Sidra had built one of the most advanced healthcare IT environments in the region, with over 1,600 virtual servers, 124 enterprise-grade applications, and three interconnected data centers. While this setup delivered excellent reliability, it also created unnecessary complexity and costs. Systems were underutilized, refresh cycles were happening too often, and redundant applications were adding confusion without clear business value. Sidra needed an evidence-based assessment to uncover these inefficiencies and design a roadmap to simplify, optimize, and prepare for future innovation.

The assessment revealed five core challenges:

1. Underutilization – Thousands of thin clients and significant compute capacity were sitting idle.

2. Excessive refresh cycles – Legacy design decisions forced frequent and costly hardware upgrades.

3. Redundant applications – Multiple tools performed similar functions, creating confusion and wasted spend.

4. Storage inefficiencies – Backup and archival systems were oversized or nearing capacity without a long-term tiering plan.

5. No unified view – There was no single lens to see infrastructure usage, app value, and true costs.

We combined technical depth with financial and strategic insight. Our team conducted a five-part review that covered infrastructure utilization, storage and backup optimization, application mapping, vendor and platform analysis, and modernization planning. This approach went beyond simple technical audits — we linked system performance to business outcomes and financial realities, ensuring the recommendations were both actionable and aligned with Sidra’s strategic goals.

The engagement revealed 10–15M QAR in potential savings. These came from consolidating redundant applications, optimizing licensing spend (31.2M QAR annually), reducing unnecessary storage and backup costs, and streamlining hardware refresh cycles. In addition to direct financial savings, Sidra gained capacity to reinvest in modernization and innovation without expanding its IT budget.

The assessment recommended:

• Consolidating reporting platforms under a future Microsoft enterprise license.

• Decommissioning end-of-life systems and infrastructure that no longer provided value.

• Right-sizing virtualization resources to improve efficiency (e.g., vCPU usage).

• Implementing lifecycle management for both applications and infrastructure.

• Preparing the environment for cloud migration and centralized data architecture.

While cost reduction was important, the greater value was strategic repositioning. Sidra’s IT environment moved from being complex and fragmented to being mapped, simplified, and aligned with long-term goals. This gave the leadership confidence to pursue innovation — whether in research, clinical systems, or cloud adoption — knowing that the digital foundation was stable, scalable, and cost-effective.

Benchmarked combines technical expertise with strategic foresight. We don’t just run audits — we deliver clarity, actionable insights, and prioritized roadmaps. Sidra valued our ability to translate sprawling technical complexity into clear opportunities for savings, modernization, and growth. As one senior infrastructure lead put it:

“Benchmarked helped us move from technical overload to strategic clarity. They turned sprawling systems into prioritized opportunities.”