data sovereignty is a key issue in the sector we operate in, and as Claranet operates only in-country data centres, they are able to offer the assurances on data location we – and by extension, our customers – need. We’ve been completely satisfied with our partnership with Claranet and are really pleased with how their services consistently safeguard the delivery of our applications.”

Healthcode’s strengthened managed hosting platform from Claranet enables the company to meet security challenges head on, featuring enterprise grade disaster recovery and data protection measures with 24/7 support from the managed services provider. In addition, Healthcode take a number of other key services from Claranet including internet connectivity, Web Acceleration and DoS Protection, Hosted Desktop and email services. Being flexible and scalable, it is now much easier for Healthcode to provide services which are effective and tailored for each customer.

Michel Robert, UK Managing Director for Claranet concluded: “With any hosting platform we supply and manage for a client, we recognise their ability to serve their customers relies upon the strength of the infrastructure we provide. We take this responsibility very seriously, especially in regard to the security of our customers’ data. We look forward to continuing our great relationship with Healthcode as its business maintains its growth in the healthcare sector.”

LinuxIT recognised at Red Hat EMEA Partner Awards 2015

Linux systems management specialist takes home Stronger Together Award for collaboration with Softcat and Tier 2 Consulting

LinuxIT, part of the Claranet Group, has been awarded the Stronger Together Award at this year’s Red Hat EMEA Partner Awards, alongside Softcat and Tier 2 Consulting. Working under the project name ‘The Three Musketeers’, the three organisations won the award based on the strength of their joint collaboration and the value that they collectively add to the Red Hat partner ecosystem.

Now in their seventh year, the Red Hat EMEA Partner Awards recognise the achievements of Red Hat’s partners over the past year and their ongoing commitment to collaborating with the company.

Receiving the Stronger Together Award at a ceremony in Frankfurt, Germany, earlier this month, LinuxIT, Softcat and Tier 2 were commended for their complementary skill sets across sales and infrastructure, and for their middleware knowhow. Over the past year, the three organisations have worked together on projects such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat Mobile Application Platform for customers.

Commenting on the award win, Simon Mitchell, CEO at LinuxIT, said: “We have a long-standing and successful relationship with Red Hat, having been named the first Red Hat Premier Partner in the UK and won the Platform Partner of the Year award at the 2013 ceremony. Collaboration sits at the heart of what the Open Source community is all about, so we are delighted to have won this year’s Stronger Together Award alongside two of our strategic partners, Softcat and Tier 2.

“Over the past few years we have cultivated strong and fruitful collaborations with Softcat and Tier 2, based on Red Hat technologies, and it has been by working together that we have been able to achieve amazing things for our customers,” Mitchell continued.

“Red Hat’s belief in nurturing strong partnerships inspired the Stronger Together Award. Over the last 10 months, the three winners, LinuxIT, Softcat and Tier 2, have created a solid business venture and collaborated on projects for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat mobile, bringing added value to Open Source and the whole Red Hat Partner Eco-System,” Jayne Handley, Head of Partner and Alliances, UK & Ireland, Red Hat.

Michel Robert, Managing Director of Claranet UK added: “LinuxIT were acquired by Claranet in July 2015 in order to broaden our managed services portfolio with industry leading Linux-based consultative services. This recognition of LinuxIT’s innovative work validates Claranet’s mission to help our customers do amazing things. Already our customers are benefiting from the addition of LinuxIT’s services to our well established, award-winning managed services portfolio.”

Red Hat and Red Hat Enterprise Linux are trademarks of Red Hat, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.

3 cloud-driven trends that will change the IT skills you need by 2020

The cloud facilitates speed, focus and efficiency whilst allowing greater collaboration and flexibility between teams.

These ultimately work together to bring one major advantage to business: accelerated innovation.

In the context of this fast-paced innovation, the skills, qualifications and attitudes you need to survive and thrive in the industry are changing quickly and radically.