Whakarongorau Aotearoa (New Zealand Telehealth Services) will switch to a new cloud host at the end of this year.
It was announced that the government agency will be an anchor tenant of IT giant Microsoft’s upcoming hyperscale cloud in New Zealand.
Whakarongorau has been providing free, publicly funded, 24-hour national telehealth services through seven digital channels since 2015. It operates more than 30 telehealth services, including COVID-19, mental health and domestic violence support, with 12 clinical teams. .
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
According to a press release, the organization will integrate its core telehealth system, provided by Valentia Technologies, into a single platform in Microsoft’s zero-trust cloud region.
The move comes a year after Whakarongorau completed its Contact Center Platform Replacement project, which aims to modernize its telehealth operations.
In line with its digital strategy, this transfer to the Microsoft Azure region allows Whakarongorau to focus on the next phase of modernization: Using advanced analytics and AI tools that improve operational efficiency and help deliver service ‘at scale’. These include tools for real-time call transcription and customer sentiment analysis.
“This agreement with Microsoft will enable us to deliver secure, seamless services across digital and AI platforms so we can meet the needs of New Zealanders wherever they are,” Whakarongorau CIO Mike Mulvaney said in a statement .
THE GREATER CONTEXT
Microsoft first announced its plan to set up a regional cloud data center in New Zealand in 2020. Spark Business Group’s first local partner, IT and hybrid cloud service provider CLC, was unveiled in June this year.
Before the official launch of the hyperscale data region, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), which provides national personal injury insurance, became the first organization in New Zealand’s healthcare system to sign a three-year cloud agreement with Microsoft in 2021. Even earlier, during the height of the pandemic in 2020, the company supported healthcare organizations in the country with their adaptation and recovery by offering Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare – a suite of cloud applications and tools for healthcare.
Microsoft is half the contractor on Te Whatu Ora’s national hybrid cloud project, which aims to migrate its IT systems to the cloud. Cloud migration is one of the most important initiatives taken by the government following its decision to do so limit ICT implementations and opt for ‘fewer, more robust’ platforms. It had exposed a patchwork of more than 4,000 outdated clinical and business applications, which were becoming costly to maintain.
In addition to signing a government-wide service contract with Microsoft in 2021, the Ministry of Health also struck a separate deal with the IT giant to help enhance the cybersecurity capabilities of the healthcare system.