One of the healthcare providers in the Netherlands, Cordaan, has deployed its clinical-grade, cloud-driven networking solutions, supported by Extreme Networks, Inc.
Cordaan’s aim has been to optimise operating efficiency, bolster security, and meet increased connectivity demands from people and connected medical devices. With Extreme’s cloud-driven technology in place, Cordaan reports that it can scale its network to support bandwidth-intensive applications and keep personal and medical Internet of Things (IoT) devices running safely and securely across 120 locations.
Cordaan provides healthcare to approximately 20,000 citizens in Amsterdam, Diemen, Huizen and Nieuw-Vennep. The company’s 6,000 employees and 2,500 volunteers offer a range of healthcare services in homes and managed healthcare facilities to help elderly residents, as well as children and adults with learning disabilities and mental health issues.
Key benefits are said to include:
- Scalable connectivity: Purpose-built for today’s distributed enterprise, ExtremeWireless Wi-Fi 6 cloud-managed access points and ExtremeSwitching technology, including the ExtremeSwitching 5520 universal platform, are deployed throughout Cordaan’s network, ensuring secure, scalable connectivity for staff, patients, and visitors wherever they are located. Vulnerability and attack risks are eliminated as Extreme access points offer dedicated, dual-band sensor scans for rogue devices. As the hospital footprint expands and more users, applications, and IoT medical devices are added to the network, Cordaan will be well prepared to meet future needs.
- Seamless and secure cloud network management: The ExtremeCloud IQ network management platform provides Cordaan with end-to-end visibility and unlimited access to data, enabling its IT team to monitor and manage devices and services across its distributed network without the need to travel across the country to individual sites. The healthcare provider can also harness the power of network segmentation to quickly spin-up secure Wi-Fi access for patients and staff as needed, separating critical applications and medical devices to protect them in the event of potential cyberattacks and breaches. Further, Cordaan now has the ability to leverage open-standard APIs on its network to guide desired business intelligence or workflow decisions.
- Simplified network maintenance and optimised costs: With Extreme Fabric Connect, upgrading and adding new devices and services to Cordaan’s distributed network is now automated. This reduces reliance on IT specialists to run, maintain, and troubleshoot the network. Further, Cordaan’s IT team has the flexibility to choose and change the appropriate OS for its 5520 universal platforms based on business needs, and can activate changes via automated, zero-touch deployment using ExtremeCloud IQ. The improved level of operating efficiency enables Cordaan’s IT staff to spend more time on new initiatives to improve the patient experience.
Rob Bergfeld, managed ICT Services, Cordaan says, “Everything we do at Cordaan is focused on giving our patients the most comfortable experience as well as the most advanced treatments and care. As our network is central to achieving this, we needed a secure, agile and resilient cloud-based infrastructure to cope with increased demand from thousands of personal and medical devices so that our visitors and staff can continue to experience reliable connectivity.
Thanks to Extreme’s cloud-driven network technology, our visitors can stay better connected while our team confidently carries out the critical work of caring for and assisting our patients.”
Henk Bretveld, country manager BENELUX, Extreme Networks adds, “IT is the unseen backbone of any great healthcare organisation. Throughout the pandemic, we have seen just how critical a secure, clinical-grade network is to support the users, applications, and devices needed to keep us all healthy. By deploying the ExtremeCloud IQ management platform and cloud-driven networking technologies across hundreds of locations in the Netherlands, Cordaan can guarantee that its staff has the tools and technologies in place to meet patient needs and provide the best possible care.”
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