The 10 Most Innovative Healthcare Solution Providers, 2019

10 Volume 09 | Issue 04 | 2019

The

Most Innovative Healthcare Solution Providers 2019 Rich Moyer Principal & Chief Product Ofcer

MedInsight Taking healthcare analytics into the future one client at a time Changing the Status Quo Disruptive Technology and Changing Trends Inuencing Business

Bio Tech Graphene: A Material Marvel of the Century

Editor’s Pick Migrating the Data Warehouses into the Cloud

Editor’s Desk

Y Future of Healthcare is Bright Ahead!

Better you don't dare to overlook your care.

ou can certainly notice the transformation that has been taken place in the healthcare industry, even if you are not a part of it, can’t you? It doesn’t come as a surprise that how technology has redesigned the infrastructure of the healthcare ecosystem and brought a drastic transformation in it. The changes that technology has brought in the realm of healthcare can be witnessed through developments such as low costs of services, improved efficiency, quality, and transparency of care, virtual care, and much more.

If we look back at the previous conditions, we can recognize how organizations in the healthcare industry have overcome the challenges of lack of patient-centric approaches, paper-based processes, rising costs, limited accessibility, etc. It is because of telemedicine that nowadays, one can procure care or get evaluation from a physician digitally without interrupting their busy schedule. Secondly, the advent of Electronic Health Records (EHR) system has enabled healthcare professionals to electronically record patient data instead of keeping physical records on paper. These evolutions determine how far the healthcare industry has come, and many more such advancements are yet to come.

Many organizations are striving to shape the future of the healthcare arena with their exemplary and revolutionary healthcare solutions. With an intent to bring these change-makers into limelight, Insights Success has curated a listed of “The 10 Most Innovative Healthcare Solution Providers, 2019”. These businesses are bringing a paradigm shift to healthcare by leveraging technology.

A leading company Milliman MedInsight features as the covers of this edition. The company ranks among the

healthcare industry’s most highly regarded platforms for data warehousing and healthcare analytics. Its deep data sources and wide-ranging data solutions have been adopted by payers, purchasers, providers, and other healthcare clients.

Earlier this year MedInsight was recognized in the 2019 Best in KLAS: Software and Services report, winning the award for Payer Quality Analytics.

KLAS, a research firm focused since 1996 on the healthcare information technology (IT) market, recognized MedInsight for its outstanding efforts to help healthcare organizations deliver high-value and high-quality patient care.

The MedInsight ecosystem contains numerous solutions and products for data warehousing and healthcare analytics. MedInsight Solutions is a webbased portal and data mart for accessing client healthcare data. The MedInsight Solutions provides business intelligence capabilities, such as data visualization features (standard reports, dashboards, and ad hoc query tools), as it enriches client data with proprietary MedInsight products, third party groupers, and industry standard measures. The MedInsight Solutions supports over 66 methodologies as it creates analytic content for clients. Roughly, 30 of those methods are proprietary to Milliman.

Also, make sure to scroll through the articles written by our editorial team and CXO standpoints of some of the leading industry experts to have a brief taste of the sector.

Happy reading!

Hitesh Dhamani

CONT COVER STORY

08 Milliman MedInsight Taking healthcare analytics into the future one client at a time

ARTICLES

20

38

Changing the Status Quo

Bio Tech

Disruptive Technology and Changing Trends Inuencing Business

Graphene: A Material Marvel of the Century

30 Editor’s Pick

Migrating the Data Warehouses into the Cloud

ENTS CAE Healthcare Improving Healthcare Training and Patient Safety

22

Maestro’s Insights Healthcare Technologies Driving Successful Innovation

18

Tech Outlook Which Should my Businesses Choose?

CMMS VS EAM

26

Pitching Excellence Eminance at The Edge

34

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Managing Editor Anish Miller

Executive Editor

Assistant Editors

Hitesh Dhamani

Jenny Fernandes Rohit Chaturvedi

Visualizer

Art & Design Director

Associate Designer

David King

Amol Kamble

Kushagra Gupta

Co-designer Karan Gaikwad

Senior Sales Manager

Business Development Manager

Kshitij S

Charles Mitter

Marketing Manager

Sales Executives

John Matthew

David, Kevin, Mark, Vishal

Technical Head

Business Development Executives

Jacob Smile

Steve, Joe, Alan, Binay

Technical Specialist Aditya

Digital Marketing Manager Marry D'Souza

SME-SMO Executive Prashant Chevale

Research Analyst Frank Adams

Database Management Stella Andrew

Circulation Manager Robert Brown

Technology Consultant David Stokes

sales@insightssuccess.com September, 2019

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Ta k i n g h e a l t h c a r e analytics into the future one client at a time.

‘‘

We are a leading analytics company that has been around for 20+ years, leveraging all aspects of Milliman to better our products, including leading benchmarks and high standards for data quality.

COVER STORY

Rich Moyer Principal & Chief Product OfďŹ cer

‘‘

We are a market leader in delivering analytic content. Unlike any other vendor, we have strategic partnerships that foster innovation to 20% of the market share for CMS at-risk contracts.

The 10 Most Innovative

HEALTHCARE SOLUTION PROVIDERS

2019

M

illiman MedInsight ranks among the healthcare industry's most highly regarded pla orms for data warehousing and healthcare analy cs. Its deep data sources and wide-ranging data solu ons have been adopted by payers, purchasers, providers, and other healthcare clients. Earlier this year MedInsight was recognized in the 2019 Best in KLAS: So ware and Services report, winning the award for Payer Quality Analy cs. KLAS, a research firm focused since 1996 on the healthcare informa on technology (IT) market, recognized MedInsight for its outstanding efforts to help healthcare organiza ons deliver high-value and high-quality pa ent care.

The MedInsight ecosystem contains numerous solu ons and products for data warehousing and healthcare analy cs. MedInsight Solu ons is a webbased portal and data mart for accessing client healthcare data. The MedInsight Solu ons provides business intelligence capabili es, such as data visualiza on features (standard reports, dashboards, and ad hoc query tools), as it enriches client data with proprietary MedInsight products, thirdparty groupers, and industry standard measures. The MedInsight Solu ons supports over 66 methodologies as it creates analy c content for clients.

Roughly, 30 of those methods are proprietary to Milliman.

MedInsight clients may differ by industry sector and individual requirements, but they are a racted to the pla orm for similar reasons. Its flexible and collabora ve approach, combined with its growing array of state-of-the-art technology and so ware solu ons, offer healthcare analy cs tailored to each situa on. Addi onal MedInsight products can be installed in a client's compu ng environment as part of the pla orm or as on-premise products. They include individualized tools for specific business requirements.

We spoke with MedInsight Principal and Chief Product Officer, Rich Moyer, about what clients can expect from the MedInsight ecosystem as well as a look into future direc ons of data management and analy cs, including big data, ar ficial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and more.

Let's start with the basics of MedInsight. Which sectors of the healthcare industry are your data analy cs services primarily aimed at?

The MedInsight Provider Solu ons is a cloud-based so ware-as-a-service

designed to support many different healthcare industry segments, including payers, at-risk providers / accountable care organiza ons (ACOs), employersponsored health plans, state agencies administering Medicaid, public employee benefit plans, all-payer claims databases, third-party administrators (TPAs), and more. Its offering for all of these organiza on types is unique and complete, with a well-rounded and well-informed view of the industry.

We typically get claims and eligibility data from these sources as well as other types of data, including clinical in some cases, which we combine with benchmark data as we run it through a series of modeling methodologies, based on each client's individual needs. This enables clients to analyze the costs, quality, and efficiencies of their healthcare systems by their specific requirements.

Clients send us data, we process it, and then the results can be accessed directly with customizable interfaces containing a series of dashboards as well as other visualiza ons and so ware that clients can use to build their own individualized data analy cs, focused on cost savings, improved pa ent quality, and a healthy return on investment.

How do you meet the individual needs of such a wide range of clients?

We do have a wide range of clients, and our outreach more and more is global. For example, we just signed a contract to work with Taiwan's healthcare data. In

addi on to the MedInsight Solu ons, which leverages Milliman's highly regarded cost and u liza on benchmarks, we also offer a line of on-premise products.

They are part of the MedInsight Solu ons but can also be purchased separately, so in effect a client can choose only what it needs and avoid clu ering up analyses with extraneous data. These on-premise products include the Health Waste Calculator for measuring and quan fying inefficiencies, MedInsight Benchmarks that enables a client to measure costs and u liza on by benefits and to segment health popula ons into useful categories, and Guideline Analy cs, which measures hospitaliza ons at a clinical level.

The GlobalRVUs product is especially useful for health plans, ACOs, and other at-risk organiza ons to measure provider efficiency. It weights all services by assigning them rela ve value units (RVUs), including physicians, hospitals, durable medical equipment (DME), lab, and prescrip on drugs. Exis ng systems are o en limited in focus to a par cular type of provider, such as physician or pharmacy, and may not allow users to aggregate unit costs across provider types. GlobalRVUs solves this disconnect with an RVU-based system that covers all healthcare services. GlobalRVUs also includes a repricing process that assigns Medicare resource-based rela ve value scale (RBRVS) physician RVUs to physician claims enabling the client to compare and contrast costs based on a percentage of Medicare as well.

A new Product, the MedInsight Hayes Grouper, offers a robust decision-making capability that analyzes emerging technologies, integra ng the evidence-based measures of Hayes (the industry standard for evalua ng emerging healthcare technologies and clinical innova ons) with Milliman's industry-leading claims analy cs. This opens up unprecedented insights, allowing payers, providers, and purchasers to spend more wisely on technology, plan for future disrup on, reduce clinical and financial risks, and allow provider profiling. Clients can measure and quan fy the value of a new technology and compare it with the money that would be spent to acquire and implement it, which can be very helpful because some mes new technology proves to be wasteful, or even harmful.

The wide array of solu ons, products, and services the MedInsight ecosystem offers enables each client to pick and choose only what it needs, while s ll taking

advantage of the massive technical and data resources of MedInsight along with its efficiencies. What's more, with our global outreach we're star ng to see innova on and new technologies from new sources that we can bring back into the MedInsight analy cs pla orm.

What has MedInsight been doing to adapt to the ongoing explosion of developments in data management and analy cs, such as big data, AI, or machine learning?

These developments are actually making things easier.

One way is in the simple fact that computer processing speeds keep improving all the me. That means more and more complex methodologies and modeling can now be implemented and used. Data can be analyzed in much more detailed ways and can be processed much more quickly. While these advances in sheer processing power have had a huge impact on healthcare analy cs, the areas

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Milliman MedInsight's mission is to be the most trusted source for healthcare analytics and benchmarking by assisting health plans, employers, state governments, and ACOs to enable affordable quality healthcare for everyone.

of technology that currently get all the headlines and a en on are AI, machine learning, and their related developments. A lot of the big data methods we've seen used by Google, Amazon, and others in the consumer sphere are now star ng to arrive in healthcare analy cs.

MedInsight is responding in a couple of tac cal ways. Within Milliman, there is abundant subject-ma er exper se in these areas and we o en reach out to these experts to capitalize on that. At the same me, we are also establishing partnerships outside of Milliman, such as with MCG Health (part of Hearst Corpora on), Value Based Insurance Design (VBID) Health, and Hayes. We are ac vely using and adap ng the technologies they've developed and worked on, extending them toward the needs of our clients. We've released machine learning modules, for example, that provides deeper insight into trends that might normally be missed, such as network leakage, claims audi ng or risk score op miza on.

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Milliman MedInsight is constantly working on creating new analytics in ways that improve provider performance on cost, quality, and performance while building our technology and creating new and innovative analytics.

Many organiza ons with exper se and marketplace connec ons are contribu ng con nually and in key ways to developments of data management and analy cs. The MedInsight ecosystem, with all its assets and resources of healthcare claims data, follows closely all the new poten al ways to look at data and analyze it. In fact, as we are keenly aware, many of these developments are happening within Milliman. We are constantly leveraging the latest technology enabling us to serve more clients in ways that are more sensi ve to each one's individual needs.

Can you give an example of MedInsight's ability to adapt to developments in technology and the industry?

One of our most important client segments is the ACO, or accountable care organiza on. An ACO is an associa on of providers that collec vely, in healthcare, tends to be in the best posi on to manage health popula ons and implement the efficiencies that can lead to systemic cost savings and improved outcomes. For example, looking at diabe cs as a class and making sure they get all their screenings on me in order to head off the high costs of poten al later developments. Or pu ng more universal treatments such as vaccines into more cost-effec ve places where they are more likely to be u lized. Providers have the best ability to improve the quality and the experience of care processes.

ACOs have become a significant factor in healthcare in the past 10 years and a large market for the MedInsight ecosystem. We currently serve and work with over 100 ACOs, including many of the most pres gious and innova ve providers in the country, including Cleveland Clinic, Scripps, and others. Many large organiza ons working to improve pa ent care are using the MedInsight Provider Solu ons.

Our capacity to integrate clinical data into the MedInsight ecosystem, is con nuously evolving so that the richness of the data we have available, combined with machine learning techniques and AI, gives us an ever expanding base of opportuni es to help improve care in much more detailed and ac onable ways. We're ideally suited to support ACOs in many ways. We have technology experts working across many different pla orms, and we also have a large number of people at Milliman who really understand the detailed underpinnings of the healthcare market. On top of that, we con nue to establish partnerships with other consultants who have even more exper se, working with them to create and build so ware applica ons and tools. This enables us to move at the speed of the industry, and even to stay ahead of it and lead.

Healthcare tends to evolve very slowly, but it can also move quickly and erra cally by sector, with new technology appearing virtually overnight introducing new ways of doing things and looking at old problems. Our balance of internal exper se in the healthcare market, the developing technology pieces, and consul ng partnerships with

even more robust solu ons enables us to move quickly and adapt.

What can you tell us about MedInsight's work with electronic medical records (EMR) technology?

In the last year we have been focusing on doing more with clinical data, in par cular bringing together claims data with clinical data and making both of these rich data sources work together to offer a more complete picture of what's going on in healthcare. This helps our clients take advantage of all their data assets. For EMR data specifically, we have again been working with some external partners. One is focused on clinical data integra on—ways to collect EMR data, warehouse it, and then send it back to individual EMRs when it is needed.

This helps clinicians get a fuller picture of a pa ent in realme.

At the same me we've been building the analy cs within the MedInsight ecosystem to make claims and other sources of data (such as demographics and social determinants of health) available to combine with clinical data. For the backend of that effort we've partnered with a vendor whose systems can take data from the MedInsight Provider Solu ons, such as risk scores and quality measures, and transmit it in real- me to the EMR. That means a clinician can see, for example, that a pa ent may have a diabetes diagnosis but they have not provided

blood draws within the necessary me spans. This would enable the clinician to order a blood test on the spot for the pa ent, knowing it was medically necessary. That's an example of how we're trying to integrate claims data and clinical data, working with partners who have specific areas of exper se, to be er serve all of our clients.

About the Leader Rich Moyer has been designing and implemen ng data warehouse and analy c solu ons for over 30 years. As Milliman MedInsight's Principal and Chief Product Officer, he has been responsible for product strategy, marke ng, and implementa on of quality management.

Rich previously was the director of decision support and data warehousing for Group Health Coopera ve in Sea le and Kaiser Permanente Northwest in Portland, Oregon.

While at both organiza ons, he implemented new data warehouse and decision support applica ons.

Addi onally, he managed the development of ra ng/underwri ng, HEDIS, cost accoun ng/management, disease management, and provider contrac ng analy c applica ons.

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SUCCESS MEDIA TECH LLC

T

he world is changing rapidly, so is healthcare technology. In today’s accelerated technological environment, changes are occurring at a blistering pace. In the last fifteen years, we have progressed from phone books, to computers, to handheld devices. Although not as visible to the naked eye, healthcare has actually progressed at an even higher velocity than many of the technologies we are familiar with. Doctors have moved from loose paper based charting, to structured computer documentation that allows for standardized reporting and benchmarking, all the way to system assisted medicine.

This transition from paper to digital has opened the doors for technological advancement within healthcare at a pace that has never been seen before.

These advances in healthcare technology are having a profound effect on the entire healthcare ecosystem. They are allowing for cross-functional integration and collaboration amongst disparate healthcare professionals and systems. Consider this- if you received a prescription ten years ago, it was likely on a piece of paper. Today, it is transmitted electronically through a clearinghouse to the local pharmacy. This simple change alone accounts for an almost unlimited branching of technological opportunities such as drug interaction comparison, medication adherence, utilization tracking and ways to overcome the opioid crisis. Now, multiply this times 10,000 and you begin to see the speed at which healthcare technology is driving innovation.

Benedikt Brueckle

Chief Executive Officer CompuGroup Medical US

18 | September 2019

Advancements in Healthcare technology are further accelerated and driven by companies such as CompuGroup Medical.

CompuGroup Medical is the leading company solely focused on e-health with more than one million users worldwide. It is currently in the final stages of development of the foremost cutting-edge electronic medical record, practice management, patient engagement, and provider/patient toolset platform in the industry – the MediOne platform. These types of technological advancements will continue to facilitate a better exchange of patient data, as www.insightssuccess.com

Maestro’s Insights

Will the product need a tutorial and extensive training ?

Is it intuitive enough ?

How will the User Experience be ?

well as drive additional utilization through intuitive adoption amongst both provider and patient communities.

Innovation such as this will continue to deliver a surge of better patient outcomes while improving operational and financial efficiency within the healthcare sector. This will, in turn, allow providers to deliver better care across the continuum of the patient/provider universe.

Ÿ

Healthcare technology businesses, just like any other business, are based upon need, service, creativity and ultimately customer satisfaction. Competition is strong, so what is your company’s differentiator, what makes you unique?

This is the question you ask yourself as a company in this competitive technology market. For businesses, you need to move with the times and the technology. The business culture is fast paced and with a creative edge. When developing and testing a technological breakthrough, companies must ask themselves whether or not they actually innovate, and whether or not that innovation is at the expense of the user experience: Ÿ Do you just plan to reinvent the wheel ? Ÿ What will distinguish you from the competition ?

Businesses will survive and keep up with these healthcare advancements in technology by expanding on the points below: Ÿ Envision: Make sure you have a clear vision of what the supposed outcome will be. Have a clear WHY for what you’re doing. Don’t just do it for the sake of doing it or “winging it”. Ÿ Plan: This is your roadmap, your guide to how the business will function and what your end goal will be. Make sure to account for changes as well, as they will inevitably happen. Ÿ Implement: It’s all about how you implement your plan. This requires obtaining the proper personnel. You cannot have a lackluster, lackadaisical freeloader waiting for things to drop in his or her lap.

They need the tenacity, the forward

www.insightssuccess.com

Ÿ Ÿ

However, the most important question is if the product will actually enable the customer: Ÿ Will the customer be able to achieve their goals of digitalization ?

thinking, and the drive. Processes need to be put in place as guidelines for your departments to work collaboratively with an end goal in mind. Ÿ Grow: Healthcare technology is a growing business. Physicians are eager to increase their efficiency and lower administrative burdens to be able to spend more of their time with the actual patient. Patients want excellent care, with the least amount of cost and the best return.

Move with the times- market trends, competitive analysis, trade shows, and focus groups are just some ways your business can grow.

You should be the sponge of knowledge and you should have a creative and aggressive marketing campaign. Communicate what your business can do effectively, efficiently and creatively. Ÿ Lead and Challenge: Your business should be at the forefront of the technologies. You want to be the leader not the follower. You want to be able to push the trend and create the market saturation.

Invent and create. Be the one that comes up with the idea and implement. Make sure your business is unique in what it is offering.

September 2019 | 19

20 | September 2019

www.insightssuccess.com

Changing the Status Quo

www.insightssuccess.com

September 2019 | 21

The 10 Most Innovative

HEALTHCARE SOLUTION PROVIDERS

CAE Healthcare

2019

Improving Healthcare Training and Patient Safety

W

ith the advent of newer technologies and focus on reducing preventable medical errors, training healthcare professionals is of utmost importance to ensure patient safety. As a recognized global training provider in healthcare that offers solutions in simulation integrated learning to enable better outcomes for patients, CAE Healthcare is partnering with a growing number of hospitals and healthcare providers. CAE is a pioneer in using latest technologies in AR/VR and data analytics to support real-time adaptive learning in healthcare based on company’s long history and unique technology in aviation. The company offers training across the career continuum for nurses, physicians, interventionalists, surgeons and all healthcare professionals to make healthcare safer.

CAE Healthcare is a part of CAE, the global leader in training for civil aviation, defense & security and healthcare. CAE has been setting the standard in training for more than 70 years. The company has the broadest global presence in the industry, with over 10,000 employees, 160 sites and training locations in over 35 countries.

Each year, CAE trains more than 220,000 crew members, including more than 135,000 pilots, and thousands of healthcare professionals worldwide.

Offering Most Extensive Portfolio CAE Healthcare offers the most 22 | September 2019

extensive portfolio of simulation training products and services for all the healthcare disciplines, with patient, ultrasound and surgical simulators as well as training center management and faculty-developed curriculum.

Currently the company has approximately 14,000 simulators and advanced audiovisual solutions (CAE LearningSpace) in use in over 80 countries worldwide by hospitals, medical schools, nursing schools, medical device industry partners and allied health professionals.

One of its newest developments is augmented reality training for placement of specific cardiac devices, which allows physicians to view 3D anatomy as they master new procedures quickly and safely. The company is also integrating its CAE LearningSpace center management software with more devices, curriculum and assessment features to create a seamless training environment for universities and hospitals with full data and audiovisual capture.

CAE Healthcare also offers peer-topeer training of faculty who are learning to teach with simulation. The CAE Healthcare Academy has developed more than 500 simulation scenarios and training courses for educators.

The Trailblazer With a background in engineering, marketing and more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Rekha Ranganathan is the President

of CAE Healthcare. Ms. Ranganathan has a proven track record of driving profitable growth in the healthcare industry, including several leadership positions at Philips Healthtech, a foremost health technology company.

Her latest position was Vice President and Global General Manager for Computed Tomography and Advanced Molecular Imaging within the Diagnostic imaging group, where she led all functions. Her international background includes the leadership of the Philips Oncology division based in India as well as the management of commercial and marketing strategy for Boston Scientific USA’s Indian and Chinese markets.

Ms. Ranganathan holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor’s degree in Metallurgy & Material Science from the Indian Institute of Technology. Her depth and breadth of experience in the industry has enabled her to gain much-needed understanding of how physicians and nurses interact with these technologies, and she has also seen the challenges they face in hospitals and healthcare in general.

In order for new developments and technologies to be effective, Ranganathan believes they need to be integrated with training so that providers have better preparation and patients remain safer. She recognizes www.insightssuccess.com

CAE Healthcare’s strong entrepreneurial spirit for innovation that can be rapidly accomplished and delivered to providers and educators.

The Invisible Hand CAE Healthcare’s role in the healthcare continuum is to ensure that healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, EMS responders) have the greatest level of expertise in delivering the best care for the patient. The company aims to improve patient outcomes through reduction of procedural errors and human errors by ensuring training is provided at the highest standards.

According to Ranganathan, CAE Healthcare can be the “invisible hand” behind every doctor and practitioner by partnering with hospitals, nursing schools, industry to develop training platforms along with the curriculum, tools and analytics to assess and improve performance.

Tackling Challenges and Planning for Better Future For CAE Healthcare and the industry, one of the challenges is measuring the correlation between training and patient outcomes. CAE Healthcare is working with hospitals to gather performance improvement data. The organization plans to launch more technology platforms soon to make real-time data gathering more automated.

According to CAE Healthcare, simulation will become a central element in training and more present in a growing movement towards competency, certification and masterybased assessment for all disciplines in healthcare. In an effort to shift to value-based care, hospitals are increasingly given incentives to become safer and more efficient, which will drive higher demand for more effective training.

Today’s generation of healthcare learners expect an engaging, interactive environment: CAE Healthcare will continue to lead with innovations and advanced solutions for the education and training of students and professionals in all the healthcare disciplines.

“ Rekha Ranganathan President

We work with hospitals to ensure that we are gathering data to show the learning improvement, enabling adaptive learning while leveraging the technology backend and integrating it into the simulation and clinical environment.

“

www.insightssuccess.com

September 2019 | 23

WHICH SHOULD MY BUSINESSES CHOOSE?

CMMS W

hen it comes to the right software for tracking your asset’s maintenance history, you have a few options ahead of you. There are several powerful tools across the board, however, the two most common you’ll encounter are a CMMS and an EAM. These programs are an essential piece for a growing business to track their maintenance and asset’s span, so choosing the correct one can mean all the difference for your business.

At its core, a CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) is a system used to track work orders, maintenance history, and preventive maintenance schedules for assets related to your businesses.

Maintenance teams use a CMMS to quickly discover everything about an asset, from where it is located to knowing who has work on it and when. This insight helps centralize all maintenance information in one system helping teams improve their productivity. A CMMS also helps streamline maintenance processes by providing visibility to all parties involved. Maintenance managers can view and track work order statuses assigned to technicians, as well as quickly notifying technicians of new tasks.

In contrast to the primary maintenance tracking a CMMS provides, an EAM’s (Enterprise Asset Management) primary function is to focus on up-time, planning, and asset workflow for all devices across a large-scale company. It is used to track every part of an asset’s life cycle, from procurement to disposal, combining both the features of a CMMS with powerful utilities covering accounting, asset’s cost and profits, and operations. With an EAM, your business can see exactly how much an asset both produces and costs, allowing you to make accurate projections while simultaneously seeing where certain assets need more focus to ensure profitability. Downtime, a dreaded occurrence on all high-value assets, can even be accurately tracked within the tools it provides.

26 | September 2019

www.insightssuccess.com

Tech Outlook

EAM About the Author Ryan Chan is CEO and Founder at UpKeep Maintenance Management.

He is a Chemical Engineer from UC Berkeley, was named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 for Manufacturing in 2018 and is part of the Official Forbes Technology Council. Ryan started UpKeep out of passion and frustration by the lack of mobility in today’s maintenance management software. UpKeep has now been deployed to over 10,000 businesses and is a leader in mobile-first maintenance management software. www.insightssuccess.com

September 2019 | 27

EAM software also adds the benefit of streamlined financial reports, allowing you to see a breakdown of all costs incurred by your appliances. These reports can be a blessing during an audit and allow your financial team an easy look at your current assets without having to train them in the full use of your EAM software. If you’re only using a CMMS software, integrations with accounting software may be limited. Most EAMs will automatically integrate with accounting software like QuickBooks, allowing the reports to be automatically generated and transferred at the push of a button.

CMMS and EAM sound quite similar, don’t they? While superficially they may appear to show the same function, the improvements of an EAM’s additional features on top of CMMS present an attractive option for businesses that have grown beyond one or two locations. How do you determine if you need a CMMS or an EAM software? Here are a few key questions to ask when determining which software is right for your business.

How large is your maintenance team?

If you are currently at a few locations with less than ten technicians on duty, a CMMS software is usually more than sufficient to track each of your asset’s maintenance history.

The proximity allows your maintenance team to easily see and track when assets are purchased or on the verge of breaking down, allowing a more hands-on approach to tracking their life cycle. You will also likely have no issue handling the financial aspect and budget tracking with your repairs until you begin to expand.

If you have a multitude of locations and a sizable team, the power of an EAM software allows your teams to see an eagle-eye view of all of your appliances without having to visit each location or contact that location’s supervisor for updates. Over all, if your maintenance teams are not split into more than a handful of locations while only having a maintenance team size of less than ten, the use of a CMMS would be more cost effective than transitioning to an EAM. Do you own and manage 500+ assets?

Eventually there comes a time when it becomes too time consuming for you to personally manage each asset over multiple programs. This tipping point can occur at various times in a business’s lifespan. Once you reach near the 500+ asset mark, you’re going to have more eyes on your assets than just your maintenance teams. Your financial team may be looking at an asset to determine if it’s still profitable, while your compliance team will be concerned with the asset’s safety through its lifespan.

28 | September 2019

With an EAM, every team can take control of their particular specialty, from your finance and production teams to your maintenance and compliance team. An EAM allows them each to utilize their own workflow, optimizing the time spent scrutinizing your assets to look for cost savings and improvements. Your financial team, production team, and especially your compliance team all benefit from the EAM’s ability to segment specialized tools for their tasks, making the cost of the system and training much more efficient than each team doing it by hand.

So which should you choose for your business?

Despite the similarities of the products, the true difference between an EAM and a CMMS comes down to the scale of your business. While large businesses may find themselves in the position of an EAM suite being necessary, most small business owners can breathe easy knowing a CMMS will likely suit their needs just fine. Small businesses often can justify using multiple programs in conjunction with a CMMS to both save on budget, while the complexities of owning thousands of assets can make the EAM a must for management to have the all-in-one solution at their fingertips.

Moving from CMMS to EAM is not one to be undertaken lightly, but not as difficult as many business owners imagine. Owners will start to plan for the change when their assets begin to pass the thousand mark over multiple locations. Consult with your core team of your asset manager, maintenance manager, maintenance technician, and CMMS vendor to determine when the upgrade is optimal for your business and your future profits.

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Migrating the

Data

Warehouses into the

Cloud T

he cloud has now become a well-established deployment option for business applications. It provides an exceptional ground for grounding the business intelligence systems, as it provides business agility, scalability, and lowers the total cost of ownership.

So, it is a little uncharacteristic that although most applications have migrated to the cloud, data warehouses the fundamental of any business intelligence structures - are still mostly on proposition.

There could be multiple business users and business units who are using the data. We can also ease out the migration process by prioritizing and breaking down the whole data warehouse into significant business process subject areas.

Select the right cloud vendor for your warehouse

Of course, that’s not entirely surprising given that businesses have invested heavily in an on-premise data warehouse technology, with strong concerns about protecting sensitive data. Being seamless, migration of the data warehouse to the cloud must ensure that additional cloud security measures are addressed.

There are numerous cloud providers out there in the market.

Amazon, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azureare some of the market leaders in among cloud solution provider’s industry.

Based on the outcome of the classification of the existing warehouse, we must create a matrix of the functionalities required vs. existing features in respective cloud provider’s environment and then make the final choice. Of course, the monetary expenses also play a vital role in making this decision.

Steps required to be supervised while migration of the Data Warehouses

Identify technology choices depending on there siliency of concept projects

Characterize the current data warehouse along multiple dimensions

Choosing the appropriate database technology for hosting the warehouse is the most important technology decision to be made. You are required to identify the queries symbolizing the typical workload based on performance tests. The factors needed to be considered while making this decision are:

Detailed analysis should be carried out to cover the sensitive data aspects very carefully. It should be taken under consideration on what options are provided by the cloud vendor, and what are the organizational needs for the confidentiality. Thorough analysis of the regulatory standards must be carried out.

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Data types needed by the application Ÿ Ÿ

Database technologies available from the cloud provider Database features required www.insightssuccess.com

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The compute and the storage necessities will decide the infrastructure needed for hosting the data warehouse.

is desirable to run the modeled data migration project in parallel with the legacy system so that it is easier to test and determine the success of the migration. The migration and extraction needs to be setup in a repeated manner so that in case there are some concerns with the migration, it can be re-processed.

Preparing a surefire migration plan

Test the success of migration

Preparing a well thought out project plan is certainly crucial for a successful migration. You must primarily involve business users in the entire decision making and project plan. They should be fully aware of the migration strategy and in fact they must contribute in testing the new system.

In the primary stage of the data migration, we typically test and compare one or several sample queries and data sets. In addition, we would like to commend comparison of row counts of objects, min and max values as well as sample data row assessments. Outlining the success criteria for the migration and testing is of greatest importance to ensure long term success of the cloud data warehouse. You also need to reassure that incremental data loads work correctly throughout.

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Real-time data processing needs Number of concurrent users Performance needs etc.

Infrastructure readiness Most data warehouse projects on the cloud are required to set up a VPC. A VPC houses the entire production warehouse setup. It is very important to create corresponding environments for development, UAT and QA to ensure smooth operations of the systems. Set up access control and security on each of the environments. Also lay out the complete architecture beforehand.

Complete the migration Migration embroils initial movement of the old data followed by the incremental tug of the data from the various sources. A thorough description needs to be in place that plots the source data elements to the target data elements. It www.insightssuccess.com

Conclusion Nowadays, there has been a lot of support for data warehouses in the cloud. Moving data warehouses to the cloud is yielding real business benefits, since many vendors are expanding the breadth and depth of services for warehousing and analysis of the data. However, migration is not exempted of challenges. Make sure you think through all the different aspects of data warehouse migration and then come up with an infallible plan to address those challenges.

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E

xecutive summary

Since Internet of Things technology started to gain mainstream traction, multiple platforms, solutions and strategies have been developed. At the moment there are more than 450 ‘platforms’ commercially available.

Yet, realistically speaking, most of these have been designed for a very specific function on out-dated technology and mostly down a vertical application path.

The true power and differentiator in IoT.nxt resides in our full IoT stack capability encompassing the edge and the cloud.

Background Our thinking from the outset has been that we wanted to adopt thinking and develop tech that creates horizontal interoperability between multiple systems and platforms in a technology agnostic manner.

Why? Well, historically, technology companies argued that the best way to quickly create commercial value was to develop a strong vertically integrated application encompassing an ecosystem of partners.

In 2002, it was all about the cloud.

Amazon Web Services was launched and, when OPC Unified Architecture was released in 2006 enabling secure communication between devices, data sources and applications, adoption of IoT began to rise. The early adopters developed their projects with the cloud in mind. The thinking being a simple connected mindset where billions of sensors will be deployed and easily spin up supercomputers at low cost in the cloud to process all of this valuable Big Data… how could they go wrong?

The quickest way to show value was to focus on a vertical and go after it. We have a different view.

During the .com bomb era, people ran around with amazing ideas that they thought would take over the world

Similarly, gateway players have developed powerful gateway technology with a portion that generically aggregates data to the cloud.

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once mass adoption took place. This was followed by an implosion which saw a huge number of concepts, ideas and investments disappear. A similar trend is developing in the adoption of IoT and in digitalisation in general.

Part of the demise of this is because they were too early on the initial curve and either ran out of cash, were unable to build what they said they could, or saw new, sexier, more agile technology drive competitors closer to adoption.

The .com bomb was a rationalisation and a reality for companies and their investors resulting in fortunes being made and lost in the hype. Timing is key in driving Big Tech. If you’re too soon, you are potentially busy developing a concept that will not only age quickly but give competitors plenty to learn from and piggy back off

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Pitching Excellence

allowing them to develop better tech that is more relevant and value driven. Often a cool idea is exactly that - a cool idea, but without real substance it doesn’t get wide commercial adoption. The commercial viability ultimately sits with the ability of a product to produce ‘real value’, whether quantitative or qualitative.

And then there are the guys who make it.

Amazon, Alibaba, Google. They were unprofitable for a number of years before they started to bear fruit simply because they played the long game. They saw past the hype and created products of real value. They made sure they will be relevant in future economies.

The importance of timing Timing is everything, and tech is hard to time We entered this market at the perfect time. Two years in, our solution is strong and businesses at enterprise level are rallying to adopt Big Data technology. They’re embracing VR, AR, AI, cognitive, algorithmic machine learning technologies as they become a reality.

As irrelevant solutions are being seeded out, the IoT.nxt approach to the problem of IoT is making us a major contender; cementing our position in the market.

If we look at the solutions currently available, we understand more than most of these ‘platforms’ have all been built in the cloud. Five years ago everything was in the cloud, it is therefore unsurprising that it is still dominating IT discussions.

Anyone who has, up until this point, embarked on an IoT initiative, has probably 1. built a solution that resides in the cloud; 2. leverages the power of the cloud and its ability to centralise and leverage processing power from the supercomputers that exist there; 3. adopted a top down approach incorporating the cloud as the central power behind the application.

The competitive landscape Looking at the IoT industry and where the ‘competition’ and ‘incumbents’ are in the current IoT cycle, it is evident that IoT development are in a perfect bubble that I believe is not far from rationalisation. I think it will be less severe

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than 2000 as I think investors have been more calculated; but there certainly will be a correction in the not so distant future. Driving my belief in this is that you need this type of event for eminence to be created. People need to start understanding where the true value lies. The companies that have the ability to lock into this IoT business value proposition and convert that into investor value will survive and will gain eminence. There are a number of great technologies and concepts available but only the ones that are able to truly unlock value will remain.

What sets us apart The IoT.nxt approach has been somewhat different, defying the norm and, to date, it is my firm belief that ours is the only company that has this unique approach. Addressing the problems of interconnectivity from the bottom up, our solution acknowledges the power of the cloud and Big data, but also acknowledges that power is greatly diminished or even nullified if the edge layer is not correctly managed.

Our definition of interoperability and data orchestration is, at times, diluted by platform players claiming to provide the same. They don’t.

The general platform interoperability discussion talks to cloud interoperability. This is a hugely complex play that causes massive headaches for some of the most influential players as they try to fathom how to seamlessly integrate multiple platforms. API’s are the talk of the day, with the current solution to solving this dilemma, but it is simply not sustainable or practical. On a whiteboard it might look great having several platforms integrated via API and then plugging into some ESB via microservices, but I challenge to you to construct all of that and take into consideration the small part all of these guys initially did not deem necessary – the edge.

This methodology is hugely reliant on smart sensor technology that has the ability to push data into the cloud.

There’s a heavy reliance on networks and, as a result, ‘platforms’ are struggling to grapple with edge technology, all the while hopeful that a 5G, no, 20G network will resolve this problem.

At almost all the international conferences we have attended in the last 24 months the major discussion has been Big Data and smart sensors, so most of the more mature platforms have been designed around the premise of them being able to receive data directly from the sensor.

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The problem now is how to talk back to the sensor or machine and, more importantly, how to do this cross platform. An even bigger issue creeping to the forefront of discussions are regarding ecosystems in which near real-time data feeds are crucial.

Yet still, the focus is on the cloud and understandably so, especially if you have invested millions into a technology that is reliant on the cloud.

We do not believe this.

For some time now we’ve been saying that the edge is eating the cloud.

We’re not implying that the cloud will lose relevance. What we’re saying is that a true IoT ecosystem will become less and less reliant on the cloud and, in fact, that ecosystem design will rely heavily on edge capabilities.

A natural oversight, but a crucial detail destined to form an integral part of this industry’s ability to commercialise in the near future. The IoT industry is inhibited by an inability to create interconnectivity and interoperability at the edge.

Retrofit and decrease the barrier to entry and sweat the assets.

Correctly designed and engineered, edge technology enables edge interoperability and, more importantly, the ability to retrofit into legacy systems. Legacy systems, to a large extent, were disregarded, with current players relying on the ‘rip and replace ‘mentality that has governed and, to a degree, plagued the IT industry since the beginning, befuddling brands that have become household names.

This mentality of winner takes all is not congruent with the ideation of a connected world and certainly does not embrace the concept of true scalability.

Having to rip out and replace existing

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technology and infrastructure on your journey towards digitalisation introduces a huge amount of additional complexity, disruption and a cost, all of which makes it a difficult sale to the business, contributing to the slow adoption rate of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

So whilst the ‘big dogs’ are all trying to figure how they can develop and ensure technology lock-in to secure future revenue, they’re contributing towards the mixed message that is being sent out to the market, diluting the value of IoT technology as a tool to unlocking real business value.

Value is a simple exercise for any business leader – Look at expenditure, then ROI. Satisfied? Great. Here’s the next question - is it relevant to my business?

All data is not the answer.

When we enter into discussions with big companies, the issue of legacy investments in technology at the edge comes up without fail. Remember that everyone is selling some type of cloud platform that is going to ‘change the business’, but that cloud engine is reliant on edge data i.e. devices, sensors, machines, protocols, PLCs, SCADAs, CCTV, access control systems - the list goes on and on.

Clients start considering negotiating with each vendor and realising that, much like when our 1000 piece holiday puzzles has 1 missing piece can ruin the picture and make the whole exercise seem futile. It’s the same with many of the algorithms and predictive applications - the true power of these platforms lie in their ability to provide companies with insights. For this they are 100% dependent on having the correct, filtered, aggregated, curated, secure, real-time data from the edge, and they need all the pieces of the data puzzle to build the Big Data picture.

In every environment, on every piece of the puzzle there is information that is critical to the task at hand, and then there’s other information that isn’t needed in real-time. Things like whether a device needs to be serviced in a weeks’ time, whether stock is going to be depleted by the end of the month, etc. Now consider a sensor having a fixed normal range, and only recording exceptions rather than all data all the time - you’re able to reduce the amount of data passed by around 60%- 90% in real time monitoring environments, as a basic statistic.

We are throwing away the rule book.

While the rest of the industry scrambles to figure out how to showcase the exponential value of IoT whilst also attempting to lock clients in to their technology stack, we’re taking the IoT rule book and throwing it out of the window.

We don’t care what technology our clients have now, and what technology they will have in five years’ time. We don’t talk about vendors, we talk protocols. We’re driving our clients to get to Big Data quicker, using what they have, thanks to our trademarked Raptor.

Raptor technology is the missing link in most of the discussions around digitalisation. A normalised, edge layer of physical and virtual intelligence that can be retrofitted, deployed and connected seamlessly into an ecosystem of existing technologies and things, radically reducing the cost and time of having to develop multiple edge integrations into disparate cloud applications.

The IoT.nxt Power-play Being able to retrofit onto all deployed devices, whether analog-, or IP-based has a huge benefit.

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Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

It reduces disruption to business processes, cost of implementation, cost of training, cost and impact of enterprise-wide change management, reduces vulnerability and cyber risk because of less technology disparity at the edge, reduces data moving across the network that reduces the cost of the network and network congestion, reduces processing required at the cloud platform level as the data has already been curated at the edge, reduces the cost associated with maintenance of edge integrated gateways, has less attack surface at the edge as the gateways are rationalised and simplifies real-time subsystem integration

All of this allows us to better leverage the power of our cloud platform as we can now understand the up-, and downstream effects of an event-triggered occurrence and effect dynamic and seamless recalibration and interoperability throughout ALL edge connected devices.

We ensure that all the pieces of the puzzle are in the box, and ready to be pieced together to create the big picture.

Conclusion Edge normalisation of data at the edge gateway layer form the foundation for rapid digitalisation and digital transformation. The disruption that everyone talks about is vested in the ability for an organisation to continue its business but iteratively and rapidly start to address the core issues within its business through digitalisation. This leads to more visibility on a real-time basis allowing for dynamic recalibration back into the business ecosystem to achieve optimised levels of production and efficiency that bring about change and new ways of doing the same thing, better.

Peer-to-peer intelligence and learning will further drive this thinking – Raptor thinking - making us even more relevant as the necessity to drive edge analytics and decision making in critical business environments nullifies the cloud. Are you with me?

If you control the edge you unlock the cloud, a bottom up approach.

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A Material Marvel of the Century

T

he simplest observations are sometimes the greatest discoveries. Watching an apple falling from its branch, Isaac Newton discovered the famous law of universal gravitation. Almost three centuries later, science could take another leap forward with ... a roll of tape.

There is a new wonder material in town that might change our future.

Imagine a coffee cup that streams the day’s headlines in real time. Or a cooking pot that can detect the presence of E. coli bacteria that could make you sick. Or a television screen that is as flexible and thin as a piece of paper. All of these applications could be a reality if the wonder material, named Graphene, lives up to its hype.

A Complicated Narrative The story begins in 2004 in the laboratories of the University of Manchester. Fascination with this material stems from its remarkable physical properties and the potential applications they offer. Although scientists knew one atom thick, twodimensional crystal graphene existed, no-one had worked out how to extract it from graphite.

That was until it was isolated in 2004 by two researchers at The University of Manchester: Prof. Andre Geim and Prof. Kostya Novoselov. This is the

38 | September 2019

story of how that stunning scientific feat achieved while peeling layers of graphite using adhesive tapes, and why Andre-Kostya duo won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their pioneering work. This is the beginning of a scientific and engineering renaissance.

Unboxing Graphene Graphene is a material that can be perceived as a form of graphite, and therefore a carbon allotrope that is distinguished by its crystalline organization. In simple terms graphene is a sheet of a single layer (monolayer) of carbon atoms, tightly bound in a hexagonal honeycomb lattice. It is the building-block of Graphite but graphene is a remarkable substance on its own - with a multitude of astonishing properties proving the title of ‘wonder material’.

Graphene is the thinnest compound known to man having size equal to one atom thick, the lightest material known, the strongest compound discovered surpassing diamond, the best conductor of heat at room temperature and also the best conductor of electricity known to exist.

The Material of the Future Graphene is a disruptive phenomenon; one which could open up new markets

and even replace existing technologies or materials. It is when graphene is used both to improve an existing material and in a transformational capacity its true potential can be realised. The vast number of products, processes and industries for which graphene could create a significant impact, all stems from its amazing properties. Ÿ Biomedical Graphene’s unique properties allow for ground-breaking biomedical applications; Targeted drug delivery, improved brain penetration, DIY health-testing kits and ‘smart’ implants can be mentioned out of many possibilities. Ÿ Composite Materials One of the simplest and most effective ways of harnessing the potential of graphene is to combine it with existing products - so called composite materials. By combining with paints, a unique graphene coating can be formed which could signal the end of the deterioration of ships and cars through rust. Additionally, it can do wonders in the field of weather-proofing, packaging, sports equipment and creating lightest, strongest, safest structures. Ÿ Electronics Graphene has the potential to create the next-generation of electronics exploring spheres of Sci-Fi technology, faster transistors, semiconductors,

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Bio Tech bendable phones, wearable gadgets and other electronics. Ÿ Energy With its influential properties and capabilities, graphene is surely an innovation with distinct future prospects. Bearing this in mind, one might be surprised to know that carbon is the second most abundant mass within the human body and the fourth most abundant element in the universe by mass, after hydrogen, helium and oxygen. This makes carbon the chemical basis for all known life on earth, so therefore graphene could well be an ecologically friendly, sustainable solution for astronomical energy demands. Imagine fully charging a smartphone in seconds or an electric car in minutes. That’s the power of graphene batteries and supercapacitors. Ÿ Filtration Membranes Imagine clean drinking water for millions in developing countries. A global toll of 3.4 million deaths each year is a serious concern which underlines the gravity of clean water requirement. The development of graphene-based membranes has brought that possibility closer like never before. Ÿ Sensors Ultra-sensitive sensors made from graphene could detect minute dangerous particles helping to protect potentially dangerous environments. Its inherently micro-sized structure allows for the creation of hair thin like sensors which can be incorporated to detect biological agents like drugs in our body, stresses and strain levels, atmospheric changes caused by decaying food, and many more.

Strasbourg. It was estimated in 2008 that the production of a square meter of this miracle material cost a whopping amount of 600 billion euros.

However, studies in 2012 found that by analysing its interfacial adhesive energy, it is possible to effectually separate graphene from the metallic board on which it is grown. As the techniques continue to evolve in nearby future, on the account of its high productivity, a sharp decline in price is expected to be achieved.

The range of industries where graphene research is making an impact is substantial. And this is only the beginning.

These are only the baby steps. Although, it’s important to consider the span within which it is likely to exist in customary life, one simply cannot overlook the inconceivable and endless potential of this supernatural material. With continuously growing necessities and depleting resources of the contemporary world, graphene will certainly turn out to be a panacea of all remedies.

Future It must be a wondering question that despite of graphene’s prodigious abilities why it has not hit the ground reality.

The problem that prevented it from initially being unavailable for commercial uses was that the creation of high quality graphene was a very expensive and complex process. "Its industrial production is not yet based on reliable methods to obtain large quantities," claims Alberto Bianco, a researcher at the CNRS and the University of

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