MERP & PREP: Modernizing emergency response software
We modernized MERP for Safeguard Risk Solutions and PREP for HAPevolve across web applications, mobile apps and backend services. The products help schools, hospitals and other organizations reach emergency plans when they need to act quickly. Accessibility, fast navigation and continuous availability shaped the rebuild, migration and rollout.
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MERP
Safeguard Risk Solutions — education, businesses and public institutions
PREP
HAPevolve — hospitals and healthcare organizations
Industry
Emergency preparedness software
Services
- Discovery & Technical Audit
- Web & Mobile Development
- Backend Development & DevOps
- Data Migration & Cutover
- SSO Integration
- Accessibility Improvements
- QA & Product Care
MERP for Safeguard. PREP for HAPevolve.
Our work covered two emergency preparedness products: MERP (Mobile Emergency Response Plan) for Safeguard Risk Solutions and PREP (Portable Response Emergency Plan) for HAPevolve.
Safeguard’s MERP serves education, businesses and other organizations. HAPevolve’s PREP serves hospitals and healthcare organizations. HAPevolve is a subsidiary of The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP).
Both products put emergency response plans, contacts and procedures within reach of staff, including guidance for bomb threats, terrorist incidents and biological emergencies. People may be under pressure, using a phone or switching devices. Plans need to be quick to find and usable by people with different access needs. Mobile offline access also helps keep information within reach when connectivity is disrupted.
Continuity and usability through a complete rewrite
This was a complete rewrite across the frontend, mobile applications and backend. A slow screen, inaccessible navigation or an unavailable plan could get in the way of an emergency response. Continuous availability, fast access and usability across devices were core requirements while existing customers continued to rely on the product.
The migration had to preserve emergency plans, document access, organization permissions and the ways users reached their information. Accessibility work covered keyboard navigation, screen-reader behavior, focus and contrast alongside the web and mobile rebuild.
Web, mobile, backend and DevOps in one engagement
Perspective Unity began with stakeholder interviews and a review of the code, database and infrastructure. We turned the findings into functional specifications and delivery priorities. Our team delivered the web frontend, mobile applications and backend, together with DevOps, data migration and cutover. QA and a dedicated test environment supported the delivery. SSO infrastructure and configuration guidance addressed identity integrations including Microsoft Azure and Okta.
The cutover and operating costs
Our delivery team reports a switch to the rebuilt platform without service interruption or crashes, with many users continuing their work without noticing the rewrite. The team also reports 90% lower AWS costs after modernization. SSO infrastructure and configuration guidance provided a consistent basis for identity integrations.
A foundation for the next release
The engagement continued through product care, connecting customer feedback to further improvements. Accessibility work covered keyboard navigation, screen-reader behavior, focus and contrast. Perspective Unity reports faster changes within the ongoing product-care budget and fewer recurring customer escalations.
What had to be delivered together
This project combined the applications, infrastructure, data migration and cutover. A new interface alone would not have replaced the product customers relied on. The work continued into product care after the release.
What this means for healthcare software teams
PREP brought the work into a healthcare setting, where staff need usable access to emergency information across devices. The modernization had to address more than the interface: identity integrations, accessibility, data migration, testing and release planning all formed part of the delivery.
For another healthcare software team, the starting point would be its own workflows and constraints. We assess which parts of the existing product still serve users, which need to change, and how to introduce those changes while preserving access to the information people rely on.
Your customers need the product today. Your business needs a stronger foundation.
Bring the current platform and the risks holding the next version back. Let’s discuss the migration, the transition and what should improve first.
Explore legacy application modernization
Visuals: concept illustrations of the delivery scope.