Medibank Health Solutions Deploys HP Converged Infrastructure

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. announced that Medibank
Health Solutions Pty Ltd (MHS) has selected HP Converged Infrastructure to
deliver healthcare services to a growing
number of customers.

MHS provides telephone- and web-based healthcare services as well as walk-in
wellness clinics for organizations across Australia. After being acquired by
Medibank Private, Australia’s largest private insurance company, MHS
experienced rapid growth, resulting in a five-fold increase in staff and
greater demand for its services. However, MHS’ existing IT infrastructure was
unable to meet performance and availability requirements associated with this
upswing in demand.

MHS worked with HP Premier Partner Triforce
Australia Pty Ltd to deploy HP VirtualSystem as part of an HP Converged
Infrastructure architecture in a new data center. HP VirtualSystem is a
flexible, scalable and preconfigured virtualization solution.

By pre-integrating HP 3PAR Storage, HP BladeSystem servers and HP Virtual
Connect technology, the solution enables MHS to allocate resources across
physical and virtual environments to ensure predictable delivery and
service levels. As a result, MHS can provision storage based on changing
network workloads while delivering new services customers need.

"Our business was growing at such
speed that our infrastructure quickly met its limitations, resulting in
capacity and performance issues," said Charles Gonzalez, head of infrastructure
services, Medibank Health Solutions. "The
flexibility, scalability and ease of management provided by our HP Converged
Infrastructure allow us to keep pace with our business growth."

MHS improved its data-storage performance and availability by upgrading its
previous storage solution to a pair of HP 3PAR T400 storage systems, which
offer thin-storage that can result in a 50% capacity
reduction.(Internal
HP research) The 3PAR management console enables MHS to provision storage
for new applications with a few mouse clicks, as well as reconfigure the
network without impacting end-user productivity.

In addition, MHS deployed HP ProLiant BL460 G7 server blades to run VMware and
Citrix servers, as well as HP ProLiant BL685 G7 server blades to support the
SQL database.

Installed in five HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosures interconnected by HP Virtual
Connect FlexFabric 10Gb/24-port modules, and leveraging HP Virtual Connect
technology that simplifies network connectivity to eliminate complexity and
unnecessary expense.

the HP VirtualSystem solution enables MHS to:

• Reduce
  storage capacity requirements by 80% (based on client results) with 3PAR, thin conversion migration
  from MHS’ legacy storage solution, achieving a greater ROI by
  reducing management and overhead costs.
• Improve productivity with 99.999% uptime, providing 2,500 employees, the remote
  workforce and customers reliable access to healthcare services and programs.
• Ensure rapid DR by installing one of
  the 3PAR T400 storage systems at a separate location, and including HP 3PAR
  Remote Copy Software on both systems to share data from any application.
• Perform proactive maintenance of
  IT systems to ensure consistent network uptime and 24/7 service supporting more
  than 3 million healthcare interactions a year.

"Organizations providing pivotal
healthcare services need a technology infrastructure that can simultaneously
support diverse system users and various types of workloads," said
Steve Kelly, GM, storage, HP South Pacific. "The HP Converged Infrastructure enables Medibank Health Solutions to
provide scalable solutions that support growth while ensuring continuous
operation of its daily business."