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INTEGRATE 2014

Learn how Byram Healthcare improved process efficiency and minimized downtime using the BizTalk Adapter for Informix, connecting SQL Server, IBM Informix, and ZirMed seamlessly. Discover the challenges faced, the original solution, and the impact of the upgraded system.

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INTEGRATE 2014

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  1. INTEGRATE 2014 Byram Healthcare speeds processes and reduces downtimeusing BizTalk Adapter for Informix Eric Stott, Stott Creations Jorge Gomez Paul Larsen

  2. Byram Healthcare Byram Healthcare National leader in disposable medical supply delivery since 1968 Works with over 300 managed care providers, Medicare and Medicaid http://www.byramhealthcare.com Mediq International provider of medical devices with 7100 employees in 14 countries Acquired Byram in 2008 http://www.mediq.com

  3. “We promise that if the patient makes one phone call to us, we’ll take care of everything, but that can be a challenge.“ Nick Piecora CIO, Byram Healthcare

  4. Customer call center order processing Call center representatives with near–real-time access to coverage info from healthcare payers Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) ZirMed third-party healthcare coverage verification provider Order processing and ERP based on IBM Informix Informix did not natively support web services or EDI Need to connect Informix to CMS and ZirMed

  5. “ In the medical insurance realm, there’s no single system that provides an accurate and timely means to verify coverage and reimbursement rates for specific products. It can be a difficult system to work with.“ Nick Piecora CIO, Byram Healthcare

  6. Original solution using SQL Server Informix BizTalk Server SQL Server BizTalk Server SQL Adapter Poll SQL Job Custom Web Adapter CALL Informix procedure SELECT INTO SQL table DELETE from temp table TempWare-house Temp Ware-house Temp Status Splitter Orchestration SQL Server / Linked Server Informix OLE DB Provider ZirMed Push SQL Job UPDATE status INSERT INTO warehouse Individual Request Orchestration

  7. Original solution used multiple steps BizTalk adapters for EDI Access CMS and ZirMed Custom two-step “data pump” for Informix BizTalk WCF Adapter for SQL Server SQL Server stored procedures to provide logic and transactions SQL Server linked service to redirect SQL commands to Informix IBM OLE DB Provider for Informix connects over IBM Client for Informix IBM Informix Dynamic Server V11.70 for AIX running on POWER7 Informix stored procedures to input new orders and update status

  8. Increased volume causes problems Byram had recently experienced rapid growth Acquisitions and an organic growth rate of 30 percent per year have doubled the size of the business With the increasing transactional volume, performance of the verification processes degraded sharply As the number of records increased, the time required to process each record also increased Byram was forced to freeze new requests—sometimes for days—until the backlog had cleared Performance degradation created instability in the system, which was extremely difficult to troubleshoot because of the layered complexity When the connection between SQL Server and Informix timed out (typically once a week) Only way to restore the connection was to physically restart the server running BizTalk and reinitiate any stalled batch processes, which could take hours to complete During these outages, call-center representatives were unable to confirm customers’ eligibility over the phone A number of representative were routinely reassigned to calling insurance providers to manually verify coverage Customers grew increasingly impatient, and Byram was losing business as a result “ When we were only processing a few records and the data sets were small, it wasn’t an issue,” recalls Piecora. “But as we grew in volume, the model became very inefficient; the two-tier solution we had created using SQL Server with IBM Informix OLE DB Provider and IBM Client as a data pump just couldn’t scale to meet the volume of new business.”

  9. Impact to the business during outages Call center representatives Unable to confirm customer eligibility over phone Routinely reassigned to calling insurance providers to manually verify coverage Customers Grew increasingly impatient Byram was losing business as a result

  10. “ When we were only processing a few records and the data sets were small, it wasn’t an issue. But as we grew in volume, the model became very inefficient; the two-tier solution we had created using SQL Server with IBM Informix OLE DB Provider and IBM Client as a data pump just couldn’t scale to meet the volume of new business. “ Nick Piecora CIO, Byram Healthcare

  11. Original solution using SQL Server Informix BizTalk Server SQL Server BizTalk Server SQL Adapter Poll SQL Job Custom Web Adapter CALL Informix procedure SELECT INTO SQL table DELETE from temp table TempWare-house Temp Ware-house Temp Status Splitter Orchestration SQL Server / Linked Server Informix OLE DB Provider ZirMed Push SQL Job UPDATE status INSERT INTO warehouse Individual Request Orchestration

  12. New solution with no intermediary steps Informix BizTalk Server BizTalk Adapter for Informix Custom Web Adapter Temp Status Ware-house Individual Request Orchestration ZirMed

  13. New solution required greater scalability Byram turned to Stott Creations to design a new solution Requirements included greater scalability, higher performance, and improved quality Customer and partner asked Microsoft to deliver an adapter for Informix Microsoft initiated a Technology Adoption Program (TAP) Byram and Stott joined program as a rapid deployment site Stott developed a new BizTalk application to use the adapter Stott tested the application and adapter Stott deployed new solution into production New solution restored system performance Existing capability to verify insurance coverage and accept orders runs 10 times faster New capability to verify delivery by passing EDI, HL7, and shipping information including images through BizTalk to a legacy Informix ERP system

  14. Original system compared to new system

  15. New adapter improved IT organization Performance improvements are evidenced in the benchmarking of a daily batch process Previously taken nearly 5½ hours to complete and now takes only a little more than an hour Business logic is more tightly coupled with BizTalk System can automatically verify that records were transmitted properly and resubmit any that failed Simplicity of the re-engineered solution has reduced downtime Reducing burden on Byram IT staff responsible for troubleshooting and maintaining system

  16. “ The adapter works significantly better than the data pump.Where we had been seeing 10-second response times, we’re now seeing sub-second response times. All the work that had happened in SQL Server is now happening within the BizTalk environment. “ Nick Piecora CIO, Byram Healthcare

  17. “ The Microsoft BizTalk Adapter for Informix has renewed our commitment to BizTalk Server. This is a solution that can meet our needs now and for the foreseeable future. “ Nick Piecora CIO, Byram Healthcare

  18. Accessing IBM Informix databases DRDA over TCP/IP Microsoft Windows AIX, Linux, UNIX, Windows

  19. Demo BizTalk Adapter for Informix

  20. BizTalk Adapter for Informix • Connectivity • Informix IDS V11.7 and V12 • XA transactions using MS DTC • DRDA over TCP/IP using MS client • Performance • Bulk insert • Resultset concurrent read • Client connection pooling • Data type encoding and decoding • Source • Receive Port • SELECT • SELECT (with cursor UPDATE or DELETE) • CALL procedure Destination • Send Port • INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE updategram • CALL procedure • Solicit-Response Send Port • SELECT • CALL procedure • Custom SQL statement

  21. Connecting to existing IBM LOB systems SQL Server BizTalk Server Internet Information ServicesHost Integration Server CICS, IMS MQ, RACF DB2, Informix Host Files SQL Database BizTalk Services Service Bus IBM Protocols and Formats Azure SQL Data Sync Standard Protocols and Formats Service Bus Relay Virtual Network and Express Route TCP/IP and HRP/IP IBM z/OS and i5/OS, AIX, Linux, UNIX, Windows Microsoft Azure Microsoft Windows Server

  22. Demo Microservice for DB2

  23. Host Integration Roadmap Microservices CICS, IMS and iprograms DB2 and Informix databases WebSphere MQ messages (using MS client) Power BI for Office DB2 and Informix databases (Power Query, Power Pivot) Host Integration Server vNext Informix databases (ADO.NET and BizTalk) Managed DRDA client for DB2 and Informix (ADO.NET)

  24. Takeaways Byram Healthcare Early access to industry-exclusive technology (BizTalk Adapter for Informix), which significantly improved the quality and performance of their application Stott Creations Expert guidance on BizTalk, Informix, and enterprise solutions with which to develop a new application to replace existing IBM-based solution Microsoft Vital input and feedback with which to validate and improve technology, tools, documentation, samples and support

  25. More Information Stott Creations Working with customers on IBM integration, ESB, and other BizTalk solutions Contact Eric Stott, eric@stottcreations.com Microsoft Corporation Accepting rapid deployment and evaluation sites into Technology Adoption Program Contact Paul Larsen, plarsen@Microsoft.com

  26. Questions

  27. Thank you

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