The technology boom made a mighty impact on the way we communicate, share, and disseminate information. This impact can be summed up in two words—the Internet. For Independence Public Schools, it was time to replace the district’s outdated and restrictive FoxPro system with a more efficient and flexible Web-based application that could bring more freedom and flexibility to the process of coordinating children’s resource services between the city, state, and local agencies.

“There was an obvious duplication of services and paperwork across the 14 school campuses, city, and state agencies,” explains Debbie Marlowe, Associate Superintendent of Special Services for Independence Public Schools. “We also saw poor dissemination of information about the services, not to mention shrinking dollars and high turnover of personnel, who had little continuity of knowledge.”

Information was collected into a specified format rather than a database, necessitating hours of manual changes whenever the State of Missouri revised its administrative requirements. While each campus and agency had different eligibility documentation and criteria, it turned out they were all asking for basically the same information. The district then decided to create a single document that met the needs of all agencies and could quickly communicate information back and forth.

Technology

MightyData developed a Web-based system that offered tremendous flexibility when combined with a database. This new system was developed in two parts: a back-end that consisted of a database housing all the data and managing all procedures; and HTML pages that utilized a Web server. The low-cost solution allowed existing hardware to be used and because it was web-based, training was easy. The site posted two critical documents on each student, which were kept on a uniform platform. In addition to offering easy modification, the site allows several levels of secure access by all agencies involved.

The first document, the Diagnostic Summary, pulls together all the evaluative information on how a student diagnosis was made or not made by a committee overseeing Special Education enrollment. The second document, called the Collaborative Support Plan (CSP), serves as an Individual Education Plan (IEP), detailing the specific services that will be provided for the student once admitted. It also tracks his progress across teachers, case coordinators, and other school administrators. The unique factor here is how many different people contribute data to a primary document.

Transformation

What MightyData created is a system that is exceptionally flexible for us and certainly up-to-the-minute because all campuses can access our site with a Web browser, says Debbie.

“It is quite simple to change data, and to do administrative tasks in no time.” Not only did Debbie enthusiastically endorse the system’s versatility and easy Internet access to her peers nationwide, but she also presented the new system to education experts in Washington, DC, and Denver, as well as the State of Missouri.

Since then, MightyData has been called upon to help the Independence School District train its staff and other area districts that implement the system in the future. This will undoubtedly help other school districts better serve their special education students and families. “What was once a horror for me,” recounts Debbie, “is now a simple matter with the FileMaker-based system that MightyData shaped for us.”

It has dramatically improved the quality of service and communication we can provide students, and at a reduced cost to our taxpayers.

For Independence, that’s the freedom of flexibility that comes with technology to transform.

Milex Southern, a family-owned distributor of medical supplies for women’s healthcare based in Weatherford, Texas, decided to completely overhaul and upgrade its UNIX-based accounting system. And for good reason. Saddled with a menu-driven, non-intuitive, text-only configuration, it became increasingly difficult to process orders as the company grew. Milex knew it needed to go beyond the entry-level productivity of UNIX to a more versatile and highly intuitive Mac-driven system—FileMaker.

“In our business, we must be able to track lot numbers carefully and expand the number of fields we utilize. FileMaker Pro is very open, user-friendly and lets you work the way you want to. It’s also reasonably priced,” explains Bob Jenkins, Milex general manager.

Technology

As part of a multiple phase rollout, MightyData was tasked to build a comprehensive data management system in FileMaker. The customized application was designed to perform all order entry, order processing, accounts receivable, inventory control and reporting functions. However, there were some potential challenges for Milex that needed to be addressed.

The FDA requires that all medical products be issued in lot numbers, which can take endless hours to track. Plus, certain states have a complex sales structure, with a separate sales tax rate for each municipality. Both required too much time and effort. To solve these challenges, MightyData built an automatic tracking capability into the system to speed up lot number verification and streamlined monthly tax reports to generate accurately calculated rates, quickly and efficiently.

MightyData helped us get the exact reports that we need, says Bob.

Transformation

Milex has seen significant increases in productivity with the newly installed entry system. For example, online access to accounts meant that file folders no longer needed to be stored and re-filed manually. The program also keeps both sales reps and office staff apprised of important data.

Now our reps get their sales totals each day, so they know exactly what products have been sold.

“They are also tracked through each product category, so they can focus on which products are selling well and which are underperforming.”

When Milex added four more states to its existing service area, it was able to seamlessly ramp up with its existing system by adding a faster server. In fact, staffers were able to input and set up all data from the new states in just 15 minutes!

With innovative solutions from MightyData, you’ll always go far beyond entry level. Just ask the mighty Milex family.

Willis of Texas is a leading insurance broker and part of Willis Group Holdings, one of the largest insurance brokerage firms nationwide. Ron Moore, Managing Director, developed a basic FileMaker system more than a decade ago to keep track of vital client data such as employee coverage plans, deductions, premiums, and other administered programs. “We deal in group health, life and disability benefits plans,” explains Ron. “Clients must maintain data on all their employees. FileMaker Pro is a tool that allows us to help our clients to manage this data.”

As the scope and complexity of business increased, Ron knew it was time to renew the insurance policy on the system he built years ago. That meant leaving the system upgrade to the professionals—”to take it beyond what I could do,” says Ron.

The Technology

Ron turned to Mike McAbee, Willis’s Senior Systems Analyst, and Kirk Bowman, Visionary of Value, of MightyData. These two technology-driven powerhouses were the welcome insurance policy Ron was looking for to transform a basic FileMaker Pro system into a mighty, but versatile, data management tool for those keeping track of employee benefits programs.

“The system has seven to fifteen tables to manage the various components that determine in which benefits a person can enroll, the payroll deductions for employees, and the premiums owed to vendors,” explains Mike. “We have modules that allow us to do direct imports from human resources, exports to payroll, and exports to files for carriers.”

The Transformation

Willis of Texas introduced a Web interface that was designed by MightyData. The Benefits2000 interface lets employees enter their benefits information.

There’s no need to go to Human Resources and fill out a form, comments Mike.

“And there’s no need to send that form to us to be entered into the database. With the web interface, the information comes directly from the employee to us—and we can send it on directly to the insurance carriers. That capability allows us to provide even more personal, more accurate service to our clients and their employees.”

Because of this technology transformation, clients of Willis of Texas and their employees are benefiting every day from the power of FileMaker Pro—not only an award-winning database software application, but also a welcome insurance policy.