Veracity Solutions Blog

Your source for the latest news on Veracity Solutions and key insights on cloud adoption, becoming a data-driven business, and customer-centricity in highly-regulated industries.

Solving Business Problems with Staffing Augmentation

In today's dynamic business landscape, companies face a multitude of challenges that can hinder their growth and success. From limited resources to specialized skill shortages, these hurdles can prevent businesses from achieving their full potential. One effective solution that has gained significant traction in recent years is staffing augmentation. This strategic approach empowers businesses to address their unique needs and overcome various obstacles, ultimately...

Disparate Content in Healthcare Technology

In today's digitized healthcare landscape, the efficient management of vast amounts of patient data is critical for providing high-quality care. Content management systems (CMS) play a vital role in organizing, storing, and retrieving this data. However, the healthcare industry often faces the challenge of working with disparate CMS, where different systems are implemented across various departments, hospitals, and even healthcare organizations. In this blog, we...

The Role of an Integrated CRM in the Healthcare Industry

In today's rapidly evolving healthcare industry, technology plays a pivotal role in streamlining operations, enhancing patient care, and boosting overall organizational efficiency. Among the various technological advancements, a robust Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system stands out as an essential tool for healthcare providers. An integrated CRM system has become a game-changer, enabling healthcare organizations to deliver personalized patient...

Embracing Ongoing Digital Transformation in Healthcare Technology

The healthcare industry is undergoing a profound revolution driven by advancements in technology. Digital transformation has emerged as a powerful catalyst, enabling healthcare providers to enhance patient care, streamline operations, and revolutionize medical research. However, the digital transformation journey doesn't end with the implementation of a few technological solutions. Ongoing digital transformation is crucial to leveraging the full potential of...

Compliance Tips for Healthcare Technology Teams

In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare technology, compliance auditing plays a crucial role in ensuring data security, protecting patient privacy, and maintaining regulatory compliance. With an increasing number of data breaches and regulatory requirements, healthcare technology teams must prioritize robust auditing practices to safeguard sensitive information and mitigate legal and financial risks. In this blog post, we will explore essential compliance...

Layering Data Security in Content Management

Data management is a critical aspect of any organization's IT infrastructure. Whether you're a large enterprise or small business, it's important to keep track of your data and make sure it stays secure. In this post we'll look at some different ways that companies are handling data security within their content management systems (CMS).

Reducing Data Redundancy in Claims Processing

Data redundancy is a problem that affects many industries, but it is especially prevalent in claims processing. Data redundancy occurs when you need to enter the same piece of information multiple times. This often happens when multiple authors are making changes in a document and reuploading said document to a repository, resulting in duplicate data with minimal edits but not archiving the older versions.

Hurdles in Healthcare Staffing

Healthcare staffing, both on the patient side and the technology side, is becoming an ongoing problem for companies. With aging staff retiring, and burnt-out staff increasing turnover rates, it can be hard to keep good processes going, and introduce new ones. Additionally, staffing processes can be difficult because of the highly regulated aspect of healthcare and the data security associated with it. Here are some other hurdles you may be facing, and what you can...

Fed's scrutiny of telehealth startups a benefit to industry

A joint investigation by both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Agency into a pair of telehealth startups might be the best thing to happen to virtual medicine since its inception.

Veracity's Lonnie Buchanan named Healthcare Leader to Watch in 2022

Veracity Solutions Chief Architect and Executive Security Director Lonnie Buchanan is one of the world's 10 foremost Healthcare Leaders to Watch in 2022, honored by CXO Outlook Magazine in their September 2022 global issue. Lonnie is a thought leader, an influential public speaker, and a technology futurist. Most importantly, Lonnie is driven by a mission to create a world where all people can access healthcare tools and treatments that can change their lives.

Business Intelligence and Your Organization's Maturity

If we were to ask organizations where they felt they were with their data maturity, they would rate themselves much higher than they are. The question is why does that matter? If an organization feels like they are utilizing data-generated insights, and the business is doing well, why does it matter how mature they are in their data practices?

What is a Data-Driven Business?

In this post, we’ll cover the definition, characteristics, challenges, and benefits of being a data-driven business as well as the steps to becoming a data-driven business by using data to improve performance and inform strategy and decision-making.

Why do we need business intelligence?

A question asked by businesses on a consistent basis is around the need for Business Intelligence. So many companies "get by" importing and analyzing data in Excel. Answers are derived, but are they always the correct answers – or simply the answers we were wanting to produce? Are the answers timely? How many hours were needed to generate the needed insights? Did we bring in all the necessary parts of the data? The biggest question might be - are we simply going...

On-Prem to Azure: A Guide to Cloud Migration

Are you considering a move to the cloud? In this article, we'll take you from on-prem to Microsoft Azure, walking step-by-step through the cloud migration process, and offer special considerations to keep in mind as you begin your cloud journey.

Agility in the Automotive Industry

In the move to electrification is BMW as Agile as we are led to believe? I’ve been keeping an eye on the electric vehicle (EV) market for a while now, with an eye on making the leap to an all-electric vehicle as my next purchase and moving away from the internal combustion engine as my main mode of transportation. Leading the manufacturing field must be Elon Musk’s Tesla, one of the first to market with by far the most advanced battery and electric motor...

A Response to TechRepublic's 'How to Beef up Your Multi-Cloud Security'

A few weeks ago, TechRepublic posted an article about "how to beef up your multi-cloud security." A Valtix study found that IT leaders believe "employees lack the necessary skills to manage multi-cloud security." 95% of survey respondents said they're prioritizing multi-cloud in 2022. However, only 54% said they feel confident that they have the tools and skills necessary to achieve this goal. More than 75% believe that multi-cloud operations are underfunded at...

The Future's Technological Heart of Glass

Some ancient cultures believed the heart was the center of an individual. They believed the characteristics that make someone who they are, comes from the heart. In terms of a modern-day computer, the information it contains represents the distinctiveness of that technology. What is contained in that machine, makes it unique. The storage mechanisms, or more specifically, the hard drive is its heart.

How to Stay the Course to Completing Your Project

This blog post is the fourth and final post in a series exploring the ideas I shared in a LinkedIn article titled "Beware of hearing what you want to hear". Though the original article was about my experiences at Veracity Solutions, I hope you'll be able to apply these ideas to your projects and relationships. Four ideas that I've found to be important as we help clients execute on their digital transformation projects are:

How to Have Hard Conversations

This blog post is the third in a series where we're exploring the four points I shared in an article titled "Beware of hearing what you want to hear". Though the original article is about my experiences at Veracity, I hope you'll find some useful ideas you can utilize in your own projects and relationships.

The Importance of Defining Roles and Responsibilities

This blog post is the second in a series where I'm digging deeper into each of the four points I shared in an article titled "Beware of hearing what you want to hear." I hope you'll find some ideas that will be useful in your projects and relationships.

3 Ways to Clarify Expectations

A couple of weeks ago I posted a LinkedIn article titled "Beware of Hearing What You Want to Hear.” I offered four ideas that I have found to be helpful as we help clients execute on their digital transformation projects:

Lonnie Buchanan accepted into Fast Company Executive Board

Fast Company Executive Board is an invitation-only professional organization of leaders who share a commitment to shaping the future of business. SALT LAKE CITY — October 18, 2021 — Lonnie Buchanan, Chief Architect and Executive Security Director for Veracity Solutions, has been accepted into Fast Company Executive Board, an invitation-only professional organization of leaders who share a commitment to shaping the future of business.

Fear and Loathing in Story Pointing

In my years as an Agile Coach and Scrum Master, there’s one topic that generates a look of bewilderment on the faces of everyone: effort estimation on the ubiquitous user story. Let’s take a closer look at the confusion and break down the issues at hand. It comes down to the way the process is explained together with the purpose of user story pointing. In the end, story pointing is all about providing predictability. Software teams are notoriously unpredictable....

Escape Data Paralysis and Uncover Lifesaving Data

New advancements in virtual medicine have made it easier for patients and providers alike. Now a new wave of innovation is being fueled by actionable insights pulled from the vast amount of patient data that already exists. Videra Health is an innovator in this space, improving patient treatment by using AI and remote monitoring to prioritize safety and care for those who need it most. View the webinar and full transcript here.

What is Kubernetes?

We can’t talk about Digital Transformations or Cloud-Native Security without talking about Kubernetes.

What is Cloud Native Security?

Of course, you care about security! We all care about security these days. Even people who still try to get away with using ‘password!’ as a password care about security — they care whether they can access their account, but not about who else can access their account.

What is Digital Transformation?

Okay. I’m doing it. I’m stepping out and admitting that “Digital Transformation” sounds vague and is reminiscent of start-up culture lingo that might mean nothing (I’ve seen it before, folks!). To be even more transparent, I didn’t understand it when I interviewed for this job and now, almost 11 months in, I feel I’m only beginning to grasp it because there isn’t an absolute definition.

A World with AI Sound

In a world bombarded with sights and sounds, those who struggle to hear are often left behind. Those of you who know me understand hearing loss is something I find deeply interesting, especially hearing loss in children. More on that in a little while.

Can Everyone Utilize Agile? Absolutely.

This post is a companion to our webinar: Appetite for Agile. Scott Heffield, our SVP of Operations and one of our resident SAFe Agilists, will whet your appetite for Agile even if you're not on a development or even a technical team. He's going to flip the script on the Agile Manifesto and look at its principles through the lens of cooking in your home kitchen. Scott will demonstrate that the Agile principles can be applied across multiple domains and disciplines.

[Q&A Recap] Tooling Agile: Part One

Veracity's very own Damian Dingley wrapped up 2020 with Part One of his two-part series on how to select the right tools for your Agile organization. We've made his slide deck available here as well as a full transcript here.

[Webinar Recap] Tooling Agile: Part One

Veracity's very own Damian Dingley wrapped up 2020 with Part One of his two-part series on how to select the right tools for your Agile organization. We've made his slide deck available as well as a full transcript.

Tooling Agile

Damian Dingley is Veracity Solutions's Organizational Agility Practice Lead. He is hosting a series of webinars on tooling Agile and this blog post is a companion.

Why a Veteran Should Be Your Next Hire

If you’re looking for an exceptional employee with leadership and collaboration skills, one who will have an immediate impact on the business and be a proven asset to the team, then you should hire a Veteran.

Lessons from COVID: Now is the Time to Embrace Change

COVID has forced many organizations to prioritize digital transformation initiatives to transition from survive to thrive. New research suggests that success in this endeavor hinges on how your organization views and embraces change.

Veracity Partners with Chef Software for Increased Compliance and Security

Veracity Solutions is now recognized as an official integration partner with Chef Software, providing clients with even more ways to strengthen and support in highly regulated industries.

Leading Transformation: 1-800 Contacts Swarm Strategy

As organizations to push to innovate within their unique industries, CIOs are challenged with leading IT departments to deliver efficiently at an ever-increasing pace. Revamping teams, adopting agile methodologies, and shifting from a project to product-centered mindset are just a few of the ways technology leaders are making it happen. But, finding a solution that works for you could take a little creativity.

CIOs & COVID-19: Navigating a New World

The coronavirus pandemic has turned the world on its head, and for countless CIOs of technology organizations, their work is no exception. In the blink of an eye, IT strategies have been reprioritized, projects rescheduled, and emerging products pushed to the forefront to meet changing demand. Amidst the uncertainty and chaos, one thing is for sure: the decisions IT leaders make now will have a significant impact on how their organizations weather the months ahead....

Veracity Supports AWS Transformation at Large Value Based Healthcare Provider

Veracity Supports AWS Transformation at Large Value-Based Healthcare Provider

The "Why" Behind Agile Inceptions

by Scott Heffield, Veracity VP of Innovation and Solution Delivery

The 7 Domains of Project to Product Transformation

The shift from a project to product-centered team structure has become a major point of focus for corporations in digital transformation. Through many years as an Enterprise Product & Agile Coach for organizations like Target and US Bank, Amy Walters has seen first-hand the positive impact of the project-to-product transformation.

Introducing the Veracity Gameboard

Have you identified your game plan for 2020? While most IT leaders have a plan for what they hope to achieve, many underestimate the time it will take to get there. What if we could help you accelerate your existing IT strategy?

The Veracity Recap: Tech Summit 2020

Last week, over 24,000 attendees joined at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City for the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit 2020. From the sponsorship arena to the standing room only software development track, here’s what Veracity was up to at the event.

2020 Gartner Predictions: Identifying Your Gaps

As you sit down to plan the year ahead, have you taken time to consider what the experts are foreseeing for 2020? Near the end of last year, Gartner released a series of predictions for business and technology in the months to come. While these predictions or trends are not meant to change the course of your IT game plan, they can be useful to identify gaps in your current strategy and offer new insight on ways to refine.

Veracity Speakers Announced for Tech Summit 2020

Veracity Solutions is thrilled to announce a prestigious lineup of speakers for the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit 2020. As presenter of the first-ever Tech Summit Software Development track, Veracity has rounded up key experts, thought-leaders, and innovators to share the latest advancements in the Software Development space.

What Do You Want to See in 2020?

Happy New Year from Veracity Solutions! As we jump into a new decade, we look forward to finding more ways to help you maximize your business and IT goals. But first, we want to hear from you!

Take Your Team to TechSummit 2020!

Veracity is thrilled to attend Silicon Slopes Tech Summit 2020, and we want you to join us! That's why we're giving away 5 FREE All-Access Passes to one lucky winner and their team. ($975 value!)

On-Prem to Google Cloud: Cloud Migration in 5 Steps

Picking a cloud provider is never an easy task. As we round out the last of our Big 3 series on cloud migration, it’s clear that there is a never-ending list of features, products, and unique business needs to consider at every turn. However, while the search for the right cloud provider(s) might feel overwhelming, a focus on the “why” behind cloud migration (rather than a strict focus on tools and solutions) is key to staying on track.

The DevOps vs. Agile Conference Report

Over the past few months I’ve had the opportunity to spend time at one or two DevOps conferences, a couple of Agile conferences and one where both practices were covered simultaneously. There’s quite a lot of discussion around the differences between the two and you can even find examples of when Agile and DevOps are pitched against each other. Try entering “Agile vs. DevOps” in your next Internet search. At the Agile & DevOps West conference in Las Vegas earlier...

On Premises to AWS: 10 Steps to Migration

The decision to move from an on-prem data center to the cloud is one that is not only a strategic move to keep up with changing technology, but also one that offers significant business advantage for those who migrate successfully.

Join Veracity at the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2019

Each year, CIOs and IT Executives across the globe gather at the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo to share the latest research, technology, and strategies driving business.

Driving Digital Transformation with Tony Saldanha

Earlier this week we had the chance to sit down with transformation expert, Tony Saldanha, to discuss digital transformation, and why so many transformations fail. After 27 years as VP at Procter & Gamble and as acting President of Transformant, Tony has had the opportunity to drive countless organizations through the transformation process, which led to writing his own book “Why Digital Transformations Fail” in 2019.

Cloud Migration: A Key to Your Business Advantage

Cloud migration has become one of the greatest buzzwords in our modern business world. For those who get it right, cloud migration has led to significant competitive advantage, increase in revenue, and modernization of their business. But while cloud technology isn’t new anymore, it’s still a concept that leaves many perplexed, and unable to capitalize on its inherent value.

Diving into DevOps Dojos

In a market where everyone wants to move faster, see results, and get ahead, there is a powerful call to transform. However, the process of digital transformation itself takes additional time, energy, and countless resources to get teams up to speed and ready to work with a new mindset. Without a focused approach, teams can spend more time in the process of transformation than ever yielding results.

3 Ways to Start DevOps Right

The path to successful DevOps transformation is not straight and steady, nor does it look the same for everyone. With success stories like Amazon, Facebook, and Google leading the way, it's no surprise that IT leaders are turning to DevOps as a means to revolutionize their business. But without clear direction, IT organizations can feel stifled, overwhelmed, and unsure where to begin.

3 Reasons You Need an Enterprise Architect

The role of an IT leader has evolved through the years, as technology makes its way to the forefront of the modern business world. As the need for effective IT increases in an organization, so must its ability to meet the needs and goals of the business. However, aligning two incredibly diverse organizations (the business and IT) is much easier said than done.

Microsoft Charging More for Its Software in "Other" Clouds

In the last few weeks two major moves by Microsoft have created considerable conversation and concern over the future of two key offerings from the company that has recently joined the “Trillion-Dollar Club,” alongside Apple and Amazon. Renewed licensing terms for dedicated hosted cloud services and the announcement of the end of life for Office 2019 have many users scrambling to understand how this affects their business and ultimately their bottom line. What does...

4 Ways to Leverage Agile for Your DevOps Transformation

You’ve likely heard of DevOps and Agile and may be experimenting with them already. But are you using Agile to your greatest advantage as you work toward your DevOps transformation?

What is DevOps?

DevOps: Turning the IT "Problem" into a Business Solution Each day, IT professionals are faced with immense responsibility. In a world that revolves around tech, employees, executives, and customers have high expectations for their digital experiences, and leaders who fail to adapt will be left behind.

How to Introduce Agile Through Hands-On Learning

"We should be doing agile, right?" Developers are naturally drawn to the idea of agile development. Speedy delivery cycles, with less planning and documentation…what’s not to like? Well, for starters, there’s the disconnect between theory and implementation when undergoing an agile transformation. Some organizations have a solid understanding of agile principles but can’t apply them. This can lead to uncertainty and skepticism about agile ideas. To combat this,...

Avoiding the Infamous DevOps Team

If you've begun your DevOps journey, chances are, you've considered forming a DevOps team. Seems like a pretty wise move! But, did you know that creating a DevOps team is decision many leaders grow to regret?

4 Reasons DevOps Might Not be Working for You

IT leaders are on an endless hunt to improve their organizations in ways that are cross-functional and efficient. Naturally, DevOps is often explored as a potential solution. The results speak for themselves: businesses successfully adopting DevOps are outperforming their peers. According to the DORA 2018 State of DevOps report, in the last year alone, high-performing DevOps organizations deployed 46x faster than their peers. Time to restore services took place an...