May 15, 2002 Bob Seguy's got a big job on his hands. As Director of Industrial Hygiene and Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) Information Systems for Baxter Healthcare Corp., Seguy is responsible for the well-being and safety concerns of more than 48,000 Baxter employees in 110 countries worldwide. It's a responsibility he takes very seriously.

"Of course, EHS is a regulatory issue and a legal issue," he says. "But more than that, it's a moral issue. We have a moral obligation to our employees to do whatever we can to ensure that every one of our facilities is a safe and healthy place to work. When an incident happens, it's too late. Our job is to stop it before it happens."

Client/server-based system became outdated
Helping to stop those incidents and make Baxter Healthcare's moral obligation a reality, is Databeacon. "Databeacon's Data Publishing, Analysis and Reporting software is powerful, flexible and cost-effective," Seguy says. "It's an integral component in our global EHS program."

The key word in that is "global." With facilities in literally every corner of the Earth, it's impossible for Baxter's corporate headquarters in Chicago to micro-manage each element of the EHS program. Instead, Seguy's team concentrates on providing information, data and resources to EHS managers worldwide. Until recently, that was done through a client/server-based application. But that system had long since become outdated.

In August 2001 Baxter launched an all-new EHS application. A powerful instrument, the new system offered everything from incident reporting tools to industrial hygiene plans and audit and non-conformance information. And as a Web-based application, it avoided the deployment issues and scalability problems that plagued the previous client/server systems.

The tool had to be powerful, simple to use and easy to integrate
The new application provided Baxter's EHS team with a huge amount of very complex data. But it needed a tool that would enable team members to get useful insight out of that data. The tool had to be powerful, relatively simple to use, easily integrated into the overall application and not terribly expensive. The tool of choice was Databeacon.

"We went through a comprehensive evaluation process," Seguy says. "We looked at the big boys in the data analysis space - Brio, Cognos, Business Objects and so on - but in the end Databeacon emerged as the clear winner. Databeacon gave us all the power and flexibility we needed. And it came in at about one-fifth the cost of the competition, which was a considerable saving."

It came in at about one-fifth the cost of the competition, which was a considerable saving
The savings didn't stop there. Without a huge client/server back end, deployment was quick and straightforward. It didn't take a lot of time and it didn't cost a lot of money. And those time and money savings have continued right through to the end user. According to Seguy, EHS managers find Databeacon's interactive data reports clear, intuitive and easy to analyze. "There's not a steep learning curve," he says. "Databeacon's Insight viewer for end users is seamlessly integrated into our system with our branding. As far as the end-user is concerned, the Databeacon software is just part of the application.

Managers find Databeacon's interactive reports clear, intuitive and easy to analyze
Publishing interactive data in a multidimensional format for Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) is quick and straightforward, too. Prior to the Databeacon deployment, the Baxter EHS team did not have an OLAP tool, but rather used an in house tool called "The Analyzer." The Analyzer was a very inexpensive solution that provided value to the organization but on a limited basis. Many users found it to be too difficult to use. Also, extending The Analyzer to other applications and assembling data into a usable OLAP format took months, as each data-set had to be built from the ground up. Because of the technical effort and low user acceptance, The Analyzer was never extended to other modules within the application.

OLAP data can be published in a matter of hours and modifications take just minutes
Today, with Databeacon, OLAP data can be published in a matter of hours and modifications take just minutes. "We've had people publish OLAP data on the train ride from downtown Chicago to [Baxter headquarters in] Deerfield," Seguy says. "And if you get into a meeting and someone asks for changes, it's really just a matter of saying 'Okay, hold on, I'll be back in ten minutes.' With Databeacon we're much more flexible and timely in what we're able to offer."

That offering, Seguy says, extends well beyond the EHS team. The healthcare industry is one of the most heavily scrutinized businesses in the world. Regulatory agencies monitor all aspects of the company's operations and expect to be provided with accurate, timely data. Residents and public officials in the communities where Baxter does business need to be reassured that the firm is operating in a safe and environmentally sound manner. Employees and potential employees have many of the same concerns.

Timely data that demonstrates commitment to good EHS gives a competitive advantage
"The employee aspect to all this is extremely important," Seguy explains. "It's bottom-line issue, too. Accurate, timely data that demonstrates our commitment to good EHS gives us a competitive advantage in attracting key talent."

Next step: offer Baxter EHS data to key stakeholders on company's public Web site
The next step, Seguy reckons, is to offer much of Baxter Healthcare's EHS data on the company's public Web site at www.baxter.com. Non-governmental organizations such as environmental groups, labor organizations and the media provide an important watchdog function. But they often base their scrutiny on out-of-date data. By providing these and other groups with up-to-the-minute information, Seguy feels Baxter Healthcare may be better able to tell its own story.

And after that? Who knows? "The possibilities are endless," Seguy says. "With Databeacon we're finally able to take large amounts of complex data and make it interactive, simple and insightful for a Web-based audience."