In our latest interview series we speak with Michael Latimer, CEO of Isosec, an authentication and identity management software provider working with over 80 NHS Trusts. We asked Michael a few questions.
Could you tell me a bit about yourself and your organisation?
Isosec are a software company based in Media City, Manchester and we help our customers by delivering best in class authentication and access management solutions. We’ve been in business for 15 years, solely serving the NHS. Today, we are incredibly proud to have more than 80 NHS Trust organisations as customers and more than 120,000 NHS employees using our software every day. I joined Isosec as CEO in January 2018, having previously been a senior executive with a global software business, where I took the commercial lead in EMEA operations. I moved up to Manchester from South London with my family in late 2015 and we love the relaxed and friendly way of life, although I am still a die-hard Crystal Palace fan, so there’s no blue or red allegiance problems for me!
What is the most significant achievement for your organisation in the past 12 months and what will be over the next 12 months?
Without a doubt, the launch of the Isosec Virtual Smartcard was incredibly significant for both us and our NHS customers. For the first time, our software allowed for the virtualisation of the physical NHS smartcard via a secure cloud based service. It’s the only software of its kind and it’s been a game changer in all sorts of ways. From our launch last year to nearly 20 customers today, we are proud of how we are making our users lives easier so they can focus on what’s most important – looking after patients. Over the next 12 months we’ll be building on what we have, increasing the use cases and capability of our software to make interoperability of software and ease of use a real everyday occurrence for the NHS.
What’s next?
Well, there’s more to come from Isosec! Firstly, we have just launched and are working on our Single Sign On (SSO) solution purpose built for the NHS and we will be fully launching and promoting this more over the summer. We are working on more enhancements to our mobile platform MIA, allowing more and more clinicians to access clinical data from iOS, Android and Chromebooks, so it’s a really exciting time for us right now with expansions of our software capability in every direction.
What problems and challenges are there to overcome?
Our NHS customers are amazing. The challenge, as we all continually hear about, is being able to navigate our way through out of date compliance, rules and regulations that can seek to prevent the use of the latest digital technology and instead make the user experience faster, simpler to use, more secure and better value, whilst all the time being focussed on freeing up our users time to enable better patient outcomes in whatever the area may be.
What advice would you give to other organisations or professionals?
The best advice I was given many years ago was to remember three things: Have a Plan – Stay Accountable – Make it Happen. I’ve tried my best to stick to that formula and would recommend it to anyone, whatever their walk of life.
What is next in your space?
It’s clear the NHS is lagging behind in terms of technology, although the momentum is changing for the better. Our customers are screaming out for consumer grade software and there is no reason why they shouldn’t get it. Companies like Isosec are determined to make this a reality. There are loads of great things happening, just take a look at RPA and how fast that’s progressed into benefits for the NHS, it’s an exciting time to be around, that’s for sure.
What are you working on at the moment?
Right now we are mapping out and building something even more ground-breaking. It’s a new service that re-invents the world of access management for the NHS. It’s not exactly top secret, but we are holding off from saying too much about it right now, but expect us to be making a big announcement over the summer!
