The concept of implementing SaaS is moving ahead quickly, especially in the medical device arena. Perhaps that shouldn’t be surprising; most industry experts say that device firms tend to be a bit more innovative when it comes to embracing new technologies.

That may be why Angiotech made the decision to go with AssurX’s OnDemand (SaaS) model as opposed to on-premise implementation for their global complaint handling system. Angiotech is a global specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company that discovers, develops, and markets innovative technologies and medical products primarily for local diseases or for complications associated with medical device implants, surgical interventions and acute injury.

AssurX’s CATSWeb system is already rolled out across four facilities – three in the US and one in Puerto Rico – with Europe expected by the end of 2009.

Larry Murphy, Senior Manager, Corporate Quality, was part of the team that made the decision to go with the SaaS model because they needed to get up and running quicker.

“We got the blessing of the IT group after they reviewed the AssurX system and were able to get answers quickly about the level of security and support,” Murphy said. “As far as the users are concerned, they really like having everything centralized, including the reporting capabilities. We have significantly improved our efficiency and productivity,” added Murphy.

Prior to implementing an automated complaint handling system, various divisions of Angiotech were using either paper-based systems or homegrown Access database applications. Now the company-wide system using CATSWeb allows them to process complaints in a more structured and standardized manner that provides a much higher level of quality of information as well as the ability to track progress using metrics and dashboards.

Future plans include expansion of the current process and perhaps implementing electronic medical device reporting (eMDR) somewhere down the line.

Okay, so maybe it’s easier said than done and perhaps that is an egregious oversimplification. The bottom line, however, is basically that’s how AssurX has achieved not five 9′s but a perfect 100% uptime for CATSWeb OnDemand systems for two years running.

We have multiple redundancies in all our critical infrastructure systems: at least two of everything.  We have everything from multiple pipes to the Internet to multiple fire suppression systems.  There are multiples of all server types; web servers, application servers, database servers, backup servers. There are multiples of all components of the servers; multiple drives in RAID arrays, multiple network cards, multiple power supplies, multiple CPUs.   There are redundant monitoring systems, monitoring internally and externally the availability of CATSWeb and we are notified immediately when something is wrong.  Fortunately (knock on wood), we’ve yet to experience this scenario outside of testing.

Our data center is the same way.  There are redundant heating and cooling systems, redundant fire suppression systems, redundant UPS systems, redundant generators and everything is in “hot standby” mode, meaning if one fails, the other takes over without missing a beat.   The network employs at least three major telecom providers for separate and redundant backbones to the Internet.

To someone unfamiliar with the true meaning of “mission critical”, all this sounds like overkill. Doesn’t having two (or more) of everything make life more difficult?  Simple answer is, yes, life is more complicated with two of everything.  There are the requirements of extra space, extra maintenance, extra power consumption, extra time for install/management/decommission of software packages and extra man hours spent working on all these redundant systems.  Does it make financial sense?  Absolutely!  Just the same as one has homeowner’s insurance, car insurance, health insurance or life insurance, what redundancy means to an IT department is data and connectivity insurance.  For hosted systems like CATSWeb OnDemand, it means happy customers who always get to their data, day or night.  For IT guys like me it means peaceful, easy sleep and less hair loss.

At the end of the day, the simple fact is that AssurX has achieved something truly difficult in the IT world; 100% uptime, two years running.  This is something major players, like Yahoo, eBay, Google, Amazon and many others cannot claim.  We are proud of our commitment to hosting CATSWeb for our customers and will continue to implement new and better ways to achieve and maintain the best possible uptime numbers and availability as we forge ahead.

In 2005, Juel McQueen, Assistant Vice President, Compliance, and her team in quality assurance needed a solution to track all corrective actions, periodic reviews and verification documents. Since resources for IT were already stretched, they decided to pursue a solution that was available as SaaS (Software as a service). After researching numerous vendors, Ms. McQueen and her team selected CATSWeb OnDemand with the blessing of their IT department because it suited their needs for security, functionality and versatility. CATSWeb is hosted at a SAS 70 Type II certified facility.

Prior to CATSWeb, the QA department was using Microsoft Word and Excel and routing files by email to solve their corrective actions and sign off on documents. Some of these attachments ended up being accidentally deleted or overlooked.  Now, instead of relying on file attachments in email, all users log into the CATSWeb system, view the tasks and documents assigned to them, and electronically sign off on them in a much more accurate and timely manner.

“AssurX helped me get started on the system with initial training, and now I do the necessary configuration changes myself,” said McQueen.

In addition to providing a centralized system for users, CATSWeb also generates executive reports for test results, findings and corrective actions.