Pharma Migrates Quality Docs from FirstDoc to MasterControl

Overview

The client is a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the research, development, manufacture, marketing and sale of prescription pharmaceutical products.

Objectives

This client was in the process of implementing a new MasterControl document management system for controlled document management. For an effective implementation the client recognized the requirement to migrate approximately 7,500 legacy documents from CSC FirstDoc to MasterControl. These documents, along with their associated meta-data, included multiple versions of controlled documents such as SOPs, change requests, and policies.

Migration Challenges

The data had to be updated in a way that preserved the existing family hierarchy without compromising data integrity. Moreover, the data set contained personal information from the US as well as Europe. When the client identified that the data remediation carried this much significant risk, they called on Sparta Systems for options, and determined they had to limit their vendor options to a Safe Harbor Certified company like Valiance Partners.

One solution contemplated was to migrate the data to another TrackWise system. But the cost and timeframes were prohibitive. An alternative was to simply leave the inefficiency in place. In collaboration with Sparta, Valiance identified the best of both alternatives — to conduct the update with the data in place.

Valiance Solution

Valiance was able to “hit the ground running” with a proven methodology, configurable migration software, automated testing capabilities and a draft migration qualification at the ready.

Within the first week of the engagement, Valiance leveraged much of the work initially completed by the client, along with similar experience from migrations involving the FirstDoc and MasterControl platforms, to perform a detailed analysis and create the Migration Specification. This Migration Specification served as the blueprint for the remaining tasks, providing detailed field level migration mappings. Pre-migration testing was used to identify data anomalies up front, giving management further confidence that the adopted plan could be executed effectively. Valiance’s TRUmigrate was configured to extract documents and meta-data from FirstDoc and transformed the data in accordance with the mapping rules. Automated testing was used extensively to verify the migration process, the “fit” of the source data and viability of the overall migration. TRUcompare’s automated testing was key for the client’s ability to complete the project within the six week schedule. Valiance’s prior working relationship with MasterControl enabled this process to be adopted seamlessly for a quick start within the existing project infrastructure.

Results

Valiance and MasterControl guided the client through the process, one that has been used successfully at several joint clients. Valiance’s quick start and predictable approach garnered key management confidence in a few short weeks. The migration was completed within the client’s schedule and significantly under the allotted budget. The combination of MasterControl’s successful implementation and Valiance’s legacy document migration resulted in a project deemed a success by the key stakeholders in all parties.