A Significant Year Marked by Milestones

March 27th, 2012 by Srini

February marked our 12th anniversary. It was the end of a busy year filled with several milestones of which we are proud and grateful. Anniversaries are an excellent opportunity to take a look back and appreciate the good fortune and recognize the hard work that goes into any notable accomplishment.

Among our milestones in the last 12 months were the launch of an entirely new product line, expanding to a new geography, and securing a significant, position-securing contract.

Early in 2011, our focus was on the launch of the Allegro Research on Demand product line, which is a family of cloud-based clinical trial management systems. The first product to be released was Allegro CTMS@Site. Our goal was to begin supporting the often overlooked, smaller research sites, such as physician practices and community hospitals that participate in industry-sponsored clinical trials.

To support the launch of Allegro CTMS@Site, we expanded quickly, adding 13 new employees in 2011 and bringing the total employee count to 51 in the U.S. In the our new India office, which was also established within the last year, the team quickly grew to nine members.

As if launching a new product and overseas office were not enough, we continued throughout this time to focus on our flagship product, OnCore, and support the growing customer community that relies on this system every day. OnCore users utilize the system to manage large clinical research operations at universities, cancer centers, and children’s hospitals around the country.

Welcoming Yale to the OnCore community in May was certainly a defining moment for us. As a large and powerful clinical and translational science institute, Yale’s selection of the OnCore system to support their campus-wide clinical research operations was both an honor and a vote of confidence that solidified our emerging leadership position within the academic health center market.

Reflecting on the past year, we can say we hit all the milestones we set for ourselves and for this we are extremely grateful. In order to have the same sort of success for our next anniversary it will be a matter of maintaining efficient operations, continuing to grow the customer community, and finding the right people to add to Team Forte.

Forte Research Systems is Presenting Sponsor of Carbone’s Race for Research

March 26th, 2012 by Forte Research Customer Experience Services

Forte Research Systems is proud to announce sponsorship at the presenting level of Carbone’s Race for Research in 2012. This run/walk event will take place in Madison, Wisconsin on August 4th and benefits cancer research at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center.

“We value the fact that our clinical research management systems are used to support the discovery of new cures by researchers around the world. This is an opportunity to celebrate the work done right here in our home town at the UW Carbone Cancer Center, our first customer,” said Srini Kalluri, Founder, President, CEO and Chief Customer Officer at Forte Research Systems.

The Carbone’s Race for Research is in its second year. Formerly known as “Walk Away From Cancer,” the event was updated with a run component in order to appeal to more participants. In addition to having the UW Marching band, a bouncy house, snacks and a walk route specifically for families, runners who participate in the 5K race will compete for prizes for the top finishers.  In total, about 800 walkers and runners are expected to participate.

Medical College of Wisconsin Selects OnCore to Support Centralized Clinical Research Operations

March 21st, 2012 by Forte Research Customer Experience Services

The Medical College of Wisconsin has selected the OnCore Clinical Research Management system to support centralized clinical research operations across the enterprise. With a robust portfolio of clinical trials, the Medical College’s research program provides research infrastructure, expertise in fundamental technologies and experimental approaches to multidisciplinary teams pursuing research in areas of clinical relevance.  Through the recent purchase, the OnCore system will be available to all research groups at the Medical College including the MCW Cancer Center.

Hiring for the Long Term

February 10th, 2012 by Forte Research Customer Experience Services

I remember my first look at Forte Research Systems, Inc. I had found out about the company through a friend who works here and I wound up coming in for an interview. This was an experience! The interview was a grueling, four-hour-long process during which I was grilled for an hour by half-a-dozen people and then for another hour by the remaining team members of the company. The day was topped off with another meeting with just Srini and Tony. During these interviews I answered some pretty tough questions that did a pretty thorough job of teasing out my motivations, background, and, yes, even weaknesses.

Here at Forte we understand that we have a fairly unique approach to interviewing potential new team members. Most of us enjoy sharing our stories about “running the gauntlet” of the Forte interview process. Until just a couple of years ago, applicants who were selected for face-to-face interviews met with just about every team member in the company prior to being offered a position. The process inevitably takes up the better part of an afternoon and may include return visits in order to meet with everyone required.

There is some really good reasoning behind this strategy. It gives the hiring team a chance to get to know the interviewee. We ask ourselves, “Is this a person I can visualize sitting next to every day for the next several years, and beyond?” It also gives the applicants a chance to get a feel for our culture and decide if they would be a good fit. Many have commented positively about the way we interact with each other during the interview. Read More…

Forte Research Systems Has Moved to a Larger Office Space

February 10th, 2012 by Forte Research Customer Experience Services

Forte Research Systems Has Moved

Everyone at the Forte Research Systems corporate headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin has settled into the new office space at 1200 John Q. Hammons Drive. Just a few blocks away from the old space, the new office has about twice as much square footage. To accommodate the new OnCore Certification Program training sessions as well as the increasing number of trainings around new OnCore implementations, the new space has been set up with a room specifically equipped and reserved for these training activities. Additionally, there is a separate space for team members to unwind with a game of ping pong or pool.

The Culture Project

December 15th, 2011 by Srini

Preserving Corporate Culture Throughout Times of Growth and Evolution

We’ve more than tripled in size over the last six years. From welcoming our 18th team member in the fall of 2005 to bringing our U.S. team up to 51 members this month, we’ve had very healthy growth as a company. Plus, in the last year, we also opened our new office in Bangalore, India—now home to a team of eight. These are fantastic numbers and certainly reflect our tremendous fortune and success. But they can be extremely stressful on a Company’s cultural identity.

It became apparent that Tony and I, as the founders, were no longer going to be able to personally escort all new employees as they got to know the company and gained understanding of the values that guide the way that we do business every day here at Forte. Our culture is very different from other companies. How we treat our customers and our fellow team members, how we strive for excellence, how we honor the individual contributions made by each employee are probably the most important factors resulting in our nearly 100% customer retention rate for the entire history of our company. Read More…

Forte Research Systems Expands Partnerships to Define Standards for CTMS-to-eIRB Systems Integration

November 30th, 2011 by Forte Research Customer Experience Services

Customers will benefit from improved operational efficiencies with clinical trial management systems (CTMS) and electronic Institutional Review Board (eIRB) systems that are pre-integrated.

Forte Research Systems, Inc. announced today the formation of two partnerships with software system vendors, TOPAZ Technologies and Tech Software/BEC. In addition to Forte’s recently announced partnership with InfoEd Global, these new agreements set the stage for seamless systems integration, which will benefit the companies’ common customers and the clinical research community as a whole.

“Duplicate data entry between CTMS and eIRB systems has placed a non-trivial burden on research personnel for some time,” said Srini Kalluri, President, CEO, and Chief Customer Experience Officer at Forte Research Systems. “The pre-integration of systems contributes to increased efficiencies not just for our customers—but for the industry as a whole.”

TOPAZ Technologies’ Human Protocols and BEC’s IRBManager systems are both solutions in the electronic Institutional Review Board (eIRB) market that have customers in common with Forte’s OnCore® system. The companies have signed partnership agreements with Forte and have begun defining what data will be exchanged with OnCore via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

“Integrating with the OnCore system fits perfectly with our strategy to fill a product and expertise gap with a complementary best-of-breed solution. TOPAZ has been focused on compliance solutions for research for over 30 years and we’re excited to be bringing our technology and customers together with those of Forte in this proactive venture to provide better solutions to users,” said Michael Peters, Vice President of TOPAZ Technologies.

The goal of the partnerships is to develop standards for data exchange that can be used with any CTMS and any eIRB system. Read More…

Team Forte Participates in Gilda’s Run

November 28th, 2011 by Forte Research Customer Experience Services

Team Forte participates in Gilda's RunOn Saturday, October 22nd, members of “Team Forte” participated in Gilda’s Run with Grace 10K Run and 5K Run/Walk event in Middleton, Wisconsin.

The team of 14 was comprised of employees of Forte Research Systems along with some of their spouses and children. Jon Bake led the team with the fastest finishing time for the 5K race at 27 minutes and 14 seconds.

The route took racers along the Pheasant Branch bike trail in Middleton, Wisconsin which was showcased nicely thanks to the beautiful weather that racers enjoyed that day.

After the event, participants were invited to stay and mingle in the back yard of the Gilda’s Club Madison’s facility which was located at the finish line of the race. There was a lot of delicious food and beverages provided along with live music. Those who could from Team Forte stayed for a couple of hours to eat and chat.

Forte Research Systems Partners with InfoEd to Pre-integrate Systems

November 17th, 2011 by Forte Research Customer Experience Services

The clinical trial management system (CTMS) and electronic Institutional Review Board (eIRB) system providers make systems integration seamless for their common customers.

Forte Research Systems, Inc., developer of clinical and translational research software systems, announced today that they have partnered with InfoEd Global to bring greater efficiencies to the clinical research community by pre-integrating their systems.

“Eliminating data silos and opening communication between systems improves clinical research operations across the industry,” said Srini Kalluri, President, CEO, and Chief Customer Experience Officer at Forte Research Systems. Read More…

Forte Research Systems Introduces Certification Program for the OnCore Product Suite

October 15th, 2011 by Forte Research Customer Experience Services

The program is designed to establish experts at research institutions, thereby creating greater efficiencies in processes and reducing costs.

Madison, Wis. (Oct. 16, 2011) – Forte Research Systems has introduced a certification program for organizations that use OnCore®, the company’s market-leading product line of clinical and translational research management systems. By establishing experts at clinical research centers, the program is designed to ensure that all users institution-wide have the tools to utilize their system to its full capability and, thus, create more efficient processes for research.

OnCore Certified Trainer

Training is a critical issue for academic medical centers and cancer centers. Maintaining standardized, high-quality training programs over time for employees across an institution has proven a persistent challenge for sites. In addition to the training provided in the initial adoption and rollout of OnCore, the Certified Trainer program is an option designed to assist centers with their ongoing training needs by establishing expert trainers on site.

Using a “Train the Trainer” concept, organizations can designate trainers on staff who can complete the certification program and then share their expert knowledge with end users at their respective sites. To become certified, trainers will complete courses that are taught by Forte experts. Additionally, Certified Trainers will have access to training materials for use to conduct end-user training sessions in the future.

Trainers may become certified on one or more topics relating to the use of OnCore. This includes the OnCore Clinical Research Management system, (OnCore-CRM), OnCore for Biospecimen Management (OnCore-BSM), and OnCore for Unified Registries Management (OnCore-URM). If individuals become certified in all products, they will receive a special designation of OnCore MAESTRO.

Read More…

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