News Feature | July 31, 2014

Federal Workers: HIT Networks Too Complex

Katie Wike

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

HIT Networks

According to federal workers, the health IT networks they use are too complex and hinder their performance objectives.

MeriTalk surveyed more than 200 federal network managers and their feelings were made clear when it comes to the health IT networks they use: they're too complicated.

“Federal IT networks are expansive and constantly growing, causing agencies to face myriad network management challenges with rising complexity topping the list. More than half of agencies say their network complexity has increased over the past year and it isn't slowing down anytime soon,” says MeriTalk. “The fallout? Almost all – 94 percent – say they have experienced downtime that has impacted agency missions in the last year.”

Sixty-eight percent of respondents believe their network complexity will continue to increase in the next three years. Fifty-four percent said their network complexity has increased in the last year.

iHealth Beat reports the main complexity factors identified by those surveyed:

  • 36 percent of respondents citing more network users
  • 33 percent of respondents citing moving toward server virtualization
  • 32 percent of respondents citing transitioning to cloud computing
  • 30 percent of respondents citing greater use of mobile devices

“Reducing network complexity is a significant opportunity in Federal government data

center transformation,” said Anthony Robbins, VP Federal, Brocade in a press release. “Agencies must move toward open, non-proprietary standards to simplify their networks. The resulting networks should be designed for, and use, products from multiple vendors. This will create a more reliable, lower cost network which is set up to move in the direction of software-defined networking. This modernized network will then provide the IT agility required to better meet agency missions.”

Recommendations from respondents to simplify the network included: Adding bandwidth, increasing redundancy, increasing virtual networking, and moving to open standards.

“The network is the road on which all government information travels,” said Stephen O’Keeffe, founder, MeriTalk in a press release. “Taking the road less traveled by – one with reduced complexity, interoperability, and diversification – will make all the difference, and is critical to agency performance and efficiency.”