The Laszlo Letter

Roche to implement Google Apps for 90,000 employees

You are probably aware by now that Roche has made a deal to roll out Google Apps on a global basis. This was reported by many news organizations and bloggers. One that is quite interesting, however, is on ZDNet since it generated quite a bit of heated discussion.

The rationale for this important move has to do with interoperability issues, or lack thereof, between the two solutions used previously by Roche and Genentech. This is stated by Roche CIO, Alan Hippe, on Google's Official Enterprise blog.

Reactions to the announcement focused on three issues:

1. Data Security

2. Data Privacy

3. Usability

In particular, comments pointed out security flaws in Google Apps, the probability that Google would inappropriately mine the Roche data/documents for their own purposes, and that users would get a much weaker set of email and MS Office-like functions.

These concerns may be real but also show that the commentators do not know how Roche operates. First, nothing at Roche is done in haste or without due diligence. The type of questions raised by those reacting to a press release would have already been studied to death by Roche staff and made available to senior management including risk, QA, procurement and legal staff. The decision would not have been made without Google agreeing to a detailed set of system requirements and the contract no doubt contains an equally strong Service Level Agreement (SLA). There would also be strict controls on privacy and security including what Google could or could not do with the data. Indeed, it is likely that the only thing Google will be able to do with Roche data is to provide appropriate technical support. And yes, it is also likely that an agreement is in place to govern how data moves (or not) between borders.

Then there is the rollout. Although I have worked quite closely with Roche IT on application implementations in the past, I am not privy to the way Google Apps will be rolled out. What I can predict is that it won't be done on a one-shot basis. One probable scenario (given what Dr. Hippe has stated) is for the email and calendaring functions to be rolled out first and even that in a phased manner to the 140 countries where Roche operates. It will probably start with the USA and Switzerland, then the UK, followed by the rest of Europe. Other regions would follow with double-bite countries like Japan going last.

You can then expect word processing, presentation and spreadsheet functions to follow. However, I would be willing to bet that other collaboration features (e.g. blogging, social networking) may come out before or in parallel with the more traditional office functions.

Although Roche and Google maintained radio silence on the current systems, it does not take a genious to see that Microsoft is in jeopardy at Roche. Given that this industry tends to follow the leader, Microsoft may suffer the fate of Blackberry in the biopharma sector. You may be elated or deflated by the prospect.

Civil War 2.0 - The 'Haves' vs. the 'Have-nots'

Until now, I have refrained from stating my political and societal views on this site. There is, however, a disturbing trend gaining steam in the United States (and to a lesser extent in the rest of the developed world) that all of us should be aware of and (through careful consideration) guide our actions as citizens of this great country.

The trend I am speaking of is the expanding chasm between the economic upper class and those in the middle or lower classes. I was reminded of this again through an article by Joseph Stiglitz in the May issue of Vanity Fair. The title of the article was "Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%" and was neatly buried on page 126. Even the editors of Vanity Fair felt that Rob Lowe, Golman Sachs and the Royal Wedding deserved more attention.

The title of the article is both catchy and correct. When 1% of the population is pulling in 1/4 of total income every year and has 40% of the total wealth of the country, you know that something is out of balance. You could argue that this is OK as long as the rest of the populace is also benefiting from an upward income and wealth trend. Unfortunately just the opposite is the case and has been so for years.

Although most of us working in the biopharmaceutical industry have been quite fortunate to make a comfortable middle class living, the trend is not headed in the right direction for us either. Witness the latest headline on the on-line CBS Interactive Business Network (BNET): "Teva Merger: Cephalon CEO Gets $5M for 3 Months’ Work; Staff Gets Layoffs."

In the latter article, we learn exactly what the headline says (i.e. CEO walks away with $5 million) and what is also implied (i.e. that layoffs are expected to save $500 million within 3 years). Although Teva is a first rate company and certainly better run than Cephalon, the layoffs from the merger are inevitable. Personally, I am not upset about the $5 million payoff even if Cephalon's President is getting it after only 4 months on the job. After all, we all would love to be in his position. Unfortunately, those getting laid off are in for a great deal of anxiety given current market conditions.

Disclaimer: I have personally done work for Teva in the past and completed a small engagement for them just this year.

 As for the Stiglitz article, what cought my eye was the following penultimate paragraph:

"Alexis de Tocqueville once described what he saw as a chief part of the peculiar genius of American society—something he called “self-interest properly understood.” The last two words were the key. Everyone possesses self-interest in a narrow sense: I want what’s good for me right now! Self-interest “properly understood” is different. It means appreciating that paying attention to everyone else’s self-interest—in other words, the common welfare—is in fact a precondition for one’s own ultimate well-being. Tocqueville was not suggesting that there was anything noble or idealistic about this outlook—in fact, he was suggesting the opposite. It was a mark of American pragmatism. Those canny Americans understood a basic fact: looking out for the other guy isn’t just good for the soul—it’s good for business."

In short, it is natural as one gets richer and richer to have less and less empathy for your fellow man. The rationalisation goes something like this: "I worked hard to become successful. If the guy next door could not do the same, that's his problem." It is thus up to our government to recognize that hubris and arrogance must be held in check using legislative means and via social programs that adequately balance capitalism with the social good.

Given the current political climate I fear that not much progress will be made on this front in the coming years. And certainly not if Obama is defeated in 2012. So take heed, just as we now clearly know that our first Civil War was an economic vs. human rights issue pitting north versus south, if the gap between the rich and not-so rich widens further, our next Civil War will be a lot messier and will pit the 'haves' vs. the 'have-nots.'

Electronic Health Records (EHR) coverage at HIMSS

The annual meeting of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) took place last week in Chicago. While there are many publications out there covering this meeting, ChannelWeb had an especially good series of articles on it.

Those of you who are not yet familiar with ChannelWeb, it is a web site focusing on companies that sell computer and communication based solutions (i.e. hardware and software.) In other words, the sellers ARE the channel.

As you will see from these articles, the most popular topic at HIMSS was the Obama stimulus package and its implications for health care. As you can imagine, vendors had a Pavlovian reaction about the potential to make a lot of money.

How well the money will be spent remains an open item. Once thing is certain. A lot of it will be wasted.

Read on...

HIMSS: Moving From Stimulus Hope To Real Health-Care IT Projects
ChannelWeb , April 10, 2009
At HIMSS, VARs, CIOs and vendors look past the initial round of stimulus excitement to gauge what's coming next.

20 Scenes From HIMSS 2009
ChannelWeb , April 09, 2009
The annual HIMSS conference brought more than 27,000 attendees to McCormick Place in Chicago, to hear from each other and from the likes of Dennis Quaid and Alan Greenspan as they place their bets on the future of health care IT. A strong pulse? You bet--and Channelweb was there to check it.

HIMSS: Greenspan Says Economy 'Will Turn, But Not Yet'
ChannelWeb , April 08, 2009
At HIMSS, Alan Greenspan addresses technology's role in health care and the broader economy.

HIMSS: Dell, Perot Systems Unleash Health Care IT Salvo
ChannelWeb , April 06, 2009
Dell announces partnerships with Perot Systems and others and virtualization and social networking solutions for health care

HIMSS: Dennis Quaid Calls On Health-Care Modernization To Eliminate Errors
ChannelWeb , April 05, 2009
Actor Dennis Quaid said at HIMSS keynote that health-care IT technology is the only way to reduce medical errors.

HIMSS Preview: Health Care Tech Revs Up As Stimulus Begins
ChannelWeb , April 03, 2009
Electronic medical records and health care IT funding from the federal stimulus package are on everyone's minds as HIMSS gets under way in Chicago.

Health Care IT: 25 Solutions To Check Out At HIMSS
ChannelWeb , April 02, 2009
A sampling of products and solutions to see at the 2009 HIMSS Conference in Chicago.

Obama, Healthcare IT and the FDA

Today is day 2 of Obama's presidency.

While I do not expect him to even think about the FDA just yet, his inauguration led me to speculate about the possible changes that may come about for Healthcare IT in general and the FDA in particular. Somewhat coincidentally, these thoughts came out on inauguration day in the now weekly magazine Pharmaceutical Executive Europe. If you don't yet subscribe to this wholly electronic publication, consider doing so.

Click here to read the article which begins on Page 8. Your own thoughts on these topics are welcome.

Obama's Healthcare Team

Next week the USA gets a new President!

Anyone who is interested in what Obama will do with Healthcare should be interested in the colorful cast of characters that he has (and will) assembled to tackle this monster. One of them is Peter Orszag who will now be his budget director.

An Economist by training, Mr. Orszag already knows a thing or two about healthcare. He's got the facts on the spending front and has a few ideas about putting healthcare on a diet.

If you want to know more, there is plenty of that on the Internet. Here is one pretty good review (The Number Cruncher in Chief) about Mr. Orszag. Skim it first and then decide what parts you want to read.

Quotations from FDA CDER Head Janet Woodcock

Notes from the 23^rd DIA CDM conference

In the next few posts, it is my intention to share with you some of the information presented at the 23^rd DIA Clinical Data Management (CDM) conference. It is also my intention to give you some of my own thoughts about what I saw and heard.

The title of the conference was “Data Management in Transition: Putting the “e” in Data Management.” I am happy to report that the conference organizers did a great job keeping the majority of speakers focused on this topic. So, kudos are in order for Sue Dubman (Theravance), Kristin Neff (Boston Scientific), Paul Bleicher (Phase Forward), Shahla Farr (FDA), Rebecca Kush (CDISC), Denise DeRenzo Lacey (Waife & Associates), Johann Prove (Bayer Schering Pharma), Don Rosen (Rosen Consulting) and Steve Wilson (FDA.)

I could not think of a better approach to get things rolling than to simply convey several quotations from the talk given by the conference keynote speaker, Janet Woodcock MD, of FDA. As you may know, Dr. Woodcock was recently put in charge of CDER and she wasted no time telling us what she thought her division, and indeed all of FDA, should be doing.

These quotes nicely reinforce the tone of the CDM conference, one that was palpable if not always directly stated, namely that The time for change has arrived.

While I was initially tempted to put these quotes in context, I resisted that urge since they are as applicable to what we do in general as to the specific issues being discussed by Dr. Woodcock.

So, mull these over at your leisure and stay tuned for more about the meeting in future posts.

Quotations from Janet Woodcock

“current methods are not sustainable”

[there is] “almost a crisis in the United States to get clinical trials done”

“there is too much data being collected”

[we] “need to link EHR to clinical trials”

“we need to get out of the way we are doing things now”

DIA Euromeeting: Impressions and Recommendations

I’m writing this on the plane to New York from Barcelona having just attended the 2008 DIA Euromeeting. As a veteran of many DIA annual meetings in the USA, I must admit that this year’s Euromeeting was like a breath of fresh air. A key reason for this may be the calculated risk that the meeting planners took by redesigning the program around themes and sessions.

Suggestion: Click here to see a phenomenal set of Barcelona photos!

First, let's BILL all the lawyers!

OK, I couldn't help it. I just had to edit that famous quote from Shakespeare. Why? Because this post is all about software that can help lawyers bill other lawyers for the services they provide.

In particular, I wanted to highlight two case studies (J&J and Merck) discussing how in-house counsel can make use of software for processing invoices received from outside counsel. Both of these come from the software vendor DataCert based in Houston, Texas and London, England.

The product highlighted is called Advanced Invoice Management System (AIMS) and was implemented by J&J and Merck in the past four years.