Originally Published MX July/August
2002

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES

The Enterprise
Information Portal: Gateway to Market Strength

An e-business
innovation gives medtech companies a time-to-market edge.

Amy Valley

Feeling
the relentless pressure to bring new products to market before the competition,
medical technology companies are always looking for an edge. The reason is simple
economics: being first with a product that has the potential to yield significant
margins—such as a drug-coated stent or next-generation pacemaker—can
translate into millions of dollars in earnings per month. Some organizations
already enjoy an edge in time-to-market that comes from a new technology called
the enterprise information portal (EIP). An EIP is a single Web-based interface
combining numerous applications that is designed to improve internal and external
project collaboration.

Medtech companies
traditionally have focused more on revenue growth than on cost reduction or
maintenance of market share. Today's marketplace won't stand still
for such an imbalance of emphasis, however. The innovative EIP concept is important