A Healthcare Giant's IT Overhaul

Our client, a renowned US hospital and medical school, operates one of the best hospitals and medical schools in the United States, providing cutting-edge medical treatments and pioneering research in various health disciplines. Built on 60 Oracle databases, these systems, until 2016, were operating on a dated AIX environment.

Streamlining and Enhancing IT Systems

The organisation relied on a range of internal and customer-facing applications, including Oracle PeopleSoft for HR and finance, Oracle Business Intelligence, Oracle Hyperion, and the Epic healthcare software used by patients and practitioners. Their vision was to transition these critical databases to an Oracle Exadata Database Machine, initially to bolster data warehouses, simplify the IT landscape, boost performance, cut costs, and ensure high availability. 

Cintra’s Strategic Migration

Responding to this challenge, Cintra began with a 10-day discovery phase, formulating a meticulous migration roadmap. The team then realigned the Exadata configuration to their high-availability blueprints, incorporating Oracle Cluster Ready Service (CRS) for cost-effective service levels without Oracle RAC. The migration, executed in phases, employed Oracle Data Pump export/import and GoldenGate methodologies, ensuring risk mitigation and timely delivery.

A New Era of IT Efficiency

Cintra's transformed the hospital's IT landscape within a tight 30-day window. The most critical databases migrated seamlessly with zero downtime, while others transitioned with minimal interruption.

Success looks like...

Successful overhaul of a renowned US hospital and medical school.

Legacy to Cloud: Your Path to Modernization with Cintra

Facing the pressing challenges of a legacy platform and the looming shadow of technical debt? It's time to look to the future and evolve. Dive into a world where downtime is minimized, efficiency is maximized, and the business is aligned to a flexible technology platform.

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Technical Breakdown

Starting Context: This US healthcare provider operated 60 Oracle databases on a legacy AIX environment, supporting critical healthcare applications.

Objectives of the Migration:

  • Migrate all Oracle databases to Oracle Exadata for enhanced performance and availability.

  • Achieve zero downtime for critical databases, and minimal downtime for others.

  • Avoid extended costs associated with the aging AIX platform.

Cintra's Methodological Approach:

  • Discovery and Roadmap Planning:

    • Conducted an initial assessment to understand database environments and set migration priorities.

  • Exadata Configuration and High-Availability Setup:

    • Aligned Exadata configuration with best-practice blueprints, including Oracle Cluster Ready Service (CRS) for high availability.

  • Phased Migration Execution:

    • Utilized Oracle Data Pump and GoldenGate for migration, starting with non-critical databases and escalating to critical ones.

Benefits & Advantages:

  • Operational Efficiency: Streamlined database management on Exadata, reducing system administration overhead.

  • Cost-Effective Migration: Avoided extended AIX platform costs, reallocating resources to modernization.

  • Enhanced Application Performance: Improved performance for key healthcare applications, enhancing user experience.