Just as importantly, unlike on-premise environments that must be kept at peak levels at all times – something that breaks the bank – cloud platforms can be scaled up and down as needed with no CapEx investment. The cloud also serves as a blank slate that is ideally designed for interoperability and the creation of “marketplaces” where the larger ecosystem, including providers and members, can engage on an integrated platform.

A successful payer and hyperscaler partnership requires diligence
Despite these natural synergies, the partnership between payers and hyperscalers still requires significant diligence. Nor is it a simple process, as the popular “lift-and-shift” philosophy falsely conveys. Each payer’s cloud journey should reflect its unique circumstances and technology and business transformation goals. Key factors to keep in mind include:
● The importance of a strong foundation cannot be overstated: Any cloud initiative – whether a payer choosing to move entirely to a cloud-first approach, taking the initial steps in a cloud-based data strategy or beginning to migrate data, requires a strong foundation to ensure success. Detailed, relentless planning is required. This takes time so do not wait too long to get started. The cloud is synonymous with business innovation, but it cannot be “turned on” overnight.

● Choose a healthcare-specific cloud: The major hyperscalers offer clouds designed specifically for healthcare and payers’ workflows. While even the best payer-specific clouds will require significant integration work for any deployment, starting with a healthcare-specific cloud is a must.

● Remember the cloud eliminates many complexities, but it adds new ones, too: It is true the cloud simplifies or eliminates many day-to-day tasks associated with IT, often through automation. Many also point to the redundancy of the cloud and the significant data protection capabilities of hyperscalers no enterprise can match. But the move to the cloud also means the payer will be provisioning and managing access for hundreds of applications – a process very different from locking down an on-premises data center that is difficult for some payers.

● Assume you will ultimately take a hybrid or multi-cloud approach: Whether it is to avoid vendor lock-in, bring select data and workloads “inside” with a private cloud, or simply make use of the unique strengths of hyperscalers, approaching the cloud with a hybrid and multi-cloud approach in mind will ensure payers have more options in the future, and ensure greater nimbleness in mergers and acquisitions, when forming partnerships, and when entering new markets.

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