Parexel Boosts Clinical Research Efficiency by 70% Using Microsoft Azure
August 09, 2024 – Parexel International Corporation (Parexel), a global provider of clinical development services, has revolutionized its operations by leveraging Microsoft technology, specifically Azure Databricks and Power BI. This strategic move has led to substantial improvements in data product delivery, a significant reduction in manual work, and overall operational efficiency.
Faced with challenges stemming from rapid growth, Parexel needed to consolidate its complex and fragmented data landscape, which had resulted in high operational costs. The company addressed these issues by adopting Azure Databricks to combine data from over 100 sources and utilizing Microsoft Power BI for swift and accurate data visualization.
This transformation resulted in:
- An 85% reduction in data engineering tooling costs.
- A 30% increase in staff efficiency.
- A 70% reduction in the time required for data product delivery.
By reducing costs, improving employee productivity, and advancing clinical research and patient care, Parexel has made considerable industry progress.
Addressing Data Fragmentation
Founded in 1982, Parexel has grown significantly through acquisitions, resulting in a diverse range of software, licenses, and data formats. This expansion created a complex data environment. Data was fragmented across multiple systems and sources. The organization recognized the opportunity to aggregate and analyze data more efficiently across its global operations to provide better services for the biopharmaceutical and medical device industries.
To address this, Parexel initiated a data-driven strategy, integrating Microsoft Azure solutions, including Azure Data Lake and Azure Databricks, alongside Microsoft Power BI. This initiative created a unified data ecosystem that helped Parexel streamline the integration and analysis of its diverse datasets. This new configuration features automation and self-service, which have bolstered staff productivity by 30%. As a result, teams can now make informed decisions and innovate more rapidly and effectively.
Ziad Kurdi, Executive Director of Data Engineering at Parexel, noted, “Our whole infrastructure runs on Microsoft, so with all the capabilities that are built into its solutions, Microsoft was an easy choice.”
Azure Databricks: Centralizing Data
Azure Databricks was incorporated to consolidate data from numerous sources into a single data lake. This eliminated the need for manual data tracking, established standardized terminology, created a single, reliable data source, and improved data governance and analytics.
Chloe Scott, Vice President of Data Insights and Governance at Parexel, highlighted the team’s improved efficiency: “Employees have time to actually look at the information and do their job rather than spend time hunting for the data.” This streamlined process saved each employee approximately three hours per week, freeing them to analyze data rather than seek it out.
Data engineering tooling costs were reduced by 85% due to the simplification of operations and the move away from legacy systems. Scott noted that “Being able to work on the latest technology, instead of having to manage legacy systems, creates a much better employee experience that promotes improved career progression, engagement, and retention.”
Power BI: Accelerating Data Product Delivery
Following the migration of data to Azure, the company adopted Power BI to streamline the delivery of its data products significantly. Mukesh Sharma, Vice President of Enterprise Information Management at Parexel, explained, “One big thing we looked for was rationalizing our reports on a particular infrastructure, and because we had already migrated most of our data repositories to Azure, Power BI was our natural selection.”
Power BI, in conjunction with Microsoft PowerApps and Power Pages, consolidates data into cohesive visualizations to expedite delivering important insights and reports. These enhancements have accelerated data delivery to Parexel’s leadership and employees, which optimized clinical-trial operational processes, with a 70% reduction in compilation time.
The Future of Data Ecosystems in Healthcare
Parexel’s use of Microsoft technology streamlines data governance, empowers teams with actionable insights, and substantially improves client service delivery in clinical trials and healthcare solutions. The organization is now well-positioned to redefine industry standards. In the future, Parexel plans to expand its use of its centralized data infrastructure for advanced analytics and AI initiatives, with aims for predictive analytics and AI-driven decision making.
Kurdi concluded, “We were able to coalesce all our data in a single place, and now we have infinite possibilities.”
