Macquarie Cloud Services and VITG expand agreement to provide sovereign cloud to Australia’s healthcare industry
Leading cloud provider and MSP tackle complex Australian healthcare data requirements for private hospitals, GPs, physios and more
21 September 2023
Macquarie Cloud Services, part of Macquarie Technology Group (ASX: MAQ), today announced it has expanded an agreement with Virtual IT Group to provide secure private cloud services for its healthcare clients.
Headquartered in Illawarra, New South Wales, Virtual IT Group (VITG) provides managed network, infrastructure, applications, and security services to a range of sectors across Australia. It is a leading managed service provider (MSP) for the healthcare industry, which has some of the most stringent data security requirements of any sector.
To ensure it could enhance its leadership in the industry and satisfy the Australian Digital Health Agency’s recommendation for healthcare providers to keep data in Australia, VITG deployed Macquarie Cloud Services’ Launch private cloud. The company is the only in Australia to have both its cloud and data centre services certified at the ‘Strategic’ level under the Government’s Hosting Certification Framework.
“Healthcare providers are increasingly sensitive to cyber security concerns, particularly given the major breaches we’ve seen in the past year and the fact that it remains the most targeted industry,” said Mark Farrell, Head of Security and Compliance at VITG.
“Clients constantly ask us about where their data is kept, how it’s secured, and where they might be exposed. Macquarie Cloud Services’ baked-in security, sovereignty, and expertise – particularly among its more-than 200 NV1, government data security-cleared personnel – make those questions very easy to answer.”
The deployment has seen Macquarie Cloud Services develop a customised private cloud for VITG in its Launch platform, built on Dell Technologies hardware, which includes security updates and patching, 24/7/365 support, monitoring, provision of insights, and alerts. It also migrated a huge volume of data from VITG’s self-managed data centre to Macquarie Data Centres’ sovereign facilities, with no disruption to workloads or customers.
VITG selected Macquarie Cloud Services primarily for its customer experience expertise, data sovereignty capabilities, and its ability to create customisable cloud environments. Farrell says the system is ideal for larger providers such as private hospitals, but that it can also provide affordable and scalable cloud to smaller GPs, physiotherapists, and more.
“Major private or public cloud deployments are often cost prohibitive and out of reach for smaller healthcare providers,” he said. “But they’re bound by the same data protection requirements, so they need secure cloud. VITG and Macquarie Cloud Services make those services commercially viable, scalable, and secure, and we’ve had multiple requests to stand up more capacity which the team can instantly provide.”
The enhanced agreement comes following Macquarie Cloud Services’ expansion of Launch and promotion of Jonathan Staff to lead its private cloud business. Staff says the fact costs are rising and choice is fading in the cloud market as budgets come under pressure make the partnership even more vital.
“Partnerships with companies such as VITG are essential to the market right now, particularly in a healthcare setting where data is sensitive and must be safeguarded,” he said.
“VITG also embodies the same customer service ethos and ability to serve underserved and overcharged customers which is so important to our business. Together, we’re providing high-quality services while addressing the evolving security and compliance requirements of Australia’s healthcare industry.”
About Macquarie Cloud Services
We are the Australian specialists in cloud services for business and government customers. For more information, visit macquariecloudservices.com
