We care a lot

Published: July 21, 2021
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Taking care to another level

If there’s one thing the recent Netflix hit “I Care a Lot” starring Rosamund Pike has taught us, it’s the importance of IT security in a healthcare facility. A good network solution can achieve that and much more: higher operating efficiency and reliable connectivity. And this is exactly what Extreme managed to provide for Cordaan, one of the largest healthcare providers in the Netherlands!

Cordaan Group was established more than 10 years ago, as a result of the merger between Verenigde Amstelhuizen and IJlanden foundations, later joined by the AGO Foundation, Amsterdam Thuiszorg, and the Jewish elderly care institution Beth Shalom in early 2014.

Today, Cordaan provides care to approximately 20,000 citizens across 120 locations in every district of Amsterdam and its metropolitan area, including Diemen and Huizen municipalities, as well as the town of Nieuw-Vennep. The company's 6,000 employees and 2,500 volunteers, in association with numerous research institutes and social organizations, offer a range of healthcare services in managed healthcare facilities and patients’ homes. Cordaan aims to help anyone in need of care, support or guidance: elderly residents with dementia or physical ailments, children and adults with learning disabilities and/or mental health issues.

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In its capacity as one of the largest care organizations in the Netherlands, Cordaan aspires to lead the way in developing long-term care in the country’s capital area. In order to meet increased connectivity demands from guests, enable secure use of connected medical devices, optimize operating efficiency and enable effortless network management across all 120 locations, Cordaan decided to advance its network solution.

And what better partner to help a care sector client achieve these goals than a company that literally makes IT personal again?

Pink Elephant has been a long-time system integrator for Cordaan, handling most of the their IT. Thanks to a smart combination of Extreme solutions and understanding of the customer's operations, Pink Elephant offered Cordaan’s IT team exactly what they needed. This modernization project is one of the brightest examples of the Pink Elephant’s commitment to high quality and personal approach.

The pandemic has proven that IT has become extremely personal in care facilities. High quality networking facilities are essential. That is why we partner with Extreme.

Rob van Rinsum, CEO, Pink Elephant

Scalable connectivity

With network traffic increasing over time, the existing infrastructure was under a significant strain. Intent on further improving patient care, Cordaan turned to Pink Elephant to replace its legacy network with a lean, infrastructure orchestrated centrally via Extreme’s wireless cloud-enabled solutions.

Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital (ETZ) is another large healthcare organization in the Netherlands using Extreme solutions - check this story, too!

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Purpose-built for today's distributed enterprise, ExtremeWireless Wi-Fi 6 cloud-managed access points and ExtremeSwitching technology, including the 5520 universal platform, are deployed throughout Cordaan's network, ensuring reliable and scalable connectivity for staff, patients, and visitors wherever they are located. The company deployed 3,000 access points and 650 switches, ranging from the VSP7400 and 5520 to 5420 series, across multiple buildings.

Rob Bergfeld, Managed ICT Services at Cordaan, explains the choice.

Everything we do at Cordaan is focused on giving our patients the most comfortable experience as well as the most advanced treatments and care.

Rob Bergfeld, Managed ICT Services, Cordaan

"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 our visitors and staff can continue to experience reliable connectivity”, Rob Bergfeld adds.

Today, with Extreme's industry leading cloud-driven technology in place, Cordaan can easily scale its network to support bandwidth intensive applications and keep personal and medical IoT devices running safely and securely across all of the organization’s locations.

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Seamless and secure cloud network management

To keep advanced medical devices running safely and securely, 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 its expanding number of network devices and services.

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. In fact, Private Client Groups (PCGs) in the ExtremeCloud IQ proved to be one of the most decisive factors behind Cordaan choosing Extreme.

“In the past, the user brought its own connection and set up its own SSID to have internet, thus creating a lot of channel interference on the SSIDs in the vicinity. Private Client Groups basically enable users to have their own network within a larger network, with only one SSID and one channel plan. With PCGs you can have one SSID with different network policies and passwords, as many as there are users, completely segmented, but all supporting coverage and density for all”, explains Paulo Ferrada, Senior Account Executive at Extreme Networks.

It is a great feature for residents or long-term care patients, since they can add their own devices to the network. With this functionality, Cordaan can offer client services like Internet, television, telephony, but can also implement patient-aligned content rules and filters.

Paulo Ferrada, Senior Account Executive, Extreme Networks

And so, a potential breach can now be easily contained to a single section of the network without affecting others, and access to sensitive information in a particular segment can be limited. Vulnerability and attack risks are further eliminated as Extreme access points offer dedicated, dual-band sensor scans for rogue devices. What’s more, Cordaan can now leverage open-standard APIs on its network to guide desired business intelligence and workflow decisions.

Simplified network maintenance and optimized costs

With Extreme Fabric Connect, upgrading and adding new devices and services to Cordaan's distributed network is now automated. The auto-configuration of the devices or persons on the network helps to lower the reliance on IT specialists to run, maintain, and troubleshoot the network.

Thanks to the new cloud-based solutions, the improved level of operating efficiency not only enables Cordaan's IT staff to spend more time on new initiatives to provide the patients with the best possible experience, it also reduces the cost of network management, the pressure on the team and, in turn, the risk of human error.

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 the aforementioned ExtremeCloud IQ.

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The future of care

By replacing its legacy infrastructure with flexible and cost-effective solutions, Cordaan can scale and upgrade the network to help offer patients the best possible care, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. "IT is the unseen backbone of any great healthcare organization. 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”, explains Henk Bretveld, Country Manager Benelux at Extreme Networks.

Transitioning to and managing a secure and high-quality networking environment in 120 locations is a challenge. The solutions that Extreme offers are a perfect fit.

Rob van Rinsum, CEO, Pink Elephant

As the hospital footprint expands and more users, applications, and IoT medical devices are added to the network, Cordaan’s cloud-managed infrastructure will be more than prepared to meet future needs. “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", Rob Bergfeld adds.

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The transition to a cloud-managed infrastructure effectively future-proofs Cordaan’s network, providing the organization with the flexibility to scale network connectivity alongside the needs of their patients. “By deploying the ExtremeCloud IQ management platform and cloud-driven networking technologies across hundreds of locations in the Netherlands, Cordaan can guarantee its staff has the tools and technologies in place to meet patient needs and provide the best possible care", Henk Bretveld sums up.

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