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Scaling with HPE SimpliVity & Derive Technologies
Learn how Allied Services replaced aging three-tier IT infrastructure with HPE SimpliVity HCI — delivered by Derive Technologies through the Intalere GPO — to boost performance and enable healthcare growth.
Overview
Allied Services had a problem most healthcare IT teams know all too well: aging infrastructure quietly becoming a liability while the organization keeps growing.
As a non-profit healthcare network serving northeastern Pennsylvania since 1958, Allied Services needed to replace end-of-life computing assets with a scalable Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) solution, and a technology partner who understood healthcare just as well as hardware.
After a rigorous infrastructure assessment and a phased migration to HPE SimpliVity 380 nodes, Allied's IT environment was transformed: consolidated footprint, stronger performance, and (at long last) a single, accountable technology partner.
Entity Overview
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Client
Allied Services (charter member, Intalere Eastern Alliance)
Industry
Healthcare — multi-facility rehabilitation medicine, long-term care, home health & hospice (Northeast PA)
Core Challenge
End-of-life three-tier IT infrastructure with a vendor relationship no longer delivering value
Primary Solution
Infrastructure Assessment + Phased HCI Migration (HPE SimpliVity 380)
Key Technologies
HPE SimpliVity 380 All-Flash Nodes, HP Healthcare Thin Clients, Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI)
Service Provider
Derive Technologies (MBE Certified)
Why Did Allied Services Need More Than Just a New Server?
Allied Services operates two campuses and several satellite clinics across northeastern Pennsylvania, employing approximately 3,500 people across rehabilitation medicine, long-term care, home health, hospice, and disability services.
The organization is in active growth mode and anticipates steady expansion through acquisition in the coming years. That growth trajectory is exactly what made their IT situation so urgent.
Their existing hyperconverged environment was approaching End of Life (EOL). But hardware replacement was only part of the problem. Allied's current IT vendor had grown unresponsive, and unable to provide the strategic partnership a healthcare organization of this scale actually needs.
The organization faced a compounding set of major IT challenges:
- Infrastructure Obsolescence: Core servers approaching EOL increased the risk of unplanned downtime, a direct threat to patient care operations and Allied's aggressive acquisition-led growth strategy.
- Vendor Fragmentation: Managing multiple specialized IT partners meant no single point of accountability. When something went wrong, finger-pointing and attribution came ahead of a fast resolution.
- Scalability Barriers: The existing three-tier architecture of separate compute, storage, and networking could not seamlessly enable new facilities or workloads without significant cost and complexity.
- Physical Footprint: With plans for continued facility growth, Allied needed a denser, more efficient data center environment without sacrificing enterprise-grade performance.
What Was the Step-by-Step Methodology for the HCI Roadmap?
Derive Technologies recommended a move away from traditional hardware silos toward a hyper-converged environment. Unlike a traditional three-tier setup where compute, storage, and networking all live separately, HCI folds everything into a single, intelligently managed system.
The project followed a structured four-phase sequence:
1. Comprehensive Discovery
Derive began with a full-scope analysis of Allied's existing environment, mapping workload demands and performance metrics to establish a clear, documented baseline.
2. Side-by-Side Solution Comparison
Rather than pushing a single product, Derive compared multiple HCI platforms. Allied Services evaluated the technical merits and financial implications of each option before selecting HPE SimpliVity.
3. Phased Migration — Performance Without Disruption
Phase one deployed four HPE SimpliVity 380 nodes and migrated critical workloads to the new system. Performance improved immediately and the physical data center footprint shrank in the process.
4. Full-Scale Consolidation
Phase two completed the migration, moving the remaining Hc250 cluster to an additional eight SimpliVity 380 nodes (12 total). The all-flash architecture delivers maximum density, efficiency, and headroom to scale as Allied grows.
What Were the Results of the HPE SimpliVity Deployment?
The transition produced immediate, measurable improvements in performance and operational efficiency. By consolidating the hardware stack, Allied's IT team could focus on strategic priorities instead of routine server maintenance.
Why Does a 'One-Stop Shop' Matter So Much in Healthcare IT?
In healthcare, fragmented IT management is an operational risk. When something fails, vendors playing the blame-game while patient-facing systems are down is simply not an option.
The greatest value Allied Services found in Derive was the consolidation of expertise, accountability, and support into a single, trusted relationship.
The new architecture delivered three practical advantages:
- Competitive Pricing: By leveraging GPO membership and Derive's HPE partnership, Allied secured a premium solution at highly competitive rates.
- Proactive Strategic Guidance: Derive's healthcare sector expertise meant recommendations were grounded in real clinical workflows, not just spec sheets.
- A Foundation for Growth: SimpliVity's node-based scalability means Allied can add capacity as they grow, without rebuilding their entire environment.
Derive Technologies continues to serve as a trusted advisor for organizations in the public and private sectors, leveraging their status as a Minority-Owned Business Enterprise (MBE) to deliver high-impact, expert-led IT assessments.
Expert Insights on Healthcare Modernization
“The expertise they bring to the table is something that we’d never had before. We’ve always had to go to different partners or different companies. With Derive, we have a ‘one-stop shop’ where we can say, ‘this is what we need or want to achieve’ and we can count on them to provide the best solution at highly competitive pricing.”
Chris Langley, Vice President of Information Systems
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From streamlined IT operations to enhanced security, these success stories reflect the trust businesses place in Derive Technologies — and the results we deliver every day.
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"IT Initiatives has had a highly positive experience collaborating with Derive Technologies on the Fellowship LIFE project. Your team has successfully implemented our envisioned next-generation network infrastructure, utilized to provide exceptional care and services for our clients’ residents while meeting operational needs and objectives."
“Derive worked with our IT staff, suppliers, and technology partners to optimize a unified solution in far less time and with less expense than we imagined. As trusted partners, they
went above and beyond to secure our systems and ensure our goals were met or exceeded.”
“Our IT infrastructure was on the verge of obsolescence… until Derive Technologies helped us remediate that situation. Collaborating on
an IT roadmap highlighted their insight and ability to modernize our IT environment. Now our systems are faster and ready for future enhancements — and most important, patient data is safer than ever.”
“The HPE SimpliVity solution was precisely what we needed at this point in our company’s evolution. Having the ability to tap into the advantages of cloud computing while adding even greater data security and DR/BU capabilities was something we did not think was possible. But with HPE SimpliVity and the Derive Technologies’ team, it quickly became our new reality.”
“Derive has stepped up to the plate. They understand what healthcare is about. It’s not selling me a server; it’s selling me a service that helps me take care of my patients at the end of the day.”
“The solution far exceeded our expectations in terms of both short-term and long-term business value. Our infrastructure is now the foundation for us to deliver on our commitment to our customers: Get it right the first time, every time.”
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