A few years ago, I accidentally discovered my department owned a very expensive piece of software. It had been purchased a couple of years earlier, put into service, and never used. The software was extremely powerful, but the previous VP had bought it out of desire versus need.
I am constantly working with Medical Affairs leaders who are in the process of choosing a technology platform and are at significant risk of making a very wrong and expensive decision.
There are three things I see clients doing that increase their risk of making bad decisions:
- No Alignment on Process – A system should enable your processes, not the other way around. If you haven’t aligned the MSL organization on a process for territory or KOL planning, don’t implement a territory planning system and expect to know how to configure it for your MSLs.
- Lack of Prioritization – Every system isn’t created equal. You need to understand what functional and technical factors are most important to your team and your leaders. If your medical affairs team needs offline learning capabilities, don’t choose an LMS that cannot provide that solution. If it is critical to have synchronized slide decks on your iPad and laptop, don’t choose a solution that only works on one platform.
- They Decide Based on Demos – Implementing a system is a huge investment of time and resources. Making a decision based on a 90-minute demo is reckless and can set your medical affairs technology strategy back years. Remember that anyone can make a system look incredible with fancy PowerPoints and a canned demonstration.
A well-designed medical affairs organization has effective systems enabling its team. Choosing the right systems can be difficult and time-consuming. Choosing the wrong system will always be devastating. Acceleration Point has a proven approach to ensure you are selecting the right system for your Medical Affairs home office and MSL organizations.
