MedicAlert Ensures SOA Health with AmberPoint; Healthcare Pioneer Calls on SOA Runtime Governance Leader for Comprehensive Management Capabilities.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- AmberPoint, the leading provider of service-oriented architecture (SOA) management software, today announced that the MedicAlert Foundation is using AmberPoint to ensure the operational health of its distributed services-based health records system. The healthcare informatics organization estimates that by implementing AmberPoint it was able to meet production requirements for manageability and security 75 percent faster. MedicAlert states that AmberPoint has proven successful due to its comprehensive runtime governance capabilities, the visibility it provides into services and their interdependencies, and its native support for both .NET and Java.

"Our move to SOA has been a business mandate," said Jorge Mercado, Manager of MedicAlert's SOA and Software Architecture Group. "We needed the flexibility to rapidly add new partners and update our business model. As a result the number of moving parts brought a new set of governance challenges. After looking at a number of options, we chose AmberPoint. Now that AmberPoint's up in production we're reaping the rewards of that decision."

Founded in 1956, MedicAlert is a nonprofit membership organization with a mission to protect and save lives. The company's services are built around a repository of health information that enables members to manage their personal health records while maintaining security, privacy and confidentiality.

The MedicAlert repository uses Web service interfaces to support standard Electronic Personal Health Records and for patient record exchange with healthcare-related systems. A new product from MedicAlert, the E-HealthKEY, stores critical medical information to a USB memory stick, which customers attach to a keychain to ensure that a complete personal health record is with them at all times. Customers can view and update their personal medical information via the MedicAlert web portal or the E-HealthKEY, which seamlessly sync with one another.

AmberPoint manages MedicAlert's new system, providing detailed performance metrics and real-time control across the services network. MedicAlert teams can view comprehensive data from a single AmberPoint console, and can then manage the runtime characteristics of the system. MedicAlert also uses AmberPoint to detect, diagnose and remedy system errors. By monitoring the messages flowing across the services network, AmberPoint can flag unexpected conditions, such as service level violations or the number of decryptions that faulted. It alerts the appropriate personnel and can automatically remedy issues through such actions as failing over to a back-up service.

"AmberPoint gives us visibility into the system and the ability to control the environment in order to do things like respond to unexpected conditions," said Mercado. "For example, thanks to AmberPoint we're able to see such things as the overhead of encrypting data, system performance during peak hours, and the interdependencies across the services network. We can use AmberPoint to automate system performance such as routing requests from our best customers to the highest performance services."

In light of the sensitivity of the message data, system security is paramount. MedicAlert uses AmberPoint to encrypt and decrypt messages, ensuring that only authorized users are able to access or edit customer information. AmberPoint's plug-in agents, which transparently reside in the same container as the managed services, ensure that MedicAlert never exposes unencrypted messages on the network. Forum Systems provides message validation and protects the services against external attack, such as denial of service. The combination of AmberPoint and Forum Systems provides an implementation that addresses both perimeter and endpoint security.

"MedicAlert is bringing cutting edge technology to the healthcare industry to keep patients healthy and patient records safe," said Gordon Loudon, vice president of AmberPoint's Customer Experience Group. "We're seeing more and more companies in diverse markets such as healthcare, financial services, manufacturing and retail investing in service-oriented systems. Those companies are finding that management and governance at runtime are key factors in the success of their SOA."

About AmberPoint

AmberPoint is the industry's leading provider of SOA visibility, management and security solutions. Customers such as British Telecommunications, H&R Block, Motorola and the U.S. Department of Defense have chosen AmberPoint for its comprehensive capabilities, its non-invasive approach and its native support for Java and .NET. For more information, contact AmberPoint at 510.663.6300 or [e-mail], or visit www.amberpoint.com for a complimentary developer's edition of AmberPoint software.

MedicAlert is a registered trademark of MedicAlert. All other trademarks may be properties of their respective owners.