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Big Bang Vs. Modular Implementations

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For as long as I’ve been implementing clinical trial management systems (CTMS) – nearly 20 years, now! – I’ve encountered the “Big Bang” vs. “Modular” debate.

When Oracle’s Siebel CTMS first reached the market, the industry was in such dire need of better functionality that the companies implementing CTMS included every requirement under the sun in their implementations (against our advice!). This meant that a single CTMS project usually took upwards of TWO YEARS to complete. 

Throughout the implementation, the end users would continue to limp along with spreadsheets and home-grown systems. By the time the new CTMS went live, the needs of the users had evolved from their initial requirements, so they still didn’t have what they needed. This led to poor user adoption – the masses revolted against having to learn a whole new system that still wouldn’t meet their needs.

Witnessing this happen over and over is what inspired my team to design ASCEND, which is a pre-configured and enhanced version of Siebel Clinical, also known as an “accelerator.” We noticed that companies wanted a lot of the same functionality and enhancements, so we decided to bake those common requests right into ASCEND. The result is a version of Siebel CTMS that meets most users’ needs as soon as it’s installed.

While some of our clients use ASCEND exactly as-is, most of them choose to add a few things, including integrations with other systems. In these cases, we still advise clients to roll out the base system first before making changes. As you can imagine, this kind of “modular” approach results in significant time and cost savings, as well as greatly improved user adoption.

But, even if you aren’t starting your Siebel CTMS implementation with an accelerator, we still recommend a modular approach over a “big bang” rollout. Releasing functionality little by little is the most effective way we’ve seen to ensure you spend your money on the right things and get the maximum return on your investment.

If you’re interested in learning more about modular vs. big bang, I invite you to join me on March 23, 2015, in Washington D.C. for the annual “Oracle Health Sciences Connect” meeting. I will be delivering a presentation on this very topic: implementing a CTMS using a modular approach. If you are interested in attending the event, please register. If you’re interested in learning more about our solutions, like ASCEND, feel free to contact us.

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Param Singh

Param Singh has been working in the life sciences industry his entire career. As the director of clinical trial management solutions at Perficient, he developed the clinical trial management team to become one of the best in the industry. Param leads a highly skilled team of implementation specialists and continues to build lasting relationships with clients. He has a knack for resource and project management, which allows clients to achieve success. Param has been with Perficient, via the acquisition of BioPharm Systems, since 2008. Prior to joining the company, he guided the clinical trial management group at Accenture.

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