Balancing Trust, Innovation and Speed
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Industries:
HealthcareProducts:
DataDirectChallenge
Error-free loading of high-volume and time-sensitive medical collection data.Solution
DataDirect drivers for ADO.NET.Result
Reliable and high-performing database connectivity, while keeping MDS “database agnostic.”
Full Story
Challenge
The healthcare revenue cycle is a potentially sensitive topic for many healthcare customers, so MDS takes a respectful, counseling approach to collections. At the same time, it strives to provide outstanding service by improving efficiencies and making ongoing technological advancements, which requires developing, managing and evolving its custom-made software.
When they recently upgraded the version of Sybase ASE, their main database, they encountered “blocking locks” during upload. These essentially stopped the file processing from occurring. Up to that point, MDS had not changed any code on its custom application. The MDS team began to recode certain aspects of the application to address the blocking lock problem. However, the team was concerned about getting into a pattern of recoding every time a database was updated. This practice, which many IT departments reluctantly embrace, tends to result in applications being written for specific databases. Ultimately, the application becomes locked in to that specific database and its vendor. This outcome would undercut the entire flexible IT strategy that makes MDS competitive.
When they recently upgraded the version of Sybase ASE, their main database, they encountered “blocking locks” during upload. These essentially stopped the file processing from occurring. Up to that point, MDS had not changed any code on its custom application. The MDS team began to recode certain aspects of the application to address the blocking lock problem. However, the team was concerned about getting into a pattern of recoding every time a database was updated. This practice, which many IT departments reluctantly embrace, tends to result in applications being written for specific databases. Ultimately, the application becomes locked in to that specific database and its vendor. This outcome would undercut the entire flexible IT strategy that makes MDS competitive.
Solution
MDS had previously adopted Progress® DataDirect® for ODBC drivers to connect their applications with Sybase ASE. This choice had resulted in better performance as they were able to write directly to the ODBC spec contained instead of using proprietary database code. To overcome difficulties that sprang from application modifications and the Sybase upgrade, MDS switched from DataDirect for OBDC to Progress® DataDirect® for ADO.NET providers. The development team wanted to see if ADO.NET would correct the blocking lock error without requiring any special coding.
Result
It worked, with ADO.NET becoming the interface from their database to their applications. With a 100 percent managed wire protocol ADO.NET architecture, DataDirect for ADO.NET connects directly to the RDBMS. There is neither a need for custom coding in the RDBMS language nor a reliance on database vendor client libraries. The results include superior performance and resource efficiency—both highly relevant for the MDS business goal of cost effective, rapid uptake of data. Performance and security are further enhanced because database calls are not made outside of the common language runtime (CLR).
With DataDirect for ADO.NET in place, Sybase ASE is able to handle the large data uploads efficiently and without error. The MDS data management operation is now running smoothly, keeping the data flowing with minimal to no delays. MDS has become database agnostic, meaning they are free to update or even replace their database without having to revamp their custom applications. They have no database clients and are not “held hostage” by a database since just a switch of the driver is necessary to move to a different database.
With DataDirect for ADO.NET in place, Sybase ASE is able to handle the large data uploads efficiently and without error. The MDS data management operation is now running smoothly, keeping the data flowing with minimal to no delays. MDS has become database agnostic, meaning they are free to update or even replace their database without having to revamp their custom applications. They have no database clients and are not “held hostage” by a database since just a switch of the driver is necessary to move to a different database.