CooperVision Surgical Inc, a re-established subsidiary of CooperVision Inc, is committed to becoming a world leader in the supply of unique ophthalmic medical devices which will enable ophthalmologists world wide to restore patients to their best visual acuity and/or quality of life.

CooperVision Surgical Inc acquired the exclusive rights to commercialise AlphaCor^TM, the world's first soft one-piece artificial cornea.

CooperVision Surgical Inc needed an online solution to facilitate the supply of their product to surgeons internationally. The solution needed to collect patient data and track the process from the initial product request through post-surgery follow up. It was a requirement that the solution be easy to use, require no special hardware or software, and accessible anywhere in the world 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Elk Software Group created an online eBusiness system that uses a secure login to allow surgeons to enter case details, request product supply, track product delivery and manage cases. In the process of doing this a comprehensive clinical conditions database is compiled which is used for quality control and outcome measurement.

The analysis and design of the functionality was determined and documented as part of a Business Requirements Study, which involved our Business Analysts holding a series of workshops with the customer to understand the business and the requirements. As part of this project phase, artwork for each screen within the proposed solution was presented to the customer to give them a better understanding of how the final solution would look and work.

During the development cycle, the system was made available on an Internet-based Test Server. The use of a Test Server allowed the customer to track the progress of the solution from their offices via a secured environment.

Following internal Quality Inspection and then User Acceptance Testing (UAT), the solution was deployed for production usage.

As a full real-time eBusiness solution, CVSConnect served both customer (Surgeon) and supplier (CooperVision Surgical Inc) by streamlining the transfer of information between the two parties.

The system was built on an IBM platform, and uses IBM WebSphere Application Server; IBM DB2; Java; and Java Server Pages.

The CVSConnect eBusiness solution won the 2002 WA Information Technology and Telecommunications (WAITTA) Awards in the Online category. The Online award recognises excellence in the use of IT&T to provide information and services delivery to clients, and the emphasis in this award is on the customer interface, ease of use, user acceptance, and innovation.

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