Introduction
The company faced three interlinked hurdles:
High Licensing Costs: SQL Server fees pushed the total cost of ownership beyond reach for small and mid-sized prospects.
Infrastructure Lock-in: The DM application ran on Windows-based AWS instances, restricting flexibility. The company wanted a Linux-compatible environment to reduce infrastructure costs.
Missed Market Opportunity: Without a cost-effective offering, the company risked losing a new market segment to competitors.
Barriers to Scale
The company faced three interlinked hurdles:
- High Licensing Costs: SQL Server fees pushed the total cost of ownership beyond reach for small and mid-sized prospects.
- Infrastructure Lock-in: The DM application ran on Windows-based AWS instances, restricting flexibility. The company wanted a Linux-compatible environment to reduce infrastructure costs.
- Missed Market Opportunity: Without a cost-effective offering, the company risked losing a new market segment to competitors.
Migration Strategy: From SQL Server to PostgreSQL
Instead of ripping and replacing the entire stack, HealthAsyst helped the company introduce PostgreSQL as an alternative backend, while keeping a single codebase. The idea was simple: existing enterprise customer stay on the SQL Server, while newer clients get a leaner, cost-effective, Linux-friendly option.
Inside the Migration Journey
Discovery and Mapping: The first phase began with meticulous discovery and mapping. Team HealthAsyst began by cataloguing all SQL Server database objects to understand the full scope of the translation.
The solid groundwork done at this stage enabled precise one-to-one mapping plan, helping avoid surprises later in the project.
Automated Conversion and Hand-tuning: Next, came the actual conversion. At this phase, we used a blend of migration tools and custom scripts, to re-create schema elements in PostgreSQL.
This phased approach resulted in 100% schema parity between the two environments.
Stored Procedure Rewrite: A critical part of the process involved translating SQL Server stored procedure into PostgreSQL functions. Instead of adopting a simplistic lift-and-shift approach, the team evaluated each procedure to improve clarity, maintainability, and runtime performance within the new database environment.
This approach avoided the technical debt typically caused by lift-and-shift migrations. It also ensured that the new codebase is easier to extend.
Iterative Testing: We carried out rigorous testing throughout the process to validate type mappings, confirm data integrity, and ensure record completeness across both database environments.
Disciplined testing done across all phases ensured that the go-live phase proceeded without production issues.
Headline Impact: $30,000 license savings and dual-database flexibility
By modernizing the DM application, Team HealthAsyst achieved clear, measurable outcomes for the customer in a short span of four months.
- The most immediate benefit was a substantial reduction in licensing costs. The company could save approximately $30,000 by switching to PostgreSQL for new deployments.
- The company could achieve the return on investment made in achieving dual-database flexibility by onboarding just one customer from the new target segment.
- The switch to a Linux-compatible setup also helped reduce operating system expenses on AWS. Consequently, the company achieved a significant lowering of the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
- Further, beyond cost savings alone, the go-live was flawless with zero production issues.
- From a performance standpoint, the revamped application now processes over 1,000 clinical documents weekly and is built to scale as volumes grow.
Unlock Value with HealthAsyst
At HealthAsyst, we bring deep U.S. healthcare domain expertise and a structured engineering approach perfected over the last 25+ years to every modernization journey. From database migrations to full-stack overhauls, our solutions are built for performance, cost-efficiency, and scalability.
Let’s talk about how we can transform your legacy systems into growth enablers.
To discuss your Technlogy Transformation needs, please write to us at itservices@healthasyst.com.
