Case Study: IT Transformation

How HPAE Retired Unsupported Servers and Secured 60 Users Across Four Offices

Founded in 1974 by nurses from Englewood Hospital, the Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) is New Jersey’s largest healthcare union, representing over 12,000 nurses and medical workers. HPAE is committed to raising standards for healthcare across New Jersey and nationwide. Its members collaborate with community leaders and elected officials to improve access to affordable, high-quality patient care, advance professional practices, and enhance working conditions for healthcare professionals.

HPAE consistently faced challenges including limited tech support, vulnerable data, outdated technology, inefficient workflows, and frequent interruptions. After meeting with HPAE and conducting a thorough analysis of their IT environment, Powersolution identified several critical issues that neededimmediate attention.

The Challenge

Unsupported Servers: IT security represented a major risk to the organization, with one physical server and four virtual servers that were unsupported – resulting in a lack of operating software security updates and associated cybersecurity-
Mishandled Applications: Poorly managed Microsoft 365 and 3rdparty application workflows, including Cloud storage resulted in constant issues with the login process and data access, interfering with the establishment of common policies and procedures.
Outdated Technology: The hardware security solutions that were supposed to protect the perimeter of the main and satellite locations were outdated, presenting vulnerabilities to HPAE’s exposure to great data risks.
Inadequate Data Management: Lack of efficient data storage and a recovery solution created disruption in several workflows, for example, those associated with litigationrelated documents.

Our Approach

Keeping HPAE’s goals and procedures in focus, we developed a comprehensive action plan: standardizing policies and procedures, tackling critical challenges, and executing a seamless, zero-downtime transition to a Managed IT and Managed Security Services model.

What We Implemented

Improved Servers and Systems Support

HPAE’s IT environment was stabilized and secured in the Cloud, reducing reliance on aging on-premises infrastructure and eliminating the need for costly server hardware and software investments.

Minimized Risks

The entire IT environment was migrated to Azure Virtual Desktop, working in combination with Microsoft 365. This facilitated improved and secure connection, storage capacity, and communication options for computer users when working in-office or remotely.

Managed Applications

End-of-Life servers were decommissioned, shifting all workloads to the Cloud

Enhanced Storage and Recovery

HPAE’s data and applications were transitioned to a more secure and reliable Cloud environment, providing employees with secure access to essential systems and data while improving storage, accessibility, and business continuity.

IMMEDIATE BENEFITS OF IT TRANSFORMATION FOR HPAE

We helped HPAE close vulnerability gaps, safeguard critical data, and stabilize and enhance their IT infrastructure. The result: a more secure environment and increased productivity for HPAE team members.

In the client's words

“The powersolution team helped us to analyse the HPAE IT environment to create and implement a specific plan to upgrade our infrastructure and establish a high level of data security while establishing efficient policies and procedures for user workflows and data storage. We have been extremely pleased with the proactive and highly responsive day to-day and strategic support that we have received from powersolution supporting our users, securing our data, and aligning IT with the business needs of the organization. I highly recommend powersolution.”