Public Cloud Software Product Ranking Comparison

Public Cloud

Public cloud provides on-demand computing resources over the internet. It uses a pay-per-use model with features like self-service, resource pooling, and rapid elasticity. Public cloud service models include Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS), offering foundational components, development environments, and application access, respectively.

As the healthcare industry continues to evolve in complexity and scope, many healthcare organizations are making significant investments in their IT infrastructure, including the cloud. These investments are critical for not only maintaining operational efficiency but also enabling cutting-edge innovations such as AI, genomics computing, and digital pathology. This report uses responses from 36 healthcare organizations across care settings to examine the current state of their IT infrastructure, their experience with public cloud providers, their future plans with cloud providers, and their general infrastructure priorities and roadblocks.

Report Abstract

Key Findings:

Many Organizations Have Majority of IT Infrastructure on Premises, yet Public Cloud Usage Is Widespread
Respondents Most Often Use Microsoft Azure as Primary Cloud Provider Because of Microsoft’s Enterprise Offering; AWS Also Strongly Represented
AWS* Seen as Providing Stronger Value & Healthcare Expertise Than Microsoft Azure; Both Perceived Well for Technology & Operations
Future Plans with Cloud Providers—Microsoft Azure & AWS Are Well Positioned; EHR Migrations & AI/Analytics Are Top of Mind
Cybersecurity & Cloud Migration Are Top IT Priorities Due to Rise of Cyber Threats & Need for Modernized Infrastructure

*Limited data

Performance Data

Overall Score by Product

Overall Score by Question Topic

Provider Facility Size by Product

Provider Facility Type by Product

Over the past three years, a growing number of healthcare organizations have started using public cloud providers for their Epic workloads due to the promised benefits of a cloud environment. In 2023, KLAS published a report exploring the decision-making process of organizations considering the public cloud for their Epic environment; since then, several organizations have gone live with their Epic cloud environment. As an update to last year’s insights, this report examines the viability of Epic in the cloud—looking at the success and scalability of cloud deployments, the strengths and weaknesses of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, the benefits organizations have achieved, and the areas where third-party support is used to facilitate the cloud journey. Note: Data for this report was collected from May 2024 to August 2024. At the time of this research, around 30 healthcare organizations in North America were live with Epic workloads in the public cloud; all use either AWS or Microsoft Azure. For this report, KLAS interviewed 18 of those organizations, including 10 clients live with a full Epic production environment.

Perception

Approaches to Moving Epic in the Cloud 2023

21 March 23 | Emily Paxman and Mike Smith

The benefits of public cloud are promising, as many Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft customers (both provider organizations and vendors ) have noted in previous KLAS research. The first health systems using a public hyperscale cloud provider (e.g., AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure) to support their EHR environment in the cloud have begun to go live, and interest in this approach is gaining momentum, particularly among Epic organizations. Most who are pursuing this path are just beginning their journey, but some are actively selecting their public cloud provider and planning next steps. KLAS recently interviewed 10 organizations who are considering moving part or all of their Epic environment to the cloud. This report shares which public cloud providers they are considering, what Epic environments they may move to the cloud, what goals and concerns they have, and what role third-party firms will play in the transition. Note: Epic reports having 6 customers with their full production environment in the public cloud, 97 customers with their full production environment in Epic’s private cloud, and the rest primarily on-premises.

While still early, healthcare is gaining momentum in the move to the cloud. Today, most providers and payers are at least using SaaS technologies, and many are actively exploring other areas of their IT environment that make sense to move to the cloud. This report—the second in a series examining healthcare customers’ experiences with public cloud providers—focuses on healthcare-specific deployments of Microsoft Cloud Technologies , especially Microsoft Azure, which is receiving strong market interest. KLAS previously published research on AWS and plans to publish future research on Google Cloud Platform (GCP). For this study, KLAS spoke to eight healthcare organizations (during late 2021 and early 2022) identified by Microsoft as leading cloud customers. This study is meant to help organizations considering Microsoft Cloud technologies understand their current use, the overall customer experience, and the impact of the solutions. Note: In October 2021, Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare became generally available; this solution was not specifically targeted in this research.

Public Cloud

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