Over half of NHS Trusts rely on InterSystems Ensemble as their ESB and TIE. Typically, Trusts end up in one of two situations – they’re on an old version of Ensemble, or they’re on the latest version but they’re not following best practice.
In both cases, it means that they are missing valuable features and benefits which could enhance their systems as well as add functionality which will improve the quality of the integration, improve consistency and ease of maintenance, as well as reduce downtime.
Some Trusts which have Ensemble and have licensed HealthShare Health Connect have not yet implemented it. This means that these Trusts are starving themselves of the extra functionality which can alleviate a lot of their current problems. They are missing out on a number of valuable features such as:
- Certified standards-based interoperability
- Business process and workflow management
- Data transformation
- Event detection and monitoring
- Scalability and security
- Visual diagnostics and auditing
Many Trusts that are using Ensemble are not following best practice – so they have cultivated habits which leave the system in an inefficient state – hard to maintain, and unable to perform to its peak. There are significant benefits to be gained from implementing best practice:
- Easier to implement high availability and new hardware
- Possible to impose suitable governance
- Opens up the possibility of continuous integration, continuous delivery and an operational DevOps environment
- New software can be checked in, tested automatically and put into production rapidly
- Software can be kept up to date to the benefit of all parties
We’ve noticed that many Ensemble clients are so busy keeping current systems running that there is no time left to ensure their Ensemble implementation is running optimally. Many organisations don’t have the in-house skills. As a long-term business partner of InterSystems, we’ve put together a suite of packages to suit you:
1. Review
This service will give you a clear view of your current position, any potential risks you may be facing, and a complete list of recommendations with estimates to give you a clear path ahead.
- General architecture overview
- Interviews with relevant stakeholders
- On-site investigation
- Remediation & recommendations report
2. Upgrade
Options range from a simple upgrade, to doing a more comprehensive overview or a complete remodelling of the environment. Here are the main options:
- Upgrade on the same hardware and minimal testing
- Upgrade on new hardware and extensive comparator testing
- Upgrade on new hardware with architecture and source code review
- Upgrade on new hardware and implement best practice
3. Improve
We’ve accumulated extensive InterSystems expertise and artefacts over the last 10 years. Artefacts can be delivered as part of projects or on a standalone basis – and their value is really unlocked when they are treated as living documents which exist alongside the infrastructure. Some of the most useful InterSystems artefacts we offer are:
- Naming conventions
- Product specific best practices
- Service governance best practices
Contact us to find out what stage you’re at – or just drop your details in the form to the right to download your InterSystems best practices, which will give you our key high level principles for configuration of your InterSystems environment.
