Empowering prosthetic innovation: Össur's Azure Integration Services journey

In 1971, Össur Kristinsson embarked on a journey that would revolutionize the world of prosthetics. Inspired by a vision of empowering individuals with mobility impairments, Össur founded a company in his own name. As an organization, Össur introduced to the world a groundbreaking silicone interface for prosthetic sockets. This paved the way for Össur's global prominence in the field of prosthetic solutions, ultimately resulting in its name becoming synonymous with cutting-edge prosthetic technology. Over the years, Össur has grown exponentially, transcending geographical boundaries and cultural barriers. Now boasting a workforce of 4,000 employees spread across 36 countries, some of the company’s creations have even graced the Olympic stage, earning accolades and admiration worldwide.

Once predominantly a manufacturing company, Össur is now transitioning to a more service-based model, a move that has necessitated the modernization of its infrastructure. “We used to operate two large datacenters, one in Washington, DC, and one in Amsterdam,” recalls Gunnar Sigurðsson, Software Developer at Össur. “But we ran into issues with accessing those sites when, for instance, volcanic eruptions near our Reykjavík headquarters barred us from traveling abroad.” What Össur does with its data is expanding as well. Once a data warehouse running on SQL Server and built upon information from Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, the company’s infrastructure has since branched out into a diverse array of cloud applications and services.

Össur works with a wide variety of solutions from a number of providers, and making sure those solutions interact properly is a big job—especially for the company’s relatively small 50-person global IT team. “Once we took our first step toward the cloud, Azure was the obvious choice,” says Sigurðsson. “We wanted best-of-breed systems, and with Azure, we knew we’d be able to integrate those systems simply and effectively.”

At the beginning of its cloud journey, Össur used Microsoft BizTalk Server for its app integrations. Because BizTalk was beginning to approach the end of support, the company saw the opportunity to adopt a more modern application integration solution. “We identified Microsoft Azure Integration Services as the ideal choice for our needs, as it offers the seamless integration of on-premises and cloud-native applications and services,” adds Sigurðsson. “With Azure Integration Services, we’re able to build new, deeply integrated solutions that connect our on-premises and cloud-native applications and services more seamlessly than ever before.”

An ordered migration plan

Össur's migration to the cloud was meticulously planned, with much consideration given to the sensitivity of the medical data it handled and the criticality of its services, which are available 24 hours a day. To keep these services running and manage its diverse range of applications effectively, Össur has benefitted greatly from the help of both its new, highly robust integration solution and the aid of a technology partner versed in its implementation. Codit, Össur's trusted partner, played a pivotal role in facilitating a seamless, customer-friendly transition.

Össur is now using a combination of Azure Functions, Azure Service Bus, Azure API Management, and Azure Logic Apps—all of which are parts of Azure Integration Services. In combination—Functions, Service Bus, and Logic Apps allow for a highly sympathetic migration strategy, meaning that Össur can connect applications to its new infrastructure in ways nearly identical to their initial implementation. “Azure Functions, Azure Service Bus, and Azure Logic Apps work better together,” explains Sigurðsson. “If we ingest data through a legacy SFTP protocol with Azure Logic Apps, for example, we can then create messaging workflows from that data in Azure Service Bus, after which Azure Functions takes over, allowing us to simplify even the most complex data usage scenarios. Basically, we can migrate each of our services to Azure without disruption or overcomplication.”

Azure API Management became a game-changer for Össur, facilitating secure publication of APIs and standardizing communication with backend systems. This has the added benefit of standardizing how developers communicate with the company’s systems. And it makes it simpler for Össur to enforce its enterprise data contracts, since the company can now easily dictate which groups have access to each of its APIs and services via its developer portal.

Someday soon, Össur expects to begin ingesting and using larger amounts of anonymized user data, and the company sees the migration of its services to the cloud as key to that future state. “We’re looking at developing new capabilities and harnessing new opportunities through increased ingestion of data,” says Sigurðsson. “Our R&D department is looking into machine learning, for instance, and what we’re creating today is a platform that can best utilize the data we will need to get those services running.”

The transition to Azure Integration Services heralded a new era of efficiency and innovation for Össur. The benefits of its cloud-first environment became evident very early on, helping to streamline operations and simplifying infrastructure management. Össur's infrastructure team welcomed this transformation, as it liberated them from the constraints of traditional hardware management. Sigurðsson agrees, adding, “Azure allowed us to take existing hardware, virtualize it, and host it in the cloud—where we could access it like it was on-premises without the associated maintenance stresses.” 

The power of the modern cloud

Össur needed a solution capable of enabling its evolution into a service-driven business. It needed the ability to not just migrate its existing services to the cloud but to prepare for the ingestion and use of significantly more data than it had ever processed before. It is this transformative, future-proofing effort that the company, together with Codit, has achieved. Beyond that, Össur has already begun realizing the benefits of its new cloud environment. “Our infrastructure team loves Azure,” says Sigurðsson. “They never have to go and upgrade the memory on a physical machine anymore. They don’t have to replace obsolete hardware every couple of years. Their lives are a lot simpler.”

With Codit managing its Azure platform, Össur can also reallocate its scarce IT resources to projects more focused on its future rather than maintaining its current state. “Codit has experts in every corner of Azure, and they’ve empowered a new paradigm for us,” says Sigurðsson. “We’re no longer micromanaging a thousand little things. We’re running simple scripts that get things done.”

Sigurðsson appreciates the new security capabilities that the move to Azure has granted Össur as well. “If we were to experience an attempted intrusion, we have multiple places where we can cut off the attacker’s connection,” he says. “We have so many more layers of security now that we simply couldn’t implement in the past. From a developer’s perspective, that’s a wonderful cherry on top of the process improvements we’ve gained with Azure Integration Services.”

As Össur continues its journey of transformation powered by Azure Integration Services, the future looks promising. With a steadfast commitment to innovation and excellence, Össur remains at the forefront of prosthetic technology, empowering individuals to lead fulfilling lives—one step at a time.

Find out more about Össur on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn.