Introduction
A Wisconsin-headquartered healthcare organization approached vLava Data with a mission: modernize their infrastructure, reduce costs, and design a secure hybrid environment capable of scaling AI, cloud, and compliance-driven workloads.
Their existing stack was heavily reliant on a proprietary virtualized environment that had become bloated, inflexible, and cost-prohibitive.
In just 8 months, vLava helped them:
- Migrate from a closed virtualization system to an open-source hybrid cloud stack
- Consolidate 2,000+ physical servers into 1,200 optimized hosts
- Redesign four global data center co-locations to reduce rack footprint by 60%
- Implement intelligent workload placement for AI, IP-sensitive, and cloud-native applications
The Challenge
- Legacy virtualization licensing and maintenance costs were spiraling.
- Poor workload visibility made it hard to determine cloud vs. on-prem value.
- Global data center real estate was underutilized and physically sprawling.
- Compliance concerns prevented wholesale cloud migration for critical workloads.
Our Approach: Strategic Hybrid Infrastructure Design
1. Assessment & Workload Categorization
We launched with a full discovery phase, analyzing 2,000+ workloads to categorize them into:
- On-Prem Only (IP-sensitive/regulated)
- Cloud-Optimized (burstable, non-critical)
- AI-Hungry (GPU-reliant compute)
Each application was scored based on performance profiles, data sensitivity, latency, and projected cost-to-serve.
2. Modernized Open Source Virtualization
We transitioned the core virtual environment to an open-source hypervisor architecture, unlocking licensing flexibility, API integrations, and automation compatibility.
This eliminated proprietary lock-in while boosting automation via Ansible and Terraform.
3. Hybrid Cloud Enablement
We helped deploy a hybrid architecture that integrated:
- AWS and Azure regions
- On-prem Kubernetes and VM infrastructure
- Federated IAM and backup via secure SD-WAN
4. Data Center Footprint Optimization
The project included a global redesign of four existing colocation sites. Using high-density rack configurations, liquid-cooled GPU infrastructure, and space-saving PDUs, we:
- Reduced server count by 40%
- Consolidated 4 sites’ floorplans
- Shrunk the rack footprint by 60%
- Standardized power and cooling layouts
Key Results
| Metric | Before | After |
| Physical Servers | ~2,050 | 1,200 |
| Data Center Rack Footprint | 100+ racks | 40 racks (-60%) |
| Virtualization Licensing Spend | High | 40% reduction |
| Time to Provision New Workloads | 2+ weeks | <24 hours |
| Global Co-Location Sites | 4 | 4 (redesigned) |
Why This Matters
In healthcare, where compliance, speed, and innovation collide, a hybrid infrastructure must do more than just connect systems—it must enable business outcomes.
This transformation helped the client:
- Improve IT responsiveness to R&D, diagnostics, and patient care systems
- Secure critical IP without bloated infrastructure
- Prepare AI teams with ready-to-deploy GPU infrastructure
Why This Matters
Modernizing legacy data centers doesn’t always require ripping everything out. With the right strategy, partners, and tools, organizations can:
- Protect their sensitive workloads
- Embrace the cloud
- Unlock AI compute
- And save space, money, and time in the process.
vLava Data brings the strategic planning, execution muscle, and technology partnerships to make that transformation possible.
Interested in an Infrastructure Optimization Assessment?
📩 Email: strategy@vlavadata.com
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