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For their software development requirements, they needed two primary systems. A web-based application to allow their clients
to search through the product-exposure histories of their clients' customers, and an internet/intranet deployable application
for searching and managing Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) documents.
With a number of toxicologists on staff to provide product-exposure assistance to the public on behalf of their clients
(Clorox and SC Johnson Consumer Products among many others), Client required a solution that was available with a minimum
of complexity for both their clients and the on-staff toxicologists, who had a broad range of computer skills.
Additionally, due to the potentially sensitive nature of the data being collected, security considerations were very high
on the priority list.
For Client's requirements, we chose Internet Information Server with a Microsoft SQL-Server backend database.
IIS development technologies allowed us to provide a very quick prototyping and refinement approach, driven by the feedback
of Client's management, their toxicologists, and their corporate clients. Using web technology, deployment concerns were
minimized by allowing updates to the software to be in effect propagated to all users immediately,
and the user learning-curve was minimized by leveraging the widespread familiarity with web browsers.
To address the data-sensitivity concerns, we implemented Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption on all the web servers,
and incorporated user validation by login and internet address (IP) validation in the site's code. This allowed Client's
clients to have their data conveniently searchable from their location, and for Client's toxicologists to work off-site when
appropriate, all within a secure environment.
Due to the large data sets and high degree of searching flexibility required (34 distinct search criteria were ultimately supported,
searchable in any combination), load balancing among multiple servers was a necessity. Code to shift query load among different
servers was implemented to reach this objective.
Client's other line of business related to providing MSDS document management capabilities to their customers. As it is an OSHA
requirement for companies having potentially hazardous materials on-site to maintain employee-available documents regarding
these materials, and recommended actions in case of exposure, maintaining this document library can be a significant task.
Indeed, for many companies, a disorganized file cabinet filled with MSDS documents was the norm. To address this, we provided
an intuitive, web-based MSDS document management system, also utilizing IIS and SQL-Server.
For both primary applications Client required, a high degree of browser compatibility was a necessity, since enforcing a particular
browser for the wide range and number of Client's client firms would be problematic. To address this, both systems were architected
to be entirely server-side, accomplishing their functional requirements without any utilization of Java, Javascript, ActiveX or
any other client-side technology.
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