News

Data General Releases SQL Server Migration Tool

• By Scott Bekker
• 10/11/1999

In an early implementation of the MDE, Data General and Strategic Reporting Systems are helping the Veterans Administration Central Iowa Health Care System migrate MUMPS data from its VISTA application to SQL Server 7.0, so that users can search for and report important patient information in a more convenient manner. The MDE also allows users to create and distribute information in a far more timely manner throughout the enterprise, using commonly available reporting tools that work with the Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 database. For example, the Veterans Administration Hospital will now be able to access "live" data and produce reports within ten minutes, a process that previously took up to three weeks to complete.

"In our first experience with the MDE it took us only minutes to move an entire prescription file to a SQL Server database, and access lab data to see what costs existed in certain areas," says Jim E. Presley, Chief Information Officer at the Veterans Administration Central Iowa Health Care System. "We also quickly moved our entire patient database, sorted by county, and received information on where our patients come from, their age, and primary diagnosis. The MDE is usable right out of the box and provides the pathway from MUMPS to Microsoft, so we can do our jobs better, faster, smarter, and more efficiently."

The user can use the MDE directly on the client for interactive "quick" data retrieval. For larger jobs, the MDE has the capability to move large amounts of data from the server into a Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 database, for quality control, performance-based management, or even data backup. The MDE is slated for general availability in November.