As originally asked by Jess Rosenthal.

Many of you require assistance from time to time with the software engineering aspect of new product development. I am a principal with a software engineering firm, and am seeking guidance on how you have located firms like mine in the past – internet searches, trade shows, ads in medical device websites/publications, mailers, cold calls from salespeople, etc.

Your input will be helpful in determining how to best target my firm’s marketing efforts. Thanks!

Chris DuPont
CEO at Galen Data, Inc.
Something else to add. When looking for medical device software development resources one might consider what standards the organization complies with. As you know, there are many different and valid ways to development software. But when it comes to medical device, there are the CFRs, ISO, and other international standards that apply. And it’s all about documenting your development effort. Some questions you might ask when considering a vendor are, is your company ISO 13485 registered, are you compliant with IEC 62304, or are you a CMMI organization?

One way to find good vendors is to seek out those that comply with industry standards and have been audited by a third party to ensure compliance.

For example, below is a link to a company I used to work for:
www.tietronix.com

Good luck to you all!

Chris…

Diane Whalen, MBA, PMP
Sr. Manager, Global Program Management Office
The very best software development partner is Intertech Engineering Assoc. They have offices in the US which is a real plus.

David Vogel president of Intertech literally wrote the book on software development for medical devices. See the book “Medical Device Software: Verification and Validation and Compliance” on Amozon.

Check out Intertech at [http://www.inea.com/|leo://plh/http%3A*3*3www%2Einea%2Ecom*3/DDhN?_t=tracking_disc]

Joerg Schulze-Clewing
Electronics Design Consultant
Heather, I think the QMED web site needs some TLC. I looked up consultants and searched for “software”. What I got was this:

“The Apache Solr search engine is not available. Please contact your site administrator”.

Another point would be that consultants typically do not care much about ISO certification and all that. What potential clients need to know is: Can they do the job? Have they done something similar before? What else could they do? They do not have to (and in my opinion should not) only specialize in med tech. It is good to add fresh blood from the outside. This is why I hired a few aerospace engineers when I was a division manager at a med devices company.

Heather Thompson
Creating B-to-B content for medical device and digital health publications.
This is a little self serving, but my company produces QMED. I know that most of the industry gets recommendations from peers, and even other outsourcers. We’re trying to make QMED.com another way to find those services.

If you have any recommendations on how to make QMED better, we welcome those comments.

Jess Rosenthal
Helping Financial Services companies build security into their SDLCs
Thanks Joerg. That is basically the same approach my medical device software consulting company has been using for 20+ years, but I wanted to see if we might be missing out on other growth opportunities. I really appreciate receiving your feedback.

Joerg Schulze-Clewing
Electronics Design Consultant
Jess, in my case it was always the same way: Word of mouth. “Hey, Leroy, do know know a software engineer who …” … “Oh yeah, we had a similar issue a couple years ago and there is this consultant …”.

Internet searches: Yes, I get >30% of new clients that way. They find my web site. You guys have a very good web site, no scripting, no fluff, just facts. Way to go.

Trade shows, ads, mailers, cold calls: I never believed much in that, neither as a GM nor as a consultant. With one exception, proposals. Occasionally when I see a product where I think a major improvement could be achieved I’ll write a proposal. I often put tens of unbilled hours into one and condense it down to a few pages. Many fizzle but one has brought me the biggest assignment ever (so far).

Ying Z.
Healthcare Strategy and Business Development
post your service on GeniCity.org, under
Medical Device > Services
or
Medical Device > For Sale by Product Types > Software