Empowering Businesses to Serve Customers Better: InterSystems

All industries and markets run on one single commodity, data. Data is arguably the most important resource that most businesses strive to get. Business analysts from several industries concur that accurate data about the markets, customers, industry trends, etc. is invaluable and could spell the difference between success and failure. One of the world’s leading providers of software systems is named InterSystems.

In Asia, InterSystems is known for our healthcare medical record and interoperability software solutions. However, we develop software that caters to a number of industries that deal with millions of customers on a regular basis. Some of the world’s most successful software companies, like DHC in China, develop and deploy on our data platforms.

In conversation with Kerry Stratton, Managing Director, Asia Pacific of InterSystems

Q. Can you give an overview of the company?

For over 40 years InterSystems has been the information engine that powers some of the world’s most important applications. In healthcare, finance, government, and other sectors where lives and livelihoods are at stake, InterSystems has been a strategic technology provider since 1978. InterSystems is a privately held company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA), with offices worldwide, and its software products are used daily by millions of people in more than 80 countries.

For application developers, we provide a powerful unified data platform spanning data management, interoperability, transaction processing, and analytics. In healthcare, we provide a unified healthcare information system and a suite of connected health solutions to create a unified care record.

Q. How do you keep up with the rapidly evolving needs of a dynamic industry?

Healthcare is undergoing fundamental changes. In healthcare, data is growing exponentially, faster than any other industry. The amount of data available to make the best decisions for patients already greatly exceeds human cognition. Healthcare organizations that embrace digital transformation and learn to unlock the value of one of their greatest assets – data – will be the ones that survive and thrive in the future. We work with leading healthcare organizations to help them stay ahead in this time of change and to develop and execute digital transformation strategies that drive value – for their patients, their organization, and their clinicians.

Q. What do you think is the next big thing in technology?

Artificial Intelligence and machine learning will drive great innovation, but they will succeed or fail on the availability and quality of the underlying data. It’s critical that organizations capture, share, and prepare data in ways that will enable them to embrace AI.

Q. Since every company needs to be on the forefront of innovation, how does InterSystems manage to differentiate and continue being innovative?

Our healthcare solutions embed global best practice gained from working with customers in more than 35 countries, but the solutions come pre-configured to meet local market needs so we can help customers get live with our software quickly and with less risk. Our solutions lead to transformative change in our customer organizations, so we also differentiate through our long-term partnership approach and our passion for customer success.

Q. Can you give a brief overview of your company’s products and services?

InterSystems IRIS™ - powerful unified data platform for developers, spanning data management, interoperability, transaction processing, and analytics

Intersystems IRIS for Health™ - data platform specifically engineered to extract value from healthcare data

InterSystems TrakCare^® - a unified healthcare information system

InterSystems HealthShare^® - unified care record and suite of connected health solutions

Q. If you had to list five factors for your company’s success, what would they be?

InterSystems is a company of problem-solvers. Our global presence enables us to harness the best practices and expertise from around the world to help customers solve their most challenging problems.

We are data management experts with 40 years of proven experience. Our technology and our services are second to none. For example, we are proud of our Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice award announced in January, which is based on direct customer experience where we score 4.7 out of 5.0. As a privately-held, very successful company we put our customers, instead of shareholders, first and take a long-term view to partnership.

Q. What do you feel are the reasons behind your company’s reputation?

Our business philosophy is simple; if our customers are successful, we are successful. And we partner with some of the most successful organizations in the world. In Thailand, for example, our software is enabling digital transformation at Bumrungrad International Hospital, one of the best and most digitally-advanced hospitals in the world. China’s pioneering and most successful private hospital group, United Family Healthcare, relies on our healthcare information system to support rapid expansion. In Australia, our data platform is critical to the operations of Sonic Healthcare, one of the world’s most successful healthcare diagnostic companies.

About the Founder and CEO of InterSystems, Phillip T. (Terry) Ragon

Since founding InterSystems in 1978, Mr. Ragon has led the company to worldwide prominence in the database, interoperability, and healthcare application markets.

Prior to starting InterSystems, Mr. Ragon co-founded a healthcare software company that became a leader in the U.S. and is now part of GE Healthcare. He has served as a healthcare IT consultant to academic and government institutions and received a prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in healthcare information technology.

Mr. Ragon is a Trustee of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), where he also served as Honorary Co-Chair of the MGH Campaign. He is on the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows. He is also a member of the MIT Corporation, the governing body of MIT, chairs the Visiting Committee that reviews the Physics Department, and is Co-Chair of the MIT Campaign.

In 2008, Mr. Ragon helped create the Ragon Institute, a joint research center of MGH, MIT, and Harvard. The vision of the Ragon Institute is to “harness the immune system through science to prevent and cure disease,” and its immediate objective is the creation of a vaccine for HIV.

Mr. Ragon is a signatory to The Giving Pledge.

The son of a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, Mr. Ragon was born in Arizona. He grew up in a variety of states and graduated from high school in Bogota, Colombia. He obtained an S.B. (B.S) in physics from MIT.

"We are the engine behind the world’s most important applications.”