Background
A leading biopharmaceutical company was navigating a period of intense transformation. With its financial success heavily concentrated in a few blockbuster drugs, the company faced mounting pressure from patent expirations, legal battles, and fierce competition in both oncology and immunology markets. At the same time, it was preparing for new drug launches, integrating acquisitions, and upgrading IT infrastructure — all while managing a complex and expanding R&D pipeline.
At a Glance
What Mattered Most
Migrate the IT and R&D portfolio the cloud to ensure continuity for critical programs, protect data integrity, and support CloudFirst initiatives without disrupting operations.
What We Noticed
Migrating ten years of schedules—including the R&D pipeline—carried inherent technical risk. However, misalignment among internal groups and a company-wide desktop rollout introduced additional complexity that had to be mitigated.
Key Metrics
validated and operating
in the new environment
repositories
migrated
from SSRS to
Excel Services
Commercial staff
trained
Challenge
The company’s legacy Project Management Information System (PMIS), used by a global team, was critical to managing its R&D and IT portfolios containing Phase I – IV drug development activity, commercial planning, IT programs and contractor oversight management. However, the platform was approaching end-of-life and scheduled for decommissioning. With multiple CloudFirst initiatives underway, the organization needed to migrate its PMIS to the cloud—without disrupting operations or compromising data integrity. This complexity was compounded by active Windows OS and Office upgrades, offshore IT resource coordination, and more than 50 custom reports used by management, IT leadership, drug discovery, and commercial teams.
Solution
RW King led a global team that planned and implemented migration, ensuring continuity, compliance, and confidence.
- Developed and executed a full lifecycle migration strategy
- Coordinated client business partners and vendors providing utilities
- Migrated project schedules, SharePoint sites, and documentation to the new platform
- Converted 50+ SSRS reports to Excel using OData, preserving reporting accuracy.
- Coordinated with client IT, R&D, and offshore teams to manage risk and ensure alignment.
- Managed multiple vendors providing tools, support, and report development services
- Led change management across North America, UK, and APAC
- Delivered training, and post-migration support to ensure adoption
Outcome
This was more than a technical migration—it was a strategic safeguard. By protecting a decade of R&D data and ensuring uninterrupted access to critical systems, we helped the organization maintain momentum during a pivotal time.
- Ensured continuity of all updates and reporting from the R&D & IT portfolios
- Enabled compliance with CloudFirst mandates, avoiding costly delays and legacy system risks
- Delivered a seamless transition, preserving visibility into clinical and IT operations
- Maintained executive oversight of high-stakes R&D and IT programs during migration
Conclusion
The cloud migration protected critical R&D and IT continuity. The team ensured a seamless transition—meeting CloudFirst goals, maintaining compliance, and enabling the biopharma leader to advance its growth strategy with confidence.
