“The need for Be The Match’s work might grow 100-fold over the next two decades… NetApp solutions will allow us to accelerate those opportunities to further improve and save lives.” Jeffrey W. Chell, M.D. Chief Executive Officer Be The Match

1. White Paper—Be The Match
Transforming IT
to Save Lives
The story of how Be The Match is
leveraging technology to give critically
ill patients a chance at life
Sav g lives s
This is one in a series of stories told by NetApp
customers that demonstrate how an organization’s
storage architecture has a direct impact on its success.
This is the story of Be The Match® and how its NetApp
based shared IT infrastructure is helping save more
lives than ever before.

2. The flow of data is critical for all
organizations, but for Be The Match,
lives literally depend on it. In 2007,
Be The Match was helping to
facilitate 3,700 transplants annually.
But how many more lives could
Be The Match save if IT were an
enabler, not a constraint?
“There is no way Executive Summary
Thousands of patients with
With a shared IT infrastructure built
on a NetApp® storage foundation,
we could have life‑threatening diseases such as Be The Match is dramatically reducing
the time to transplant and steadily
leukemia, lymphoma, and sickle cell
achieved our growth disease need a marrow transplant increasing the number of transplants
but don’t have a match in their family. it facilitates annually. According to
numbers or gained More than 70% of patients depend Jones, “Deploying a storage archi‑
the efficiencies we on Be The Match to find a match.
To call its data “mission critical” would
tecture that is efficient, that is flexible,
is absolutely key to decision making
have…without be an understatement. Operated by
the nonprofit National Marrow Donor
and driving more patients to trans‑
plant sooner.”
building our IT Program ® (NMDP), Be The Match
Eliminating Barriers
helps connect these patients with
foundation on donors. By providing patients access
When Jones arrived at Be The Match,
he set out to rethink the role tech‑
NetApp storage.” to a registry of more than 15 million
donors and 400,000 umbilical cord
nology should play in helping the
organization deliver on its mandate
blood units, Be The Match facilitates
Michael Jones to save lives.
Chief Information Officer
thousands of potentially lifesaving
Be The Match transplants every year. Diseases like leukemia and lymphoma
can progress in a matter of months or
Data is at the core of the registry and
weeks, so speed is critical. The best
the transplant process. The more
outcomes are achieved when Be The
efficiently it flows, the faster critical
Match can deliver the right cells at
decisions can be made and the
precisely the right time in the process.
greater the chance that patients can
be saved. This is what inspired Be How much faster could Be The Match
The Match Chief Information Officer help facilitate transplants if it were
Michael Jones, newly hired in 2007, not limited by its infrastructure?
to set a bold goal for the organiza‑ How many more lives could it
tion: remove technology barriers to potentially save?
connect more patients to more donors
faster and ultimately save more lives. Aligning IT with the organization’s
goals became Jones’ top priority.

3. Accelerating Data Flow
to Save More Lives
Be The Match transformed IT into a catalyst for
achieving lifesaving goals. Faster data access
speeds the process of matching patients with
potential donors.
3,70
ransplants per ear
5,50
ransplants per ear
10,0 0
ransplants per ear
20 7 201 goal by 2015
“The problem was that without requirements by 900TB and dramati‑
a complete IT transformation, we cally simplified management, allowing
knew we simply could not handle the it to scale from 65TB to 350TB without
expected data growth and complexity adding headcount.
with our existing landscape of dispa‑
Jones explains, “There is no way
rate systems and storage silos.”
we could have achieved our growth
Transforming IT numbers or gained the efficiencies we
NetApp storage is at the heart of have—with no increases in headcount
Be The Match’s IT transformation, or expenses—without building our
accelerating the transplant process foundation on NetApp storage.”
by speeding service delivery and
Changing Lives
A CEO’s Perspective improving information visibility.
As a result of its overall transformation
“Faster decisions and real‑time information Seamless scalability and faster
directly impact the lives of our patients. program, Be The Match is seeing
data integration and processing
With NetApp at the foundation of our results that extend far beyond the
IT architecture we’ve been able to speed enable the organization to quickly
data center—results that are saving
up the entire process to help more people develop and bring to market new
in less time, and do it cost effectively.” lives. Since 2007, the number of
lifesaving capabilities.
transplants per year has risen steadily
Jeffrey W. Chell, M.D.
Chief Executive Officer “Faster decisions and real‑time from 3,700 to 5,500. Be The Match
Be The Match information have a direct impact expects to reach its goal of 10,000
on the lives of our patients. With annual transplants by 2015.
NetApp at the foundation of our
Its newly integrated application suite,
IT architecture, we’ve been able to
which includes consolidating its
speed up the entire process, help
storage on NetApp, has enabled
more people in less time, and do
Be The Match to:
it cost effectively,” says Jeffrey
W. Chell, M.D., chief executive • Cut time to transplant by 15%.
officer, Be The Match. Be The Match has already shaved
two weeks from time to transplant
With the built‑in efficiencies of
and is on track to meet its goal of
its NetApp storage infrastructure,
dropping time to transplant from
Be The Match has reduced capacity
96 to 45 days.

4. “The need for • Double annual donor registrations.
With its new shared IT infrastructure,
therapies could help treat many
other diseases,” says Chell, “NetApp
Be The Match’s Be The Match built a new donor
recruitment portal that helped
solutions will allow us to accelerate
those opportunities to further improve
work might grow increase annual donor registrations and save lives.”
from an average of 360,000 per
100-fold over the year from 2000 to 2008 to about
Join the Registry
If you are interested in helping
next two decades… 850,000 per year for the last
two years. Be The Match support patients,
join the Be The Match Registry today
NetApp solutions • Improve the accuracy of its at www.BeTheMatch.org. You could
will allow us to matching algorithm. Be The
Match uses a proprietary matching
be the one to save a life.
accelerate those algorithm that is significantly more
complex than blood typing pro‑
About Be The Match
opportunities to grams. With the ability to more Be The Match engages a growing
community of people inspired to help
quickly integrate patient outcome
further improve data, Be The Match is accelerating patients who need a marrow or
umbilical cord blood transplant from
and save lives.” the evolution of its algorithm to
improve matching accuracy and an unrelated donor. The National
boost survival rates. Marrow Donor Program (NMDP),
Jeffrey W. Chell, M.D. a leader in the field of marrow and
Chief Executive Officer • Extend lifesaving services to the cord blood transplantation, operates
Be The Match
global community. Today, 50% of Be The Match, which provides oppor‑
Be The Match transplants cross an tunities for the public to become
international border. Be The Match involved in saving the lives of people
is helping to save more lives by with leukemia, lymphoma and other
making its search algorithm and life‑threatening diseases. Volunteers
resources available to 525 partners can join the Be The Match Registry—
in more than 40 countries via a the world’s largest and most diverse
NetApp based private cloud. listing of potential marrow donors and
donated cord blood units—as well as
The Bottom Line
contribute financially to Be The Match
Rethinking its storage infrastructure
Foundation or give their time.
led Be The Match to an ambitious
business transformation that is saving About NetApp
the lives of critically ill patients around NetApp creates innovative storage
the world. Once limited by its archi‑ and data management solutions that
tecture, Be The Match can now accelerate business breakthroughs
take in more data, process it faster, and deliver outstanding cost efficien‑
and provide ready access to the cy. Discover our passion for helping
information transplant physicians companies around the world go
need, 24/7. further, faster at www.netapp.com.
“The need for Be The Match’s
work might grow 100‑fold over the
next two decades, and our cellular
© 2011 NetApp, Inc. All rights reserved. No portions of this document may be reproduced without prior written consent of NetApp, Inc.
Specifications are subject to change without notice. NetApp, the NetApp logo, and Go further, faster are trademarks or registered trademarks of
NetApp, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries National Marrow Donor Program, Be The Match, and Be The Match Registry are registered
trademarks of National Marrow Donor Program. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and
should be treated as such. WP‑7144‑0911
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