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Mission Possible
Matrix Information Systems sets out to produce standards-based information technology solutions

by Anne Straub
Brevard Technical Journal

Photo by Craig Rubadoux, © 2002.

Matrix Information Systems is on a crusade. Its crusade? To get a handle on the company's issue, imagine a country in which every phone, electrical and water body devised its own technology to deliver its service. From one neighborhood to the next, systems would vary dramatically. You couldn't plug in your hair dryer at your in-law's house. A technician from one city couldn't work on a problem in another town. Ordering parts to repair each distinctive system would be a convoluted mess.

"If they weren't standardized, imagine the cost," said Harry Highstone Jr., president of the Merritt Island software firm. "That's what's happening in information technology."

The company has set a goal to produce standards-based information technology solutions for government and business. The concept goes beyond the industry effort to develop technical standards so that, for example, all commercial software can work on any home computer. Matrix is addressing the systems that use the technology and trying to put forth the idea that those systems should be standard to increase efficiency.

To use the proverbial analogy, companies and business are continuing to reinvent the wheel when they use standardized technology but continue to adopt proprietary custom solutions. They're just using the same hammer and chisel as everyone else.

Matrix wants to invent the wheel and be done with it.

"In terms of procedure, cities, counties and states are all doing the same thing. But from a system standpoint, they're all doing something different," Highstone said. "The waste and inefficiencies are immense."

A single county government, for example, might use a handful of different email systems. Schools in a single system might use different software for recording and displaying data, complicating the process of trading information. Even if one school board agrees on a systemwide standard, there's no statewide standard to streamline information each school system sends to Tallahassee.

"They're wasting money that could be diverted to healthcare or education," Highstone said.

Developing proprietary custom solutions has been Matrix's business for much of its history, making the company part of the problem, Highstone admitted. But now the company has decided to market standards-based products and services, primarily for government agencies in Florida.

Matrix was founded 10 years ago by Highstone; his wife, Robin; and business partner David Batchelor after the close of the Orlando consulting firm that had employed Harry Highstone and Batchelor. "We all sat around the kitchen table and decided to go for it," said Robin Highstone, who serves as chief financial officer.

At first, Matrix took on any work it could find. "The information technology industry at the time was just taking off. There was a lot of opportunity," said Robin Highstone, who was honored by business partner IBM this year for her accomplishments as an entrepreneur.

One early client was FPL. Matrix developed software to help the company control costs by tracking maintenance on boilers, among other applications. It also worked on database application integration for a Texas firm.

Demand was high and the supply of companies providing IT services was not yet mature. Profitability doubled annually, hitting a current estimate of $2 million. The company grew in part by offering progressive perks, such as telecommuting, flex time, better benefits and generous vacations schedules to attract the most passionate and capable talent.

"We wanted to create a company that was the place to work for application development," Harry Highstone said. As the software industry grew, Matrix found itself no longer differentiated among the growing pack. Its answer was to develop a sharper business focus.

The company now concentrates on Florida and two years ago opened an office in Tallahassee to facilitate winning state government contracts.

One Florida agency contract is with Orange County Fire Rescue, which uses Matrix product StatSuite. Paramedics use the software in the field to write patient care and treatment reports, required for each 911 call.

"In an organization as large as Orange County Fire, to try to do that kind of thing on paper is a nightmare," said Bill Godfrey, deputy chief of emergency medical services.

The Matrix system eliminates the hassle of moving paper back and forth and allows people in different locations access to the same information at the same time.

Easy access to the data has helped the organization participate in recent studies: One examined whether pre-hospital treatment for chest pain showed the same gender bias seen in emergency room studies. (Evaluation of the data showed no bias in EMS treatment for chest pain.) Another study confirmed that overcrowded emergency rooms that result in paramedics having to wait with their patients until they can be treated at the ER were having a direct impact on emergency medical systems.

StatSuite also assures that Orange County Fire Rescue will be able to work through trying times. "We're a 24-7 business. We work during disasters," Godfrey said. "Phone companies and networks are going to go down. With this system, we can keep going and do our work."

Matrix performs ongoing database development and management for Dynamac, which holds the prime life sciences services support contract with NASA. The company is responsible for a range of natural resources management activities.

"They've made it a lot easier to store our data," said Ross Hinkle, vice president and chief scientist. User-friendly interfaces with the database also let general users at the company retrieve information quickly.

On the Web: www.matrixis.com.