UPMC Deploys IBM Virtualization

ARMONK, N.Y. -- IBM (NYSE:IBM - News) and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) today announced that the medical center's deployment of IBM virtualization technologies is saving significant IT infrastructure costs and improving productivity, while maintaining high service levels. Virtualization allows customers to increase efficiency by dividing a server into smaller parts or by pooling smaller, individual machines so they can perform as one larger system.

UPMC, a $6 billion integrated health care enterprise, is the largest employer in western Pennsylvania and one of the most renowned academic medical centers in the United States. With 43,000 employees, it comprises 19 hospitals, a network of other care sites, an insurance division, and international and commercial ventures. The IBM virtualization effort is enabling UPMC to accelerate the implementation of its electronic health record system across its extensive network while developing more powerful clinical tools to enhance patient care.

UPMC is a national leader in implementing electronic medical records. The large amount of information generated by these systems requires a powerful, flexible IT infrastructure and an enterprise-wide approach to effectively manage storage, computers, memory, network bandwidth and disk input/output. As a result, UPMC is in the process of replacing HP and Sun Microsystems technology with IBM to create an on-demand data center. UPMC's new data center includes IBM servers, storage and software that feature industry-leading virtualization technology to consolidate and simplify the management of its IT infrastructure.

"Virtualization isn't an option, it's a necessity," said Paul Sikora, vice president of IT Transformation at UPMC. "Considering that IBM and UPMC are only midway through this transformation project, the results have been impressive. We have already proven that standardization, along with aggressive implementation of virtualization, yields unprecedented productivity and efficiency."

IBM Corp.