LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT

RWA Medical defines Life Cycle Management as a total technology philosophy.  We consider all aspects of our clients' technology needs, plans for the future, available technology solutions, and emerging technology solutions.  Our philosophy is to put our clients in a position to optimize their technology investments.

Managing technology goes beyond fixing problems and keeping it stable: It involves future planning.  RWA Medical considers several issues when developing a Life Cycle Management plan for our clients:

• What is the status of current technology hardware and software?
  
• Does the current system meet compliance issues for security?
  
• Are there budgetary constraints?
  
• Is a technology refresh needed?
  
• How can we “Green Up” the system?  Can we design the system to use less power? Would the new “green” hardware be cost effective and work well with the system configuration?
  
• How can outdated hardware and software be recycled or disposed of properly
  taking into consideration the legal, environmental, and monetary requirements?
  
• What is the expected life cycle of each piece of technology and how often does the refresh process need to be repeated?

Most of all, the process of developing a Life Cycle Management plan is not a one sided process.  RWA Medical works with our clients through each of the six phases of development to ensure that the plan is appropriate for their practice.

The development phases of the RWA Medical Life Cycle Management Plan are:

1. Initiation Phase – Identifies and validates that an opportunity to improve the productivity, efficiency, and profitability can be achieved.
   
2. Concept Phase - Ascertains whether an appropriate and cost-effective approach can be developed.
   
3. Detailed Analysis and Design Phase - Further defines and refines requirements to complete high-level technology architecture and logical design.
   
4. Development Phase – Design and develop a final approach.
   
5. Deployment Phase – Plan system installation with minimal impact.
   
6. Operations Phase – Plan routine maintenance and system assessment to determine when the process needs to be repeated.

Contact RWA Medical to learn more about our services and philosophy for Information Technology Life Cycle Management.