Octagon Survey Highlights Document Management Challenges in Life Sciences Industry
WAYNE, Pa.–()–Survey findings released today by Octagon Research Solutions, Inc. shows that global life sciences companies continue to confront major hurdles in their mission-critical enterprise document management processes. The research was focused on the significant challenges and priorities facing emerging and large Pharma and biotech companies in the management of information throughout the clinical and regulatory lifecycle.
Nearly 500 C-level executives, senior directors, and other professionals across major functional areas such as corporate management, information technology (IT), clinical and regulatory operations and other departments were surveyed, Respondents included over 100 respondents from 50 leading global pharmaceutical companies as well as hundreds of emerging biotech and Pharma company professionals.
Survey Results Bring Life Sciences “Pain Points” to the Forefront
The research results underscore that life science organizations, in their quest to bring new discoveries to the marketplace, face broad and far-reaching difficulties in the management and production of clinical and regulatory documents. Respondents highlighted a number of major challenges in their document management processes, including ongoing issues related to version control, author review and approval processes, standardization, document access, and IT infrastructure support.
Top-Line Survey findings include:
- 57% note “Keeping up with IT needs related to Document Management” is either very difficult or difficult;
- 56% note “Managing Author Review and Approval” is either very difficult or difficult;
- 56% report “Searching for and Accessing Documents” is very difficult or difficult;
- 52% of respondents find “Managing Multiple Document Versions” very difficult or difficult
“In the life sciences sector, advancing new innovations to market is increasingly dependent on greater efficiencies and tighter integration across the entire clinical and regulatory information lifecycle,” said James C. Walker, CEO and Chairman, Octagon Research Solutions, Inc. “Octagon’s survey findings provide us with significant insight that the stakes are higher than ever for both global pharmaceutical leaders and smaller start-ups to move beyond traditional and legacy approaches to document management, and embrace process-focused innovation as embodied in Octagon’s Quantum RIMTM platform.”
Industry Sea Change: Document Management Moving to the Cloud
As the survey results indicate, the significant investment needed for internal IT resources often makes installation of traditional document management solutions cost-prohibitive and out-of-reach for many emerging life science companies. Helping spur profound change in the industry is a new class of solutions, such as Octagon’s Quantum Regulatory Information Management (RIM) Platform. Quantum RIM can be deployed through the ease and flexibility of the Software as a Service (SaaS) model, eliminating the need for significant IT infrastructure investment. Quantum Content Manager™ deployed in a SaaS model levels the competitive playing field by providing leading-edge, enterprise document management functionality. The solution is also available in an installed/on-premises model for companies with more sophisticated infrastructure integration needs.
Octagon’s Quantum RIM solution features purpose-built solutions that expedite document management, document publishing, and submission management. Octagon will unveil new functionality to the Quantum RIM platform at the upcoming DIA 2012 Annual Meeting, June 24-28 in Philadelphia.
“For over a decade, Octagon has remained singularly focused on helping life science companies to better manage information and ultimately advance innovative new products to patient communities,” added Kirk Gallion, President, Octagon Research Solutions,
Inc. “Quantum embodies Octagon’s steadfast commitment to our clients to deliver solutions that truly mirror real-time needs and produce gains across all stages of the drug submission process. We look forward to showcasing the latest new features to this powerful platform when the industry gathers at DIA 2012.”
About Octagon Research Solutions, Inc.
Octagon is the industry leader in transforming clinical R&D through an integrated suite of regulatory, clinical, business consulting and technology solutions. With a foundation in data standards and advanced technology, Octagon’s eCTD and CDISC-enabled solutions provide all of the resources required to optimize drug development from data collection to submission. Octagon’s unique combination of deep domain knowledge, cross-functional electronic submission expertise and holistic process approach utilizing integrated solutions, set us apart as we serve more than 350 clients on three continents. Our global headquarters are in Wayne, Pennsylvania with additional US offices in Mountain View, California. Octagon also has European offices based in Wokingham, UK, and Asia-Pacific offices in Bangalore, India.
For more information, visit www.octagonresearch.com
