Overview
RED is the only true SaaS provider in Germany specifically for physicians in private practice.
Branche
Software as a Service (SaaS) for medical and psychotherapy practices
Employees
75+
Customers
>60,000
gridscale products in use
• Public Cloud
• Managed Database
• Managed Kubernetes
• S3-Storage
• Load Balancer
• RESTful API
• Partner Panel
The goal
RED is committed to processing its customers’ sensitive data exclusively at cloud locations within Germany and in accordance with the strict data protection standards of the healthcare industry. At the same time, the software house is looking for a platform with which it can largely automate its software operations.
Challenges
U.S. public clouds are considered technology leaders, while European platforms are considered particularly privacy-compliant. But for RED, an “either-or” is not an option. Is there a cloud platform that guarantees uncompromisingly high data protection standards and at the same time offers innovative automation options up to Infrastructure as Code?
The solution
With the public cloud from gridscale, the SaaS provider has found the perfect match: a broad service portfolio and free selection from certified German and European cloud locations, high availability thanks to redundant security, efficiency through extensive automation – and all this with amazingly simple user guidance and SME-friendly support.
Key Results
Certified security & German data protection standards
Comprehensive automation of software operations
Personal support with top response times
In order to provide our customers with an optimal user experience, we emphasize innovative tools in our cloud platform, such as managed database and container services, load balancers, and Infrastructure as Code.
Jochen Brüggemann, Managing Director of RED
Initial situation and objective
97 percent of German companies benefit today from the advantages of maintenance-free cloud software. For the majority of practicing physicians and psychotherapists, however, this is still a pipe dream.
“What we sometimes see in terms of IT in practices is catastrophic. The users are overwhelmed with the usual industry solutions,” explains Jochen Brüggemann, founder and CEO of RED Medical Systems GmbH. The reason: In most practices, there is still a server running the software that controls the entire practice operation. Without in-house IT specialists, the medical staff must additionally take care of installing updates and securing patient data on backups in the stressful daily routine of the practice, not to mention the daily problems that complex systems cause in in-house operations.
RED is the first software provider in Germany to cut this Gordian knot: because with the server, the main source of IT problems disappears from the practice. Customers of RED Medical use their practice system as Software as a Service (SaaS) from the cloud. There, the software manufacturer takes care of updates and backups itself and guarantees stable application operation.”Our customers simply turn on the computer in the morning and are productive,” says Jochen Brüggemann.
Growth with German public cloud
To date, RED is the only true SaaS provider in its market segment. At best, competitors offer hybrid solutions that cannot do without local server IT in the medical practice. One reason is the sophisticated encryption technology. This technological edge benefited RED during the Corona crisis, when thousands of medical practices and nearly 60,000 psychotherapists subscribed to the video consultation application, making RED the market leader virtually overnight.
During the pandemic, the high-security standards not only convinced medical professionals, but also interested parties from other consulting-intensive industries with sensitive customer data, such as notaries or lawyers. But the condition for this success was that RED had to part ways with its previous cloud provider. The requirements of regulatory authorities demanded a switch to a European or German provider.
Our customers simply switch on their computers in the morning and are productive.
Jochen Brüggemann, Managing Director of RED
Realization
Until then, the Munich-based company had relied on one of the major U.S. public clouds. “Hyperscalers undoubtedly offer the most sophisticated development pipeline. For us as a SaaS provider, that was the natural choice ten years ago. When we switched to a European platform, we certainly didn’t want to be slowed down technologically,” emphasizes Jochen Brüggemann. Accordingly, the wish list was long when looking for a local provider:
» Only providers with cloud locations in Europe, or even better in Germany, compliant with German data protection standards and ISO-certified were considered.
» Medical practices need to have confidence in outsourcing their IT. In technical terms, this means reliability through redundancy and high availability through scalable architectures and automation.
» As a cloud-native company, RED knows how to exploit the potential of platforms. “In order to provide our customers with an optimal user experience, we emphasize innovative tools such as managed database and container services, load balancers and Infrastructure as Code,” says Brüggemann.
» When it came to technical support, RED still saw room for improvement with the former cloud provider. “As a medium-sized software company, we appreciate the short distances to our technical suppliers,” says Brüggemann.
Competition with deficits in technology and service
RED shortlisted the largest cloud providers in the German market. A leading telecommunications brand proved to be too bureaucratic: Technically, there was a lack of support for IPv6, and the urgently needed load balancers were limited in terms of data throughput. A large web hoster did not support a multi-zone security system, which RED requires to run customer databases in three separate locations. A well-known server hoster offered the lowest price, but lacked automation options, redundant security and personal support.
A Google search revealed the best alternative, recalls Brüggemann. Cologne-based cloud specialist gridscale surprised the software house with its mix of data protection, select but effective cloud tools and ease of use. “The move of our SaaS environment was surprisingly fast,” recalls Brüggemann. “Onboarding was super easy. Within six weeks we had completed the entire migration, and this period even includes the extensive pre-tests of the cloud platform,” says Brüggemann.
Summary
RED has been running its systems on gridscale’s public cloud for a good year and a half. In his conclusion, Managing Director Brüggemann is very satisfied with the platform change: “Today, we can automate everything: We set up infrastructure and database services directly by code command. That makes everything even faster and more efficient.”
Three-zone security concept, load balancer, managed database and managed Kubernetes: “The public cloud is optimal for SaaS providers from medium-sized businesses like us,” explains Brüggemann.Unlike hyperscalers, RED also does not have to provide any
fear long-term dependency. “In the past, we limited ourselves to standard functions in the cloud to avoid vendor lock-in.
The gridscale concept, on the other hand, focuses on simplicity and standards and is optimized for the tools that are really relevant,” he says. The customer service of the cloud provider has also convinced the IT professional: “In contrast to the hyperscalers, but also to large providers in Europe, with gridscale we benefit from real eye-to-eye contact with medium-sized businesses. The support is always available and provides qualified answers in top time,” praises Brüggemann.
Data protection and innovation are not opposites
Except for the original version of its practice software, RED has now moved its entire solution portfolio to gridscale’s public cloud. The new platform proved its worth for the SaaS provider during its rapid growth in the Corona era. Thanks to a dynamically breathing infrastructure, RED was able to scale its value-added services at short notice and technically support more than five million privacy-compliant video consultations during the pandemic alone. Today, RED no longer has to choose between innovation and security in the cloud. “With gridscale, we have an infrastructure that supports our growth in Germany and, in the long term, in Europe as well,” says Brüggemann.
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