Comment: Life-saving cost efficiencies in the healthcare sector?
How the trend in ‘optical compatibility’ is providing operational excellence for less money
In this article, Stephen Crick, regional manager at ProLabs, explores the potential benefits of ‘optical compatibles’ for the healthcare sector – where IT budgets need not be prohibitive and can be better spent elsewhere.
Over the last decade, the demand for internal data networks among IT industry professionals has exploded, with budgets rising exponentially to accommodate such an increase.
This is especially the case in the healthcare sector where the industry is facing myriad operational challenges and financial constraints on budgets.
Affirming their dominance, OEMs have traditionally, and purposely, manufactured products that are incompatible with other brands. This has forced IT managers to return to the same OEM provider each and every time an upgrade or replacement needs to be made
IT managers have long been aware of the significant costs involved in devising and constructing complex internal data networks. Such systems comprise intricate sets of cabling, optical transceivers, switches, servers and media converters at the very least; and any one ‘misalignment’ or malfunction of any of these components can result in cross-system downtime. Not only can such malfunctions be expensive in the physical replacement of damaged parts and in the costs of being offline, in the case of healthcare, such malfunctions potentially pose life-threatening risks to patients.
It goes without saying that risks cannot be taken on product malfunctions, the consequences of which, however, have led IT procurement departments over the years to choose expensive, ‘big-brand’ components by default. These products have, historically, been the realm of the Original Equipment Manufacturers (or OEMs).
Affirming their dominance, OEMs have traditionally, and purposely, manufactured products that are incompatible with other brands. This has forced IT managers to return to the same OEM provider each and every time an upgrade or replacement needs to be made, regardless of any alternative solutions available elsewhere.
If an IT manager is successfully enticed away by another provider, they would inevitably have to consider replacing their current infrastructure in its entirety.
Recently, however, there has been an emerging and encouraging trend within the network and infrastructure manufacturing sector – a trend that is providing IT procurement teams greater flexibility and potential for cost savings.
In the last 10 years, ‘compatible’ optical equipment companies have appeared across the industry that are allowing formerly-incompatible systems to work seamlessly together
This trend is seeing the rise in specialist companies tackling the dominance of the OEMs by actually manufacturing products wholly compatible with those of the OEMs themselves.
In the last 10 years, ‘compatible’ optical equipment companies have appeared across the industry that are allowing formerly-incompatible systems to work seamlessly together. Each compatible component is ‘bespoke-coded’ to an OEM branded product and works alongside these at 100% interoperability.
Not only do they facilitate rival brands working together, but they also can re-engage systems that have become obsolete – affording significant cost savings for those IT managers seeking to upgrade.
There have been recent developments in the compatibles sector towards multi-coded products – products coded not only to one, but numerous OEM providers’ products at once.
Their multi-vendor characteristics mean these components can connect with several providers without the need for recoding. This limits the requirement for spare parts in data systems where more than one set of infrastructure exists; saving both money and storage space for the end-user.
In considering the potentially-disastrous implications of a system failure in the healthcare industry, there is an understandable concern amongst healthcare IT professionals in adopting ‘alternative’ products to those already in place. However, such concerns are unfounded. Manufacturers of compatibles are obliged to conform to the same stringent industry standards as the OEM providers, and their adoption in a network does not, in any way, undermine the warranties held by the other products as is sometimes, wrongly, feared.
The rise of the high-quality compatibles manufacturer represents a significant and important trend for the IT industry and one that is leading to cost saving opportunities – especially in the healthcare industry
That said, it is important for IT teams to carry out robust due diligence when making purchases. Any respectable compatibles provider will make their credentials and capabilities fully transparent with publically-available case-studies and testimonials. For instance, to emphasise the quality of its products, ProLabs was the first optical infrastructure provider to offer lifetime warranties on the vast majority of its products.
The rise of the high-quality compatibles manufacturer represents a significant and important trend for the IT industry and one that is leading to cost saving opportunities – especially in the healthcare industry.
By adopting a compatible route through a reliable, tried-and-tested manufacturer; hospitals, medical teaching departments, NHS bodies etc can direct more of their money where it matters most – towards patient health.
