GSA Technology Council

IBM and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) today announced that they have entered into an eight-year, $402 million agreement to address some of the biggest problems facing health care today. The on demand agreement will radically transform the ability of the health care industry to create the technology solutions necessary to address the increasingly critical issues of health care quality and cost.

This agreement has two major components. First, UPMC’s technology infrastructure will be completely re-engineered to an on demand environment that is geared to innovation, yet adaptable and flexible to meet ongoing business needs and growth.

This endeavor, valued at $352 million, builds on UPMC’s current electronic health record strategy and takes advantage of existing technology to integrate information from across all of its facilities to ensure patient information is available across its network and to assist in improved patient care throughout the system.

In addition, IBM and UPMC will invest in strategic initiatives involving the development of medical technologies and information systems to address specific patient care and public safety initiatives, in areas such as electronic patient records, biosecurity and information-based medicine. IBM and UPMC will collaborate to commercialize these solutions. The two organizations initially will jointly invest a minimum of $50 million in this initiative, with a total possible joint investment of $200 million throughout the life of the contract.

—–

GREENVILLE, SC – Management Decisions, Inc., an IT consulting and staffing firm, has announced that it received the 2004 Best in Class III Award from BI-LO at the supermarket company’s first annual Supplier Diversity Awards luncheon held on March 14, 2005. The Best in Class is the highest award presented to a minority or woman-owned business. To receive the award, the supplier must consistently provide quality products and services, demonstrate timely delivery procedures and exemplify strong customer relations. MDI’s strong performance on this account earned it the Class III award, which includes suppliers providing $250,000 – $499,000 in goods and services for BI-LO. MDI was the only technology company recognized.
—–

TeamPoint Systems’ DayPoint Enterprise has become a critical tool for clinical trial research projects for companies conducting research for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). TeamPoint client Vital Systems relies on the DayPoint application for secure file storage and sharing of data related to clinical drug trial research projects. Vital Systems is a research support organization offering assistance to companies conducting clinical trials and market research. With DayPoint Enterprise, Vital Systems provides project team members with a secure study portal serving as a single access point available 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

“We are able to create a project site in minutes where all team members can securely post their files or instantly access existing information,” states George Stoms, president, Vital Systems. “What used to take days to setup and often involved expensive conference calls to discuss project details is now accomplished in a matter of minutes. Sponsor employees, doctors and authorized team members worldwide have the ability to submit, post and review case report forms and key study documents in a project website hosted within our own secured IT environment.”

The process of posting and accessing confidential data reports has been streamlined and simplified through DayPoint Enterprise’s secure document management module. By using DayPoint to store critical report data, Vital Systems’ clients simply email links to confidential documents without having to email the file itself. This process allows confidential data to remain fully secure in folders only accessible through authenticated and approved user groups. Not only is the quality of information protected, but the process satisfies the confidentiality requirements mandated by regulatory authorities.

—–

Solutience has recently relocated its Greenville-based headquarters to the Historic West End. The new offices, located at 640 S. Main St., Suite 200, will house the company’s management team and 14
South Carolina-based employees.

“It’s exciting to be a part of the continued growth in the West End,” says Richard Fowler, CEO of Solutience. “We considered moving out of downtown, but eventually chose this area for its accessibility, dynamic atmosphere and quality of life.”

Solutience provides customized software solutions, support and training services to discrete manufacturing industries throughout the Southeast. The company specializes in working with U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies, many of them in the automotive sector

—–

Nextel Communications Inc. has announced record first-quarter results including a 16% increase in revenue to $3.6 billion, a 10% increase in operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) to $1.3 billion and a 11% increase in free cash flow to $562 million compared to first-quarter 2004. First-quarter total subscriber net additions of 810,000 were up 34% over last year and were fueled by a 138% increase in subscriber net additions for Boost Mobile(TM) service compared to last year’s first quarter. More…
—–

Paracon, a leading distributor of converged communications and computer telephony integration solutions, has announced an agreement with Microsoft to distribute MicrosoftSpeech Server 2004. Paracon is a sales unit of ScanSource, Inc.

As a result of the agreement, Paracon can now provide its solution provider and value-added reseller customers with a flexible and integrated speech platform that is designed to reduce the complexity and cost of developing and deploying speech applications. Microsoft Speech Server enables companies to unify their Web and telephony infrastructure and extend existing or new ASP.NET Web applications from a broad variety of industries for speech-enabled access from telephones, mobile phones, Pocket PCs and SmartPhones.

—–

Want to know more about the SQL Innovators Group? Listen as Paul Waters is interviewed about their April meeting on Podcast42. (www.podcast42.com)
—–