Global healthcare technology provider

In its healthcare division alone, more than 60,000 business messages are generated every day in different parts of the organization. For example, when a new MRI system is sold and an order created, it sets off a chain of messages that impacts many departments. This could include the sales team specifying the order, the manufacturing team tasked to build the system, the buying team required to source the components, the finance team to issue and invoice the customer, and the project management team to ensure the MRI system is delivered and installed at the customer’s site.

It takes just one cog in the data-mapping machine to slip for problems to surface, problems that ultimately impact overall process efficiency and operating profit. As a result, ensuring that data is accurately mapped between all departments at the company is a big priority.

The organization had initially been using a TIBCO-based enterprise application infrastructure (EAI) as the backbone for its business. After more than 10 years, new middleware requirements and unsupported software forced the company to take action. The IT team upgraded to a newer TIBCO platform, together with a new canonical model to enforce a single XML-based structure for its data. However, with the new TIBCO platform, the organization discovered it had to resolve challenges in its existing way of developing data-mapping.

The team’s search quickly led them to OpenText Contivo, a data transformation and integration tool. Unlike most other mapping solutions, Contivo applies automation to the mapping process which means it can, based on any situation, optimize the next steps in creating and maintaining maps. This drastically cuts down on the time previously required to develop and maintain error-free mapping manually.

Today, the team uses Contivo licenses across a series of data centers located all over the world. With more than 150 mapping templates currently in production, it has a reliable framework to ensure every message reaches the right department at the right time and in a format that can be easily interpreted and applied. With Contivo, any new maps or adjustments to existing maps can now be quickly delivered.

The broader adaptability of Contivo was soon put to the test when the organization decided to harmonize its middleware platforms and move from its TIBCO environment to an SAP PI. This was already used in the company’s lighting and lifestyle departments and, with efficiency in mind, the company was looking to consolidate onto a single middleware platform.

Following the migration, the IT team was supposed to transition to a mapping solution that was included as part of the SAP PI package. However, while this new mapping tool had many qualities, its manual nature presented a problem. It relied on a third-party provider to do the map development, which meant it could not match the speed with which the in-house team could create maps with Contivo. The difference could sometimes be hours versus days. Also, since the actual mapping handled by the third-party was based on a specification written in Microsoft® Excel®, the final result wasn’t always exactly what was required, potentially requiring further cycles of specification change and development.

To ensure that staff can operate at the speed their business requires, the healthcare team decided to remain with Contivo rather than the new tool. The organization’s EAI consultant explained the decision to stick with Contivo. “It was all down to the efficiency advantage and, based on our experience, Contivo has paid for itself many times over. Contivo keeps the business competitive and drives efficiency across the organization, all of which contribute to the bottom line. Most of all, it reflects the company’s vision of using ‘sense and simplicity’ to get the job done.”