Our Veeva experts attended the 2023 Veeva R&D and Quality Summit earlier this fall. Discussions centered around the latest trends and topics surrounding the clinical, quality and compliance, regulatory, safety, and IT spaces, including what experts expect to see in the industry in the near future. Notably, attendees were also excited to hear about the latest Veeva product announcements and what these updates and offerings mean for Veeva users today and in the years to come. At this year’s Summit, Veeva announced seven new product announcements, including the much-anticipated Batch Release and Direct Data API. 

The Latest Veeva Product Announcements

In this piece, a few of our Veeva experts break down a few of the updates and new functionalities that we anticipate being the most impactful to the industry over the coming years.   

1. Action Layout:

One of the announcements that we believe will be most beneficial to Veeva QMS users is the upcoming Action Layout feature, which will allow for more productivity by focusing the user on the task at hand. Currently, when users log into a QMS record, the page layout often includes all sections needed for the end-to-end process. This view can be cumbersome; users must scroll and search on the page for the field or section they need to view or edit, making it challenging to know where to start or what is next. With Action Layouts, admins will be able to dynamically set up the page layout based on each step of the process. 

As an example, when a user is working on a Change Control record and is at the stage where they need to coordinate or provide input on an Impact Assessment, the layout could default to that section based on the state of the record. Users will have the ability to switch between different views if necessary. Additionally, Veeva is providing the ability to visually indicate required fields as you progress through a lifecycle. This will be a major improvement in efficiency, as today if a field is required, you may not be aware until you receive an error message.   

2. Batch Release: 

An announcement that generated a lot of excited discussion at the R&D Summit was the upcoming Vault Batch Release, coming in late 2024. Vault Batch Release will be part of the Vault Quality Suite of Applications, alongside QMS. This new offering will support the digitization of the batch release process, helping users capture the status across QMS, LIMs, ERP, and RIM systems and provide electronic reviews and approvals of the release process. 

The Batch Release offering will require Vault QMS, with future Vault Connections planned to support batch release visibility into Vault’s LIMs and RIM offerings, alongside the ability to integrate with dedicated ERP solutions. Batch Release is often a very manual-intensive exercise, and the ability to support digital solutions and aggregate the status into a single electronic record will bring much-needed efficiency. 

3. Shorter Upgrade Windows:

As most clients that use Veeva Vault need access to it nearly 24/7 in some capacity, this next announcement will be welcomed by both users and administrators of Veeva Vault: Veeva will be doing the final upgrade of 2023 with only 10 minutes of downtime. This is a major technical improvement for Veeva users, and this decreased downtime will reduce the planning needed for teams that might have to approve a document or a Deviation record during the previously longer upgrade window.  

5. Direct Data API:

Enterprise Data Lakes supported by dedicated reporting and visualization tools are becoming more common in the industry as teams recognize the need and benefits of cross-platform reporting in addition to powerful visualizations. A significant level of technical effort is often required to establish the correct API calls for the correct data fields, along with additional maintenance effort as your system evolves through enhancement releases and new data fields are added. Veeva announced, coming in late 2024, a Direct Data API high-speed data extract purpose-built for extracting the entire Vault to a Data Lake, potentially as rapid as every 15 minutes. This will significantly reduce the technical lift of pulling the data field-by-field and will be welcome news to any organization considering pulling in their Vault data to an enterprise reporting solution. 

Looking Ahead 

These are all significant product improvements in the Veeva pipeline that have the capacity to drive meaningful impact over the next few years. However, not all of these are “Auto-On” items that can be completed in small release – they’ll take requirements gathering, SOP adjustments, and process changes or improvements, at least, to ensure successful and seamless adoption. Whether it’s Batch Release or the Action Layouts, your organization needs to plan ahead to ensure these items are on your IT roadmap for the future. Start putting these items into your budget now so that you’re prepared for deployment when it’s time. 

If your organization is seeking guidance on building a business case for implementing Veeva or looking for additional insight on these Veeva solutions, our team can help. Reach out to us today to learn more about our Veeva consulting services.