Biotechnology Industries

Biotechnology Companies: Powering Precision Medicine Through Data-Centric Innovation

The biotechnology industry faces many challenges in today’s rapidly changing landscape. Moore’s Law states that technology tends to double every two years while simultaneously becoming more accessible and affordable.

This is certainly true in the fast-evolving biotechnology industry where technology has the potential to reshape work dynamics, offering real-time insights, improving data management, and fostering collaboration.

Learn how our products and services can bolster your biotechnology company’s critical infrastructure.

The Role of Data Centers in Biotechnology Companies

In an era defined by data-driven insights, data centers stand at the foundation of biotechnological advancements. Colossal volumes of genomic data, intricate biological models and sophisticated algorithms converge. From genetic sequencing to drug discovery, data centers are the command centers where the fusion of biology and information technology unfolds.

Explore how these technological powerhouses enable researchers, scientists, and innovators to analyze, interpret, and derive actionable insights from vast datasets. Discover the unparalleled efficiency, scalability, and security that data centers offer and how this supports the ambitious goals of biotechnological research and development.

How Technology Is Changing the Landscape

Internet of Things

What is IoT? The Internet of Things (IoT) is the idea that the internet will expand to many items in the world besides phones and computers. These items will be accessible via the internet wherein you can pull data and/or affect them.

Here are four ways the IoT can change work dynamics in biotechnology today:

Real-Time Monitoring and Control:
- Laboratory Equipment: IoT-enabled sensors can be integrated into laboratory equipment, allowing real-time monitoring of variables such as temperature, humidity, and pressure. Researchers can remotely monitor experiments and receive alerts for any deviations, enabling swift intervention to maintain optimal conditions.
- Bioprocessing: In biopharmaceutical manufacturing, IoT devices can be applied to monitor and control various parameters in bioreactors and other production equipment. This real-time oversight ensures that the manufacturing process is optimized for efficiency and quality, minimizing the risk of errors.
Enhanced Data Collection and Analysis:
- Wearable Devices: IoT-connected wearables can be utilized in research settings to collect real-time data on physiological parameters. For example, researchers can use wearable devices to monitor the vital signs of study participants during clinical trials, providing a more comprehensive dataset for analysis.
- Smart Lab Equipment: IoT-equipped laboratory instruments can streamline data collection and analysis. Smart devices can automatically record and transmit experimental data to centralized databases, reducing the manual effort required for data entry and minimizing the risk of errors.
Supply Chain Visibility and Quality Control:
- Cold Chain Monitoring: For biotechnology companies, maintaining the integrity of temperature-sensitive materials, such as biological samples, is crucial. IoT sensors can be employed for real-time monitoring of the cold chain during transportation and storage, ensuring that conditions remain within specified ranges to preserve the quality of materials.
- Traceability: IoT solutions can enhance traceability in the supply chain by providing real-time visibility into the movement and conditions of materials. This is particularly important in biopharmaceutical manufacturing, where adherence to stringent quality standards and regulatory compliance is paramount.
Remote Access and Collaboration:
- Remote Monitoring of Experiments: IoT enables researchers to monitor experiments remotely, allowing flexibility in work arrangements. This is especially valuable for researchers who need to access and monitor experiments outside of standard working hours or from off-site locations.
- Collaborative Research: IoT facilitates collaborative research by providing a platform for shared data and insights. Researchers from different locations can access and contribute to a centralized database, fostering collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the acceleration of research initiatives.

Interoperability & Secure Data Transfers

The idea of interoperability is multiple biotechnology organizations working together and exchanging data, test results, and advancements to provide the best products and solutions for their various sectors.

To do this, biotechnology organizations obviously must communicate with each other and send sensitive documents through the internet. Here are a few perks of interoperability:

Efficient Collaboration: Interoperability enables seamless communication between diverse systems, fostering efficient collaboration among researchers, scientists, and stakeholders.
Accelerated Research: Access to interoperable and integrated data accelerates the pace of research, allowing for quicker insights and advancements in biotechnological applications.
Data-driven Decision-making: Integrated and interoperable data supports data-driven decision-making, providing a more accurate and comprehensive basis for strategic choices.
Confidentiality and Security: Secure data transfers ensure the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive information, safeguarding against unauthorized access and data breaches.
Trust in Information: The combination of interoperability and secure data transfers instills confidence in the accuracy and reliability of data, promoting trust among stakeholders in the biotechnology industry.

Despite these benefits, there are some drawbacks to interoperability and regular data transfer.

Complex Implementation: Achieving interoperability can be complex and challenging, especially when integrating diverse systems, platforms, and technologies. Standardization efforts may face resistance, and legacy systems may require significant modifications.
Cybersecurity Risks: Despite secure data transfer protocols, the risk of cybersecurity breaches is an ongoing concern. Biotechnology data, including sensitive patient information and proprietary research data, can be attractive targets for cyberattacks.
Data Privacy Concerns: Strict data privacy regulations, such as GDPR in Europe and HIPAA in the United States, add complexity to secure data transfers. Ensuring compliance with these regulations is crucial and requires ongoing diligence.

Regulatory Environment

Biotechnology is an incredibly stressful industry. Not only do you need to supply quality life-saving products and services, but you also must maintain your facility and ensure your staff have the necessary technology in place to do their work.

The last thing you should need to worry about are malicious attacks on your systems or the effects of local natural disasters, but these events are all too common and growing ever more frequent. Improving the physical and virtual security of your environment is essential to preserving your operation and patient privacy.

The result of a noncompliance suit or inspection can be incredibly detrimental to your operations. Fines often stretch into the millions after a data breach, and this is considered a generally good outcome. You need a partner who understands the stringent requirements you face and can build elegant code-minimum solutions.

Pain Points Affecting Biotechnology Companies

The biggest pain points affecting the biotechnologies digital infrastructure are equipment availability, cost, ROI, and lead time. We thoroughly understand these challenges and can offer solutions to mitigate these concerns.

Equipment Availability

With shipment delays, project timelines, and other factors, equipment availability – or lack thereof – can lead to serious setbacks. As a factory-direct service provider and Local Vertiv Office, we have the foresight and capacity to get you what you need, when you need it.

Cost

We know that cost is a constant concern. As your Local Vertiv Office, we know our products inside and out and will provide you with the support you need every step of the way. Our position as a factory-direct service provider ensures we can offer competitive pricing and top-quality products.

ROI

By identifying vulnerabilities, we can make a massive difference in your operations and accelerate your ROI. Through preventive maintenance, monitoring and management, performance optimization, and more, we’ll help you uncover greater productivity and root out causes of lost performance for maximum availability.

Lead Time

In all industries, downtime is costly, and in some, it can be life-threatening, too. We understand the immense repercussions lead time delays can have on a data center, so we make it our mission to mitigate challenges before they evolve into major issues. As a factory-direct service provider, we’re not limited to what we can store on-site. Our product line is constantly updating with new options for data center operators.

Infrastructure Challenges Affecting Biotechnology Companies

Network Security & Infrastructure Protection

Technology is an incredibly important part of biotechnology. Without a strong IT backbone, you won’t be able to rely on the lifesaving technology you need to offer solutions to complex challenges in health, agriculture, industry, and the environment.
Your research operations need reliable power all day, every day.
As Interoperability and the Internet of Medical Things expand, so, too, will your needs for greater security and power.
Protecting intellectual property, such as patents for novel discoveries, can be challenging due to the complexity of biotechnological innovations. Legal battles over patents and intellectual property rights are not uncommon in the industry.

Enable the Biotechnology Technology Edge

The rapid pace of technological advancement in biotechnology can lead to concerns about the obsolescence of existing technologies. Staying at the forefront of innovation requires continuous investment and adaptation to new methodologies.
Deploying small branch center locations with connections to your data center expands your reach without compromising security, efficiency, or operational ability.

Distributed Technology Infrastructure Challenges

Your facility must meet the challenge of not only using legacy applications but applying them over outdated infrastructure. Some of these networks are comprised of hundreds of facilities all trying to use these programs at once.
Without strong IT management resources, it can be impossible to know what’s happening on your own network.
Through a strong, connected network, you can simplify your IT management and empower your decision makers.

Healthcare Operations Efficiency

Healthcare is one of the most complex industries in existence. You need all the power you can get out of your IT systems to meet requirements and prepare for modern technology adoption.
The pressure is rising to reduce your costs, improve margins, and increase staff productivity and efficiency.
As the IoT grows, your systems will be increasingly taxed by the volume of incoming data and connected devices. Your infrastructure needs to keep up with growing requirements and your efficiency needs to increase with each addition.

Enable “Green” Solutions & Sustainability in Biotechnology

Biotechnological processes, especially in areas like industrial biotechnology, may have environmental implications. Balancing the benefits of innovation with environmental sustainability is a complex challenge.
Energy-efficient equipment upgrades, and replacements help decrease costs and the environmental footprint. Optimizing your infrastructure can be a simple but powerful way to lower costs.

Power Quality Concerns

Low power quality, poor installation, or problems in your electrical grid can severely impact power sensitive equipment.
Poor image quality and unplanned equipment downtime due to power problems can severely impact experiment outcomes and put results at risk.
Clean, reliable, and efficient power starts with proper design, equipment selection, and installation. Regular system testing can also help ensure efficient, safe, and continuous operation.

Infrastructure Services for Biotechnology Companies

As you look to optimize your biotechnology operations, we provide a variety of solutions to keep your infrastructure secure and online. Connect with us to schedule a call with one of our engineers to determine the best solution for your facilities.

How We Can Help

Simplify the management and design of your IT infrastructure.
Build your facility’s power system into a reliable, efficient, and eco-friendly system.
Aid your facility in the transition to IoT.
Create HIPAA compliant energy and data storage solutions.
Empower you and your team to do the best work.

Invest Your Biotechnology Infrastructure with a Partner You Can Trust

Biotechnology companies are part of an ever-expanding industry, growing quickly in complexity and cost. You need a partner who understands its stringent requirements and incredible complexities. You need a partner with industry experience, dedication to safety and efficiency, and expertise in IT fields.

We can help lower your power costs, increase your security, create an efficient network, establish strong infrastructure, and empower your team to develop innovative biotech advances and research. Contact us today to start moving toward tomorrow!