Certain healthcare organizations have been slow to embrace cloud computing despite its proven benefits, largely due to security concerns. But cloud caution will also likely hinder the healthcare sector’s adoption of Generative AI (GenAI) applications. Healthcare IT leaders can make a business case to optimize the organization’s cloud and GenAI investments to enable GenAI applications.
An experienced systems integrator paired with a hyperscaler – such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Microsoft Azure – can help healthcare IT leaders achieve these goals. This alliance can create a tailored package of ready-to-use, scalable infrastructure; a battery of cloud services; in-depth security; health-care specific platforms; and AI expertise.
How Cloud capabilities can satisfy GenAI requirements
Cloud computing offers a host of capabilities that directly enable GenAI applications:
- Advanced security: Cloud solutions, such as Microsoft Azure Confidential Computing, can deliver numerous advanced security and privacy features, including those specific to healthcare compliance and liability. These features are essential for building trust with patients by safeguarding data while leveraging it for GenAI applications.
- Scalability: Computational power and massive data storage are critical for training and hosting GenAI large language models. The cloud is designed for exactly such demands. Healthcare organizations can leverage large and diverse cloud data sets and pre-trained, state-of-the- art model catalogs, in turn simplifying GenAI deployment.
- Data usability: The cloud simplifies consolidation and curation of large volumes of healthcare data, allowing it to be more easily served for advanced analytics, machine learning, and GenAI applications.
- Cost efficiency: GenAI applications have varying compute power requirements. The cloud lets healthcare organizations optimize costs by scaling resources up or down based on current needs.
Optimizing cloud environments for GenAI
To effectively deploy GenAI, healthcare IT leaders should consider the following steps to optimize their cloud environments:
- Prioritize security and compliance. Make the most of security services available in your cloud solution. AI presents its own unique security concerns that your solution partners must address. Confirm your solution partners are fully versed in all relevant healthcare regulations.
- Critically and objectively evaluate your cloud provider. The provider should demonstrate expertise in supporting AI workloads and in healthcare.
- Implement a comprehensive data management strategy. Establishing clean, accessible, secure, high-quality data for consumption by AI model training and applications is essential.
- Optimize resources. GenAI application demands can change constantly. Leverage native cloud capabilities, such as auto-scaling, to manage resources optimally.
How TCS accelerates cloud-based GenAI adoption for healthcare
An experienced systems integrator can simplify and accelerate these steps. TCS has a wealth of experience in systems integration, cloud optimization, and AI development. This includes:
- Strategic planning and assessment. TCS conducts a comprehensive evaluation of your current IT infrastructure and cloud environment, focusing especially on data and AI readiness. By identifying gaps and opportunities, TCS helps develop a strategic roadmap for integrating and optimizing GenAI applications in the cloud.
- Implementation of best practices. TCS implements industry best practices for cloud optimization especially in respect of AI. These include setting up an efficient data platform foundation, robust security and a scalable, services-driven architecture optimized for GenAI workloads.
- Competency enablement. TCS provides training to equip your IT team with the necessary knowledge and skills to manage and optimize cloud environments for GenAI.
The bottom line
By leveraging the expertise of a systems integrator like TCS, healthcare IT leaders can ensure their cloud architecture is optimized to enable and accelerate GenAI adoption.
To learn more, visit https://www.tcs.com/what-we-do/services/cloud/microsoft.
