What is Cloud Computing?

The cloud is a server stored on the internet and accessed via a service provider and is used for delivering, deploying and running software applications--anywhere from clinical trials to drug distribution to automated call centers.  When describing the cloud, the best comparison to use is the "multi-tenancy living" analogy.  When people buy their own individual house, they have to purchase tools such as lawnmowers and snowblowers to remain self sufficient.  However, when people decide to live in an apartment building, there is no longer a need for everyone to have to personally own these tools.  So in effect people's closets, garages and sheds are not consumed by the storage of these  household items.   Tenants share tools and the exterior of their building and if someone's faucet is leaking and is in need of repair, they simply call the apartment complex management company and have the maintenance team take care of the issue.  This is very comparable to the cloud which provides a common platform that multiple companies can cost share which enables them to produce and disseminate information quickly and inexpensively.  In essence, this is a "pay as you go" model and creates amazing efficiencies in that companies don't need to build their own servers and are not troubled with the associated maintenance, upgrading and troubleshooting.  The cloud is light as air--simple and cost effective.  It just makes business sense.

Collaboration Is Everything

With the increasing regulatory and reimbursement hurdles and the patent cliff looming insidiously in the not so distant future, companies are needing to find new ways of innovating and generating revenue streams.  The cloud has enabled companies to collaborate globally with their affiliates, customers, vendors, strategic partners and stakeholders in a way never seen before.  The rapidity of communication has augmented the "aha" moments that are bringing product and service innovations to the next level and allowing for a nimbleness that is required in our ever changing healthcare environment.

Sales and Marketing on the Cloud

Pharma is using the cloud to get sales messages across to their physicians, hospital and other healthcare providers through mobile devices, interactive conference experiences and sales representative delivered ipad details.  There is rarely a concern about version control or being able to use the latest information--the cloud allows real time updates and upgrades without the exorbitant costs associated with reprints.  The cloud also enables feedback on how data and information is shared with customers so marketing teams can revamp and bolster campaigns.  It also ensure sales rep compliance and customization of the messages that are delivered which in turn increases the value proposition of the sales model as customers can access real time, customized responses to their immediate questions and concerns.  The cloud can automate physician requests for samples, reimbursement support, patient materials, off label information, or support from medical for an investigator sponsored trial.  The possibilities are limitless!

R&D, Logistics, Customer Service and Patient Organizations on the Cloud

Pharma is utilizing the cloud to increase communication with their investigators and CROs for patient trial recruitment, site qualification, tracking payments to physicians, screening and patient enrolment in clinical trials, case report creation and safety report submissions.  It also enables online collaboration for the co-creation of documents, consensus guidelines, policy development and manuscript writing allowing collaborators to contribute without having to attend meetings or taking time out from their clinics.  The cloud has allowed the fragmented R&D landscape to become integrated onto a common space.  From a logistics standpoint, the cloud has benefited the industry by streamlining the distribution of drugs from the manufacturers to pharmacies and hospitals without having to spend the time and money in installing software in every outlet.  This has created incredible ordering efficencies in that pharmacies are no longer saddled with time consuming paper work and middlemen suppliers.  Customer service departments have also benefited greatly from the cloud.  They use it for everything from Interactive Voice Response (IVR) services for call centers to the dissemination of customer satisfaction surveys to call center management of branded discounts and coupon codes.  Non profits like patient organizations and advocacy groups have leveraged the cloud for the tracking of grant requests and applications, managing their patient databases and information, video conferencing and creating new channels of communication for their clients through "Click to Call" and "Click to Chat" options.

This is all Great--But is the Cloud Safe?

When I speak to clients about the cloud, they often voice a concern that the proprietary "secret sauce" that they have kept safe within their own server firewalls will be hacked into and retrieved by competitors.  This is a valid concern since the retrieval of marketing materials, R&D procedures or clinical trial results by a competitor could prove to be detrimental to an organization.  But these concerns are not substantiated.  Just because company data and information assets are stored within servers housed within an organization that can be "touched and felt" does not make that data any safer than if it was on the web.  Let's use the analogy of purchasing gold.   Although you never actually touch a gold bar when you purchase it, you know you own it and you feel secure.  So is the case with storing valuable company assets on the cloud.  Although the "cloud" server can't be "touched" and is not housed within a company's four walls, it can be just as secure as a steel encased "safe" where gold bars can be stored in.  With firewalls, encrypted data and security codes, many large industries such as the banking and financial sectors, have incorporated the cloud into their day to day business practices.

Pharma 2.0

It will only be a matter of time before Pharma begins to take on the cloud as a mainstay of their business model.  Pharma is starting to dabble in the digital space by dipping their toes in the social media forums of Facebook and Twitter.  But in the highly regulated and compliant environment that Pharma exists under, there is a huge reticence in undertaking anything in untested waters. Unfortunately the pressures are mounting and Pharma is being pushed into reinventing its business model.  And the cloud will inevitably be part of it.