Benefits Of Moving From On-Premise Data Management To Cloud Hosting...
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Benefits Of Moving From On-Premise Data Management To Cloud Hosting Solutions

Pharma Tech Outlook | Friday, September 02, 2022

Data security is the most important aspect of running a lab. No matter how great your goods and services, clients have to be able to fully trust that their information is protected[1] — especially when it comes to sensitive data. You also want it to integrate with your existing tech stacks. IaaS cloud hosting solutions provide the ideal means to achieve this.

How IaaS is Changing the Data Management Landscape

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Infrastructure as a Service[2] (IaaS) enables businesses to access software and data online. It offers a more efficient way of doing business by eliminating hardware costs, reducing configuration time, and the risk of fragmented processes as you work with other programs.

By the same token, it eliminates the need of having servers on-premises — and all the costs and logistics associated with them, such as upfront costs, space requirements, maintenance, and interoperability, to name a few. This may result in cut costs, depending on your required storage capacity, operations, and disaster recovery[3], among others. Price usually varies depending on tiers offered by suppliers.

IaaS data storage requires no additional hardware nor physical space to house it. It’s also more reliable, since it automatically saves data in real-time. It’s user-friendly, secure, reliable, and scalable. It’s also often more affordable than on-site storage[4].

Why Companies Are Moving From On-Premise Solutions to Cloud Infrastructure

Having on-site physical infrastructure for your data can be costly, including the square footage, maintenance, possibly an in-house IT expert, and extensive protective plans during natural disaster seasons. By migrating your data to cloud hosting services, most of these costs are removed. You do pay for third-party administrators, but overall, the cloud is substantially more cost-effective:

• No need to purchase or maintain hardware

• Scalability, without the worry of physical space capacity

• Around-the-clock system monitoring

• Disaster recovery — gone is the need to secure servers when disasters strikes

• Software and instrument integrations

• High availability

• Global coverage

• Faster launch times

These are a few of the advantages of implementing a cloud solution. Depending on your industry, cloud hosting solutions can change the entire landscape of how business is conducted.

Ensure Compliance With HIPAA and GDPR

STARLIMS cloud infrastructure keeps data secure — both at rest and in transit. If you work in healthcare or offer services in the European Union, rest assured that our hosting services comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act[5] (HIPAA) and the General Data Protection Regulation[6] (GDPR).

In addition, you have control over many elements of your data storage, such as where it’s stored and managing your own encryption keys.

Increased Efficiency and Productivity

Cloud hosting can also provide heightened efficiency and standardized processes.

An example is the Precision Diagnostics case study[7]. They conduct saliva and urine drug testing for a wide range of physicians and employers; and the cloud platform has afforded them with a way to streamline their workflows by integrating with all of their electronic medical records.

These benefits aren’t limited to laboratories. Cloud infrastructure eliminates delays caused by needing to purchase software or hire additional IT staff. STARLIMS data management adapts to a business’ specific needs, regardless of industry.

Better Authentication Processes for Authorized Users

STARLIMS cloud hosting solutions can be set up to restrict user access to certain data, based on their role. It also establishes safe password procedures, such as storing them encrypted in a salted hash and locking out individuals who have failed to log in successfully multiple times.

You can also keep meticulous records of who has accessed which information through application audit logs, which show detailed user history and access to files — making it an ideal tool for accountability purposes.

Dynamic Environment for Business Scalability

Businesses are not stagnant. You want to be able to evolve without having to worry about whether your infrastructure will have to be updated with every minute change. STARLIMS cloud solutions adapt to your CPU, storage, throughput, and memory.

Cloud solutions are also customizable. You purchase them based on your needs. This includes purchasing your infrastructure on a subscription basis or pay-as-you-go pricing.

Solutions that Include Fully Managed Services

Maintenance and support are included in your recurring payments. So you don’t have to worry about handling IT issues, recurring security concerns, or downtime.

Cloud hosting comes with fully managed services and network administration. This includes monitoring threats, detecting and patching vulnerabilities, data backup, system maintenance, comprehensive disaster recovery plans, and system maintenance.

Choose STARLIMS for All Your Cloud Hosting Needs

There are many companies on the market that offer cloud hosting in a variety of packages with

multiple options for optimizing data management. With all of the available options, how do you know which one is right for your laboratory’s needs?

STARLIMS was reported as one of the top ten purchased cloud infrastructures for 2020, according to the Astrix Market Research Report[8], the largest technology marketplace.

Contact us to learn more about our hosting solutions.

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