Epic System’s decision to transition its Nebula and Cogito offerings to Microsoft Azure signifies a notable shift in the healthcare technology sector, with one of the largest, proprietary electronic healthcare record providers in the world aligning itself on definitive terms with a single cloud platform.
As previously observed, this ongoing development has left healthcare payers and provider systems not currently operating on Azure-centric data architectures in something of a bind—either to migrate off of their existing technology stacks to facilitate smoother integration of the patient records they need for daily operations, or to pursue multi-cloud strategies that allow them to continue leveraging the capabilities of their existing AWS, Snowflake, and/or Google Cloud Platform without risking their ability to use Epic data.
Multi-Cloud Architectures: A Growing Necessity for AWS and Snowflake Customers?
Epic’s move to an Azure-centric model compels AWS and Snowflake users to rethink their cloud strategies and architectures. For some, this will mean reevaluating the synergies and requirements that led them to choose these architectures in the first place, and for many it may even initiate migrations to Microsoft Fabric as their central cloud platform as they scramble to maintain footing in a shifting technological landscape.
For others, a reticence to give up the features and benefits of their existing data infrastructures will mean revisiting—or even considering for the first time—what a multi-cloud future might look like. Savvy data leaders, meanwhile, are already coming to terms with the fact that disruptions like Epic’s move to Azure may not be one-off occurrences, and will turn to multi-cloud strategies as a way to maintain agility and vendor-agnostic autonomy.
At Hakkoda, we understand that the era of “future-proofing” data architecture is coming to an end. As artificial intelligence continues to accelerate the rate of change in an already tumultuous marketplace, healthcare enterprises with already narrow margins can’t afford to be reactionary or lay out data strategies that lose relevance with the emergence of the next big thing.
We expect to see an uptick in the deployment of multi-cloud strategies for this exact reason—as the choice to go multi-cloud can go a long way in preventing vendor lock-ins up front, allow healthcare systems to remain agile, and provide meaningful choices about the best services and applications for their needs.
These strategies can also significantly bolster uptime and business continuity as systems continue to merge and expand across larger and larger geographical areas.
Enter Apache Iceberg and a New Epoch for Multi-Cloud Architectures
The emergence of tools like Apache Iceberg, meanwhile, signifies a significant advancement in the tenability of multi-cloud strategies.
Apache Iceberg allows for more efficient data management and seamless integration between various cloud environments, making it easier for healthcare providers to optimize their data architectures while staying vendor agnostic.
Snowflake and Microsoft have made no secret about advancing their capabilities to support cross-cloud data sharing, and anticipated updates from both platforms to better support Iceberg storage can be counted on to further simplify data workflows and integration across clouds and their orbiting tech stacks.
Effective use of these tools will allow data leaders to bridge the gap between different cloud systems in ways that simply weren’t possible a few years ago, and will allow these same leaders to avoid the scenario where they have to migrate to Microsoft Fabric just to retain access to their EHRs.
This last point is particularly important for organizations that have already made considerable investments in Snowflake, AWS, or GCP architectures, or who rely on integrated data from multiple sources to make informed healthcare decisions.
Why One Cloud is Not Enough: The Risks and Limitations of Going Fabric Exclusive
Microsoft Fabric offers a sleek user interface and impressive integration capabilities. For all of the reasons above, however, relying solely on one cloud platform can present limitations for healthcare organizations while posing undue risk.
The diverse data needs of healthcare payer and provider organizations, including the ability to integrate EHR data with sources like Workday, medical devices, and supply chain systems, require a more versatile approach.
While Fabric attempts to unify a patchwork of services from across the Microsoft ecosystem, its effectiveness in connecting these diverse data streams “under the hood” has already raised some concern.
Microsoft’s move to a consumption-based pricing model, meanwhile, introduces the likelihood of further disruption. While this model, as advertised, can potentially offer cost savings to healthcare payers and providers, right now it mostly translates into difficulties forecasting storage and compute expenses.
Predicting long-term costs under a consumption-based approach can be a complex undertaking, requiring a keen understanding of usage patterns and strategic planning—all of which is virtually impossible at this stage in Fabric’s proposed shift.
In addition to weighing their reliance on Epic EHRs against other features and capabilities in their existing data stacks, Healthcare organizations must also carefully consider how this new pricing structure aligns with their operational and financial goals before choosing to migrate their data.
The Future is Multi-Cloud: Why Snowflake and AWS Remain as Relevant as Ever
Despite Epic Systems increasing focus on Azure, Snowflake and AWS continue to play a critical role in the healthcare payer and provider ecosystem.
Snowflake’s powerful data capabilities enable healthcare providers to integrate and analyze data from a multitude of sources beyond traditional EHR systems, achieving 360-degree views of patients or plan members that tell a bigger story than electronic health records alone. These insights, in turn, enhance patient outcomes and drive operational efficiencies.
AWS, with its unmatched array of cloud services and global infrastructure in its orbit, is also likely to remain a cornerstone for many healthcare organizations. This robust ecosystem supports diverse healthcare applications, from data storage to advanced machine learning models—and yes, the latest AI use cases.
The flexibility offered by both platforms is crucial in an industry where data needs are continually evolving. By incorporating Snowflake and AWS into their multi-cloud architectures and data strategies, healthcare organizations can harness the best of both worlds, ensuring that they remain agile and responsive to the dynamic requirements of the next technological wave.
Taken alone, Epic’s decision to move Nebula and Cogito to Microsoft Azure might be read as one more revolution of the data platform treadmill. Another day, another migration. But taken in the context of other accelerating changes, it becomes a cautionary tale of the risks incurred by leaning too heavily on any tech stack monolith—even Microsoft.
Ready to build flexibility and agility into your next data strategy by going multi-cloud? Talk to one of our experts today.
