Case Study: Ochsner Health System achieves rapid Epic backups and hurricane-resilient patient-data protection with Dell Technologies

Caring for patients and data go together

Ochsner Health System, a fast‑growing network of 140+ hospitals and medical centers, struggled with decentralized storage and unreliable tape backups that made it hard to scale, meet stricter data‑protection rules, and guarantee availability of critical patient records—especially in hurricane‑prone Louisiana. To modernize its infrastructure for Epic, PACS, SQL Server and other apps, Ochsner standardized on a Dell Technologies storage and data‑protection platform (XtremIO, Isilon, Data Domain, ProtectPoint, Data Protection Software and VMware).

Dell Technologies delivered an integrated all‑flash and scale‑out storage and backup solution—XtremIO for high‑performance block, Isilon for file, and Data Domain/ProtectPoint with Data Protection Software and VMware for fast, reliable backups—enabling Ochsner to back up 3,200 VMware clients in under an hour with 98–100% monthly success, cut Epic backup windows from 24 hours to 1 hour, and reduce backup storage by 30–40% through deduplication, while providing predictable growth and continuous operations even during hurricanes.

Ochsner Health System

Willy Schley

Chief Information Security Officer