Driftpin Consulting
A Specialist in Right Sizing Life Science Technologies

In the life sciences industry, the growing prominence of vendors offering innovative technology solutions is leading SMBs to seek partners that can identify those investments capable of creating real value.

Enter Driftpin Consulting, a consulting firm focused on helping life science companies make the right technology decisions. The firm collaborates with pharma, biotechs, and CROs clients to analyze their technology needs, assess potential vendors, architect solutions, manage change, implement and validate systems, manage the project or program, and manage and maintain those systems once in production.

Leveraging their extensive life sciences industry experience, Driftpin assists clients in performing trend analysis and supports portfolio evaluation processes to help them understand the solutions that expand their digital capabilities and align with operational goals and regulatory requirements.

“We add value by ‘right-sizing’ our solution for our clients. Our risk-based strategy, which incorporates recent regulatory changes with the realities of leveraging SaaS system in the Cloud, enables us to consistently design sustainable solutions,” says Kevin F. Shea, principal at Driftpin Consulting.

A liaison between life science businesses, their IT groups, and the technology vendors, Driftpin effectively manages the software development lifecycle, including oversight of design, coding, and testing to ensure business objectives are met or exceeded. Through its extensive software development experience, it accurately opts for the software creation methodology, be it waterfall, agile, or lean, among others, which best aligns with client needs.

The firm assists its life science clients so they fully understand the impact of the new system and guides them through the modification to workflows, UAT validation, training, and user support. With its knowledge of software development, business processes, and domain expertise, Driftpin ensures accurate communications between the business and technology vendor.

Driftpin specializes in change management, project/program management, and validation, with a proven track record of eliminating the need for third-party support by assisting clients with complex technology integrations, configurations, and regulatory reporting. It evaluates a technology’s benefits, the pros and cons of altering workflows, the requirement for team training, and other factors to aid clients in clearly determining whether they need a specific solution.

If proven necessary, Driftpin identifies key vendors and guides clients through a technology evaluation process with its deep knowledge of risk-based validation. This enables them to choose the ideal vendor with the right level of validation, knowledge, and system capabilities.

Driftpin’s extensive expertise in working with and validating cloud systems facilitates clients to proactively determine the degree of difficulty of configuration and maintenance.

Concurrently, Driftpin equips customers with the relevant tools to ensure smooth post-implementation processes. It supports them in resolving any emerging issues through a dedicated rapid response system that guarantees a seamless transition into a new system. Simultaneously, it regularly offers solution upgrades and validates them in lockstep with vendor-driven updates.

Driftpin’s client onboarding process begins with a discovery meeting comprising all stakeholders to gain a comprehensive understanding of end users, business expectations, acceptance criteria, and user support. It scopes the project appropriately, using whiteboard sessions, which are reviewed by stakeholders and documented prior to formal kick-off. Driftpin handles all aspects of the project: planning and scheduling, communication plans, and escalation procedures, as well as leading all touchpoints and status meetings. In addition, it can also manage the establishment or integration of a help desk and, the creation of training materials, drafting user documentation, and writing validation documentation.

Driftpin stands out for its capability to offer personalized and focused services. It strongly emphasizes cultivating positive client relations, always working as a trusted ally by partnering with a handful of clients at a time. It also maintains solid relationships with consultants or vendors and hires them to use their expertise in particular fields to create valuable solutions for clients with complex requirements.

Leveraging its unmatched capabilities, Driftpin has sparked many successes in the life science industry. In one instance, it facilitated a large pharmaceutical company’s entry into the biosimilar drug market. Initially, the client’s focus was on Phase I trials supporting its generics pipeline. With its desire to enter the biosimilars market, Driftpin led the organization through requirements gathering, vendor assessment and selection, and project management of the implementations of a suite to clinical technology systems, including electronic trial master file, clinical data management, and clinical trial management to facilitate all aspects of Phases II, III, and IV trials.

Driftpin assisted them by enlisting suppliers in each relevant domain through a pre-selection process and emphasized client requirements during the product demonstration. Following this, it guided them through a scorecard process to gain key stakeholder approval for the chosen vendor in each domain. Driftpin then worked with the selected vendors to implement their systems on a change management schedule that allowed the client to introduce each at an appropriate pace. Through these new implementations, they could successfully progress to phase II and phase III trials.

Driftpin has become an emerging player in life science consulting by fusing tactical and practical experience with a strategic viewpoint gathered from numerous projects. Through its pragmatic, no-nonsense approach to engagements, it continues to optimize technology usage in life sciences and help clients realize their business goals.