One of the interesting aspects of building a partnership ecosystem is how this creates additional value for customers. The approach varies by sector, and also by partner. In life sciences, for example, the tailored approach is important because the sector faces some unique challenges. It is relatively conservative, because the nature of the work means that decisions affect human life and health. Being able to trust both technology and vendors is therefore crucial.
Building trust within the sector
Michael Gomes is Manager & Sales Director at OCS Consulting, an employee-owned SAS partner with offices across Europe. Its life sciences service has detailed knowledge of clinical research, biostatistics, statistical programming and data management. Michael describes the SAS–OCS partnership as providing a ‘one-stop shop’ for biotechnology and mid-sized life science companies in Europe. He suggests that the field is currently at a turning point, and that SAS and OCS have an important role to play as ‘trusted guides’.
“We are seeing a change and therefore a challenge in the market. We are moving from traditional drug development towards using devices and information to speed up the process of bringing new products to market. New developments like synthetic data and digital twins are being introduced, and nobody’s sure how to manage those. I think SAS and OCS together can make this transition more comfortable, recognising that the traditional approach has proven value.”
Michael suggests that current technologies enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), including digital twins and synthetic data, are still too generic. He believes that they need to be tailored more before they will be adopted by the life sciences market, and suggests that partners like OCS may be best placed to provide this tailoring. He also has concerns about general understanding of the capabilities and limitations of some of the technology, and again suggests a role for partners.
“If you ask ChatGPT a question, you’ll get an answer, but you don’t know whether it is right. However, within life sciences, you have to be able to trust the answer. I think, therefore, that as a life science partner of SAS, OCS should be acting as a filter for AI technology. We should be creating tailored solutions or at least guiding our clients to help them understand the limitations but be able to harness the power of AI within their companies.”
Creating differentiation
Michael suggests that this could enable SAS and its partners to create a strong differentiation from the competition.
“The speed of development of tools is immense. SAS used to be the statistical environment of choice because of its robustness, repeatability, and consistent results, but the competition is hotting up. We need to consider how we position ourselves to ensure that we stay competitive, and this filtering or tailoring could be that differentiator.”
This chimes with the announcement at SAS Innovate of a change in company strategy to move towards a more model-based approach. This would build capabilities and applications on top of the SAS technology. Michael agrees with this, and suggests that partners could be part of that process.
“You might produce, say, an app, and we would naturally promote it. However, we might also make it even more useful. Suppose you produced a clinical trials app. We might fill it with predefined data or analysis, or create scripts or programs or an add-in tailored for a certain market. Your app would then work even better, or be easier to use.”
Creating products that are fit for (sector) purpose
This approach would bring together SAS technical expertise with OCS sector knowledge, delivering products that are fit for purpose within the life sciences sector. This, in turn, would ensure that the partnership could stay ahead of the competition. This focus on fit for purpose within a sector is similar to co-development, and builds on the same principles. Michael adds that it might even expand the market.
“Big companies want to do business with other big companies. However, as SAS gets larger, you risk losing touch with start-ups and the mid-market companies—and that’s an area that’s booming in biotech. However, OCS is small enough to be able to work with those companies, and bring added value to SAS. It feels like everyone wins.”
