With software and application companies from
Google to
Yahoo! pursuing better document management solutions, it is hard to believe that one of the most innovative companies in Pennsylvania would specialize in accessible document sharing. But
NextDocs CEO Zikria Syed could see the writing on the wall, anticipating the success of
Microsoft SharePoint back when he was an employee there. When he launched NextDocs in 2006, he was just another platform strategist offering solutions for a niche business market, partnering with the company who had helped spawn his career. Four years later, SharePoint has become the industry standard for contract sharing and Syed's work has come full circle as Microsoft declared NextDocs both a Life Sciences Partner of the Year and a Life Sciences Innovator of the Year earlier this month.
At its Worldwide Partner Conference, held at
the Walter E. Washington Convention Center July 11–15, Microsoft announced NextDocs as the sole recipient of its Life Sciences Partner of the Year award to a room full of software and consulting partners. Just one day after the partner conference came to a close, Microsoft again took to the podium, this time at the the Drug Information Association’s 46th annual meeting in Washington D.C. to announce the winners of the company's 2010 Life Sciences Innovators of the Year. NextDocs was a winner once more.
"This clearly states to our clients and potential clients that NextDocs' technology is innovative and recognized worldwide," says Syed. "As a CEO, I am very proud of the accomplishment that NextDocs has received in a very short amount of time. It speaks to the hard work of our company and everybody who works here."
In the race to create the next miracle drug, pharmaceutical companies and medical products firms must pass rigorous tests to gain FDA approval. With features like digital signature software and compatibility with Microsoft Office, NextDocs believes they are creating the next level of SharePoint technology, improving on the industry standard. And it seems Microsoft agrees. In a statement after the event, Microsoft's General Manager of U.S.
Healthcare cited NextDocs' ability to speed up FDA approval and improve
the flow of new healthcare technologies into American wellness
facilities.
"Our most recent client passed an FDA audit after implementing our system," says Syed. "So it's not only the innovation of these solutions but the impact that they have for companies that was most significant for Microsoft."
Source: Zikria Syed, NextDocsWriter: John Steele