IMPERIUM DATA IN PRACTICE | Case Study
Clearwater Cardiovascular Consultants operates three locations across Pinellas County, running one of the most complex clinical IT environments in the region. When their incumbent provider could no longer keep pace with the organization’s growth, security exposure, or HIPAA obligations, they turned to Imperium Data, not to replace their internal team, but to elevate it.
THE GAP THAT GETS HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS BREACHED
CCC knew they had outgrown their MSP. What they needed wasn’t another generalist provider, they needed a partner who understood the full weight of a HIPAA-regulated, multi-site clinical environment and could build a security and compliance program commensurate with that responsibility.
By the numbers
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253 managed computers and users at contract signing
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340 managed endpoints discovered post-onboarding; 35% more than contracted
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120+ managed network devices across 3 locations
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10+ high-risk security findings surfaced and roadmapped during onboarding
THE CHALLENGE
Enterprise complexity. SMB-level support. A security posture that hadn’t
kept pace.
Clearwater Cardiovascular Consultants is one of Pinellas County’s most respected cardiology practices: AAAHC accredited, operating a cardiovascular ASC, and delivering advanced diagnostics and interventional care across three locations. That clinical sophistication demands an IT and security infrastructure to match. Patient data, imaging systems, clinical workflows, and HIPAA compliance are not optional considerations. They are operational prerequisites.
Their previous MSP, a small business-focused provider, had served CCC adequately at an earlier stage of growth. But as the organization expanded, more locations, more endpoints, more staff, more complexity. The gap between what the environment required and what their provider could deliver became impossible to ignore. The risk exposure was known. The path forward was not. CCC needed a partner capable of both diagnosing the full scope of the problem and executing a structured remediation plan, without disrupting clinical operations in the process.
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WHAT ONBOARDING REVEALED
CCC knew the risks. Imperium gave them the roadmap to address them.
One of the most telling moments in any MSP transition is the onboarding assessment. For CCC, it validated two things simultaneously: the true scope of their security exposure, and that they had chosen the right partner to address it. Imperium’s structured onboarding process surfaced a detailed inventory of high-risk findings across identity management, backup infrastructure, endpoint compliance, and network architecture — issues their prior provider had either missed or lacked the capability to remediate.
Critically, the environment was also significantly larger than contracted. What was scoped at 253 managed computers grew to 340 upon full discovery, along with 45 switches, 58 servers, 50 access points, 15 hypervisors, and 72 printers. Imperium absorbed the full environment, documented it completely, and built a structured next-phase alignment plan tied to business impact and priority.
HIGH-RISK FINDINGS SURFACED DURING ONBOARDING
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Windows Server 2012 End of Life: running in production, out of manufacturer support and HIPAA compliance
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23 server backups not replicated offsite: Veeam backups untested, no validated recovery process
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100 privileged accounts across domain and enterprise admin groups: excessive attack surface
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MFA not enforced for Office 365: daily-use accounts operating as Global Administrators
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No geo-location block policy: North America-only logon restriction not in place
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End-of-support VMware ESXi 6.7 hypervisor cluster: not HIPAA compliant, consolidation required
THE IMPERIUM APPROACH
Co-managed by design. Enterprise-class by execution.
Imperium’s engagement with CCC is structured as a co-managed partnership, a deliberate model that preserves and elevates the client’s internal IT team rather than displacing it. CCC’s internal staff retain full access, visibility, and operational involvement. Imperium provides the NOC infrastructure, engineering depth, security tooling, and compliance expertise that transforms a capable internal team into an enterprise-grade operation.
The Essentials Co-Managed plan covers the full environment: 340 managed users, all network devices, disaster recovery and business continuity management, multi-vendor patch management, KnowBe4 security awareness training, endpoint AV and EDR, and an annual vCIO executive business review. Imperium brings a tiered escalation structure, from NOC first response through senior MSP engineering, that ensures every issue is handled at the appropriate level without the client ever managing that complexity themselves.
| 340 Managed computers and users Full endpoint coverage across all three clinical locations, up from 253 contracted at signing |
| 3-yr Co-managed MSA signed Three-year commitment reflecting CCC’s confidence in Imperium as a long-term strategic partner |
| 156 Managed network devices 58 servers, 45 switches, 3 firewalls, 50 access points; all monitored and managed 24x7 |
| 30 min Critical SLA response 30-minute callback on critical issues, 24x7x365; both business hours and after hours |
WHY IT WORKED
The right partner for where CCC is going, not just where they’ve been.
What made this transition successful wasn’t just Imperium’s technical capability, it was the discipline of the onboarding process. Rather than inheriting the environment and managing it as-found, Imperium immediately structured a comprehensive risk assessment, produced a prioritized remediation roadmap, and established a structured engagement cadence that keeps CCC’s leadership informed and aligned
at every stage.
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Healthcare-aligned security expertise: HIPAA, EDR, privileged access management, geo-fencing, and compliance-driven patch management are built into the engagement model, not bolted on.
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Enterprise depth at commercial scale: Imperium operates with the same rigor as a large systems integrator while maintaining the responsiveness and personal investment of a dedicated partner.
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Co-managed structure that preserves internal talent: CCC’s IT team retains full access and ownership. Imperium elevates their capabilities without displacing their institutional knowledge.
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vCIO relationship tied to business strategy: Annual executive business reviews ensure IT investments remain aligned with CCC’s clinical growth and operational direction.
THE OUTCOME
A three-year commitment. A clear path forward. A security posture built for what comes next.
Clearwater Cardiovascular Consultants signed a three-year managed service agreement with Imperium Data, a commitment that reflects both the depth of the engagement and the confidence built through the onboarding process. What began as a transition away from an underperforming provider became something more: a structured partnership with a defined security and compliance roadmap, a co-managed operating model that strengthens rather than replaces the internal team, and an escalation infrastructure designed for the complexity of a growing, AAAHC-accredited multi-site cardiology practice.
The high-risk findings surfaced during onboarding are now being systematically addressed. The environment is fully inventoried, monitored, and managed. And for the first time, CCC’s IT leadership has a clear, prioritized view of where their risks are and a credible plan to close them.
A note for healthcare IT directors evaluating managed service partners:
The question for a growing healthcare organization isn’t whether to have a managed services partner, it’s whether the one you have can actually keep pace with your environment. A provider built for small business accounting firms and law offices cannot manage a multi-site cardiology practice with 340 endpoints, a cardiovascular ASC, HIPAA obligations, and a security exposure profile that requires enterprise-grade tooling and clinical domain knowledge. Imperium was purpose-built for exactly this kind of complexity. The onboarding process doesn’t just transition your environment, it tells you the truth about it.
