Mobility without losses thanks to Office365 and Microsoft Teams

The specialists at H Focus AG advise hospitals, clinics and homes throughout Switzerland. Having access to data and systems at any time and from anywhere is crucial. Thanks to Office365 and Microsoft Teams, collaboration has been simplified and efficient work on the go is possible. The challenge of the Vertec business software not being fully cloud-capable was solved with the redCLOUD Connector.

Securely access sensitive company data at any time through Office365

customer

The Baarer H Services AG is a service provider for organizations in the health sector such as hospitals, nursing homes or psychiatric hospitals. The 20-person team, including 19 consultants, supports customers throughout German-speaking Switzerland. The specialists analyze and optimize processes, develop strategies or advise on difficult questions about tariffs. H Services AG also offers assistance when there are personnel shortages in the day-to-day business of its customers, for example by carrying out invoicing. The know-how is in demand because the healthcare sector is a demanding industry: the political framework is constantly changing, cost pressure is increasing and digitalization does not stop at the healthcare sector. It is therefore business-critical for H Services AG that its consultants can always access the latest company data even when they are on the go, that sensitive data is secure and that the IT can be operated efficiently and fail-safe.

Initial situation: Architecture as a threat to data security

Vertec is the name of the business software that H Services AG uses for time recording and service billing. Until now, it was operated in the Infrastructure as a Service model on an application server in an external data center - together with the entire file storage and the mail server. Employees accessed these services via an encrypted VPN connection and either used them via a terminal server (remote desktop) or saved the files locally on their devices. This architecture offered great potential for danger and improvement, and not just in terms of data security and integrity. The team also regularly struggled with connectivity: the connection was not sufficiently fast and not stable. For managing directors Leo Baar and Ralph Sattler, it was high time to act. “We heard about the possibilities of Office365 and wanted an IT partner who mastered these technologies and could offer us an innovative solution,” says Sattler. redIT Services AG was recommended to you by Microsoft.

Challenge: Highly available, mobile and secure at lower costs through Office365

The redIT system engineers were confronted with clear requirements: enable productivity while on the move, ensure availability and security, and reduce costs. The specialists are very familiar with solutions for mobile working. In terms of costs, different solution variants were analyzed. It became clear that by dissolving hosting in the external data center, savings could be achieved and dependency on the provider could be reduced. However, this scenario raises a central question: where will the Vertec business software be operated?

Solution: Innovative and tailor-made through Office365

With Office365, H Services AG took a big step towards a modern workplace and was able to benefit from several improvements. Thanks to SharePoint online, consultants can now always access the latest data while on the move and edit it using well-known applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Instead of WhatsApp, employees now use the chat function included in Microsoft Teams. You create chat groups, exchange ideas and share files directly from the file storage. In addition, the connections were re-established and the connectivity problems were resolved. The redCLOUD Connector was developed precisely for the frequently occurring cases of “non-cloud-capable legacy applications” such as the Vertec business software. The compact and quiet microserver is available BaarThe headquarters is managed by redIT in the rental model and is provided by Vertec. Thanks to the specially set up gateway, mobile access to the business software for the consultants is still ensured.

Conclusion: A big step into the future with Office365 and Microsoft Teams

“We wanted an innovative solution and needed an IT partner who was familiar with these technologies.”
The new setup is tailor-made for the requirements of H Services AG: “We have taken a big step forward in mobility thanks to Office365,” says Ralph Sattler. At the same time, the goal of cost reduction was also achieved. He is particularly satisfied with the implementation of the project: “Everything went smoothly. The redIT project manager really did a great job.”