Soaring network support costs and customer demand drive lab results online.

Ann Arbor, MI (PRWEB) July 11, 2007 -- In a growing trend in the software industry, yet another software application is changing the way companies do business.

Proteomic Research Services, Inc.(PRS) is a company that provides laboratory services in protein separations and biological mass spectrometry to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as Universities and governmental institutions.

Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan the firm became increasingly concerned with the amount of time and resources used up transmitting lab results to customers.

An endless stream of phone calls and emails with questions like "Did you receive my sample?" and "Are my lab results ready?" required a staff of clerical workers to answer phones and compose emails.

PRS decided to move their lab data, and its order fulfillment process, to a web-based software application, following one of today's most important technology trends -- the transformation of software from a product to a service.

Software makers are increasingly making their tools available on the Internet on a pay-as-you-go basis for a monthly subscription fee. The key benefits of working with these on-demand providers are high speed and low cost. To buy and install a traditional accounting or customer-relationship-management system often means waiting months and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. With software as a service, you can be up and running within days, or even hours, of signing a contract. Since the vendor is hosting both the application and the data, getting started can be as simple as typing in a username and password. What's more, on-demand customers generally pay monthly subscription fees, rather than large, one-time licensing fees.

PRS representatives chose Spartacus Consulting of Ann Arbor, Michigan to implement Lab Portico, a secure web-based laboratory management solution (www.labportico.com). When lab customers login to place orders, the system automatically sends an alert to the lab. All data and communications are safe: Lab Portico has been built with key principles of information security in mind.

Laboratory administrative costs are reduced by entering lab data one time, in one place. As soon as the customer order data is saved, an automatic alert is sent to the customer, who can login and view and download results, download invoices, and review their account.

According to Dr. Michael Pisano, President and Co-Founder of PRS (www.prsproteomics.com), Lab Portico provided a secure and convenient information exchange environment that increased customer retention by letting customers self-service their lab data, and reduced payroll by eliminating the need to hire additional workers to support his growing business.

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