3 Keys to Success for Biotech IT Leaders

This year’s Egnyte Life Science Summit featured great insights from industry experts. Nate McBride's presentation, "The Calculus of IT," was well received for the useful direction it provided emerging biotechs looking to mature their IT stack and operations.

Three major priority areas were identified to help position the emerging biotech for success. We summarize the takeaways below:

Build A Security Strategy

As a tech leader, especially a biotech leader, it is essential to have a security strategy that supports research productivity and compliance. It protects valuable IP, ensures compliance with regulations such as 21 CFR Part 11, and gives you peace of mind. Leaders who deploy solutions with robust governance, access controls, and secure permissions safeguard data while enabling productivity. An air-tight security strategy is essential as leaders navigate the waters of tech maturity and scale.

Build an Effective Team

Success requires an effective team. One key is change management - communicating changes in a way that excites people. Change management is one of the golden keys to utilize within your unit effectively; this involves communicating planned and unplanned changes. For instance, when rolling out new software, involve users early and often. Make them part of the process. This enthusiasm greases the wheels for adoption instead of forcing change. Once you have created a great cadence with your team adopting new software and methodologies within your organization becomes more seamless.

Consolidate Collaboration into a Secure Platform

Balancing security and scientist access is tricky. Many opt for all-in-one tools despite their lack of compliance controls. While tempting for their convenience, these tools need more governance and access control as required for air-tight security and regulatory compliance. Instead, if you focus on developing an open architecture that consolidates regulated data into a central, secure, and 21 CFR Part 11-compliant repository, then you can enable seamless collaboration while maintaining control.

In reality, there is a laundry list of items every biotech leader will have to navigate through as they mature and scale. The pathway from drug discovery to commercialization will always include innovation under the regulatory guidelines set by governing bodies to ensure that their solutions will enhance patient care. There will always be decisions to make, strategies to deploy, and software to integrate into your workflow. This is where choosing the right vendor that fits your needs will always be key. If you can keep these factors in mind, your path to maturity will become more seamless. 

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