Savings of $100 Million per year? Yes please.
When the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) joined the cloud, the benefits were immediate and obvious.
Through a previous partnership, RSDC had transitioned the overburdened VA from an outdated, paper-based, backlogged system to a digital claims process that reduced wait times from an average of eighteen months to just three. VA staff were free to get people the help they needed more quickly, and with less frustration and strain. You can read more about that here. With the new system in place, the staff were free to get back to the important, high quality work they had joined the VA to do. Morale improved as disabled veterans began getting the help they needed more rapidly and far more easily. RSDC engineers then focused on the strain being placed on the servers that housed the data.
The Boiling Point
With thousands of claims in process every month, each with dozens of documents, space continued to run out and new servers were added – as were the expenses. An additional, significant challenge existed in the vast geographical nature of the organization: currently, VA offices exist in all states and territories, and claims specialists from Maine to Guam need to have real time access to the same records. The health and wellbeing of our veterans depend on it. At the same time, the security of the data is of paramount importance. The new system design needed to be infallibly secure, without affecting availability and performance.
Hurdles
Although it was clear that change needed to happen, a major hurdle was acceptance. The security of the data in the system was of utmost importance to VA leadership and the RSDC team alike. The new infrastructure would need to balance efficiency with mandated levels of security. Like many, VA leadership were wary of the structure which, on the surface, seems to carry greater risk. With a shared steadfast commitment to the security of veteran’s claim information, RSDC’s team and VA staff partnered to ensure a bulletproof, useable infrastructure. RSDC led discussions, training sessions, and kept channels open to help everyone understand that most aspects of the interface they had come to know and love would remain unchanged. Ultimately, when staff experienced the system on the cloud, they quickly realized that it was the same as before, but faster, more responsive, and made their tasks easier.
Cost Savings
And at the bottom line, the solution saved money. A lot of money. Without sacrificing security, system performance, or staff experience, switching to the cloud saved the VA $100 million per year, beginning on the day of implementation. That’s a lot of taxpayer dollars that became free to support veterans in other meaningful ways.
Are you ready to see what the cloud can do for you? Contact us today to schedule your complimentary consultation!
