You know you need a website. And you know, because of HIPAA, that your website must be HIPAA compliant. Not every web hosting company can support HIPAA compliance requirements, including some of the most popular webhosts. Instead of going with niche players in the technology space, is there an advantage in going with one of the biggest cloud companies instead?
What is Rackspace?
Founded over 23 years ago in a garage apartment in San Antonio, Texas, Rackspace today is an industry leader in cloud computing, earning over $2.7 billion in annual revenue. Still based in Texas, Rackspace has offices in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, India, Dubai, Mexico, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The company now has 40 data centers and nearly 7,000 employees, and has customers in 120 countries, including more than half of the Fortune 100. Rackspace is publicly traded on the NASDAQ exchange as RXT.
Does Rackspace offer web hosting?
Billing itself as the "multicloud solutions experts," Rackspace offers a dizzying array of products and services, encompassing dozens of solutions in each pillar of its business: cloud, data, applications and security. In fact, Rackspace positions itself as an ideal partner for companies that want to use other major cloud platforms, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle, or tools like VMWare or Kubernetes. If those words make your head spin, don't worry. Clearly, Rackspace is aimed at a far more sophisticated market than simple web hosting companies like GoDaddy, Liquid Web, Squarespace, or Dreamhost. Digging a little deeper into the thick Rackspace menu, you will find that the company does offer website hosting in a couple of flavors: Bare Metal Private Cloud or eCommerce and digital platforms.
What does Rackspace say about HIPAA?
Unlike many cloud technology companies, Rackspace specifically promotes its products and expertise to the healthcare and life sciences industry. The company says it serves more than 2,500 healthcare organizations. Rackspace offers HITRUST CSF certified dedicated environments and it says will help customers " exceed health care data privacy regulations." In claiming to be "HIPAA ready," Rackspace points to its Compliance and Governance page under Expert Security Solutions. "Our security experts will work with you to define, manage and validate your governance, risk and compliance (GRC) requirements through advisory scans and assessments for FFIEC, GLBA, PCI DSS, HIPAA, HITECH, FedRAMP, FISMA, DFARS, ISO and SOC2," Rackspace says.
Will Rackspace sign a business associate agreement?
"We offer a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with all of our dedicated hosting services, an essential element for healthcare organizations pursuing a HIPAA compliance audit," Rackspace declares in its "Rackspace Healthcare Solutions for Providers" whitepaper. And the Rackspace BAA, most recently updated in May 2020, is posted online. "This HIPAA Addendum is only applicable to HIPAA-Eligible Services; and only if and to the extent that Rackspace is a Business Associate," the company notes.
Conclusion
As covered entities, health care businesses must make sure their website is HIPAA compliant, enlisting a web hosting company that will sign a business associate agreement. Rackspace does offer HIPAA compliant web hosting. However, web hosting is only a small part of Rackspace's business, and its offerings are clearly geared toward businesses with in-house technical expertise to configure and manage everything.
SEE ALSO: HIPAA Compliant Email: The Definitive Guide
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