Think Research
Think Research is a leading healthcare process optimization company in North America. They develop knowledge-based tools which empower clinicians to deliver the best evidence-based care, thereby driving a better outcome for patients. Think Research connects clinicians, facilities, and entire health care systems with the highest quality clinical content and the technologies to put it into practice.
Health care organizations are facing a growing number of complex challenges including quality improvement policies, constrained funding, disconnected systems, and a constantly expanding base of medical knowledge and information. Navigating and adapting to all this complexity requires new ways of thinking. Think Research provides practical and cost-effective solutions that approach health care industry challenges in new and creative ways. Their health care applications make leading clinical practices more accessible and actionable right at the point of care.
Due to the sensitive nature of the data in the healthcare industry, data security and optimization is critical. A sound database infrastructure provides a solid foundation for the constant innovation and development of patient care applications.
The Challenge
Think Research originally deployed a proprietary fork of PostgreSQL as a solution to their integrated data management needs. However, they lacked a dedicated team for database administration, maintenance, and troubleshooting.
Shortly after implementing the proprietary fork of PostgreSQL as the backend database, Think Research’s management recognized the limitations of vendor lock-in. In order to maintain a sound database infrastructure, it became critical for Think Research to find a company with working knowledge of PostgreSQL for remote DBA services.
In addition to these challenges, being permanently tied to a single vendor resulted in upgrade complications due to lack of binary compatibility with open source PostgreSQL. Without binary compatibility, it became impossible for Think Research to upgrade to the latest version of PostgreSQL according to their schedule, as they were dependent on the vendor’s release cycle. Think Research opts for the most cutting-edge technologies in the development of their applications, so it was of utmost importance to be able to keep up to date with the PostgreSQL releases.
The Solution
Implementing Open Source PostgreSQL eliminates issues related to upgrades, vendor lock-in, and high costs. It also opens up the users to a world of flexibility for professional support & administration.
Think Research reached out to 2ndQuadrant, after receiving a strong recommendation, to help them migrate their database away from the proprietary fork. 2ndQuadrant consultants worked closely with Think Research to examine their database environment and suggest a migration & upgrade process that would reliably move them to open source PostgreSQL. Before the migration could take place, 2ndQuadrant’s consultants also performed a Supportability and Architectural Health Check.
The suggested migration was a two-pronged process, running in parallel, that required the team to:
- Synchronize the data between the proprietary and the community versions with minimal downtime.
- Upgrade PostgreSQL to the current major version (9.6).
Due to the sensitive nature of their data, Think Research chose to have their own system administration team complete the upgrade. 2ndQuadrant consultants provided constant support to help ensure their applications worked flawlessly during and after the migration.
Darace Rose, CIO & Vice President of Information Technology says:
“Working with 2ndQuadrant allowed the team time to focus on our strategic database initiatives while their Remote DBA services delivered the planned operational changes all the while maintaining our highly secure & available system.”
In addition to consultancy and migration services, 2ndQuadrant also initiated a long-term partnership by providing 24/7 Support and Remote DBA services.
About 2ndQuadrant
2ndQuadrant provides PostgreSQL solutions for the Enterprise. Our support engineers have over 100 years of combined code contributions to the PostgreSQL project, making us the only company to contribute enterprise features to all of the last 13 releases. This is paired with 17+ years of hands-on experience through client engagements and allows us to integrate customized solutions with our customers – making 2ndQuadrant the Gold Standard for PostgreSQL products & services.