The noise surrounding private cloud usage in healthcare continues to grow louder by the day. We’ve seen this structure implemented in some industries over the past few years, while other industries with stringent regulations, like healthcare and finance, are carrying out implementation at a slower pace.
But what exactly is a private cloud? Simply put, it’s just how it sounds: a cloud infrastructure that’s accessible exclusively by one company or organization. It exists as an alternative to the more common public cloud. Both of these infrastructures are under the umbrella of cloud computing: the on-demand delivery of compute power, database storage, applications, and other IT resources through a cloud services platform via the internet with pay-as-you-go pricing.
Many research teams may find themselves evaluating if a private cloud would be a better fit than a public cloud for their organization’s needs. While there are pros and cons to both, a number of benefits behind the private environment make it ideal for cloud-based clinical trials. This applies to sponsors, CROs, and academic research teams alike. Dive into this post to discover the different ways a private cloud offers enhanced clinical trial performance.
Increased security and data privacy
For industries that gather and hold sensitive data, security is paramount. Private cloud storage offers some added security measures to clinical research beyond the already-robust specifications of modern shared cloud environments. First, because it is an isolated database, this means only data being collected by your organization will be stored. Data belonging to other organizations will never be present or accessible in this private environment.
Furthermore, private clouds can be chosen in location and configured in customized ways for organization in need of much more stringent security requirements. It also allows for an internal IT team to take control of the monitoring and reporting.
Speed
Another added perk of private clouds for clinical trials is improved speed. Since only a single organization’s studies run on its own server, loading and operating speeds are noticeably faster. The system hardware can even be configured with the specifications needed by the organization, rather than relying on the software vendor who may be limited to what they can do with a public cloud based on software pricing models for the broader market.
Private clouds also allow research teams to house data geographically closer to where the study is actually being conducted. This makes it ideal for international clinical trials or studies that are currently experiencing some lag due to a faraway database. It also provides added reassurance that the studies will adhere to regulatory standards in the respective country where the private cloud exists.
Scalability
Scalability is a major consideration for organizations that anticipate growth in the number of studies they will be conducting. Another factor may be the amount of data they’ll be needing to store. The ability to increase the amount of storage is crucial. Likewise, being able to downsize as needed allows organizations to operate at a lower cost.
Reduced costs
In the long run, private cloud-based clinical trials will see significant cost savings. For organizations running a higher volume of studies, adopting this cloud infrastructure becomes particularly cost-effective. The more studies live on a cloud, the more savings will result.
TrialKit may be used to collect and store data on a private cloud. Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) RDS is our relational database of choice. However, we’re equipped to set up clouds with Google and other providers. A hybrid cloud may also be configured upon request.
Additionally, studies being conducted using TrialKit on a private cloud still receive system updates as they are released. This way, studies are always running on the latest version of the platform. Get in touch with us today to learn more about hosting clinical trial data in a private cloud.
