The Client
BioInfoExperts provides laboratory and analytical services for infectious disease dynamics and molecular surveillance of pathogens. Incorporated in 2012 by employees with decades of experience studying pathogen genetics, its goal is to build collective networks of infection control practitioners, state contact tracers, and hospital and industrial agents to defend communities against covert and high-risk outbreaks.
The Challenge
BioInfoExperts launched its AWS-native application, FoxSeq, in 2019. It didn’t store or process protected health information (PHI) initially, but the goal was to have that capability in the future. Given the sensitive nature of PHI, meeting compliance requirements like HIPAA in AWS was a priority for the BioInfoExperts team.
Initially they worked with a security and compliance partner that performed web penetration testing and audited their security and compliance policies. Still, they wanted more hands-on security services than that company could provide. They wanted continuous monitoring and visibility into how their environment was postured in real time. In addition, they needed a partner with extensive AWS expertise to help them grow safely in the cloud.
The Solution
After conducting their research, the BioInfoExperts team chose Cloudticity as their cloud security and compliance partner because of its extensive AWS and healthcare accreditations and experience. BioInfoExperts was also impressed with the Cloudticity team’s ability to quickly respond to requests and willingness to roll up their sleeves to support business goals and objectives.
Cloudticity deployed Cloudticity Oxygen™ for continuous monitoring and remediation of the BioInfoExpert AWS environment, helping them to achieve and maintain a secure, compliant state. Additionally, the Cloudticity team identified and remediated some key vulnerabilities that the previous partner overlooked, and got their application ready for healthcare.
When BioInfoExperts expressed concern about the security of third-party application integrations, the Cloudticity team helped find and implement solutions to get those API integrations to a HIPAA-compliant state.
“We’ve increased our pace of innovation, and we are more able to take risks because we know we have the support to guide us and alert us if something does go wrong. Before, we were more hesitant because changing one thing can result in changes to many other things.”
– Rebecca Rose, Chief Technology Officer at BioInfoExperts
The Benefits
Now that BioInfoExpert’s application is running safely and securely in AWS, the team can accomplish more and worry less. They can be confident they are meeting the requirements of various compliance and security frameworks and have the real-time intelligence to verify this at any moment.
With Cloudticity’s oversight on the infrastructure side, BioInfoExperts has been able to free up resources and repurpose them. For example, there used to be at least one team member focused solely on security. That person can now shift their attention from security to invest their energy in innovation. As a result of having more resources focused on innovation, BioInfoExperts discovered new use cases for their application. They even uncovered an entirely new revenue line that has opened up opportunities for business growth.
“We’ve increased our pace of innovation, and we are more able to take risks because we know we have the support to guide us and alert us if something does go wrong,” says Rebecca Rose, Chief Technology Officer at BioInfoExperts. “Before, we were more hesitant because changing one thing can result in changes to many other things.”
The most valuable part of the relationship with Cloudticity is their hands on approach and willingness to go all in to help the BioInfoExperts team meet their business goals. From assisting them in managing and minimizing unexpected costs, to going above and beyond to ensure they maximize their utilization of funds, the BioInfoExperts team knows they can count on Cloudticity to support when it matters most.
