Biotech Firm

Industry: Biotechnology

Established 1981

250+ Employees

5-building Campus

This biotech company (which has requested to remain anonymous) performs contract research services focused on human diseases including COVID-19, AIDS, influenza, RSV infection, Flavivirus infections including Zika and Dengue, malaria, hepatitis, and cancer. Highly specialized IT is required to safely and securely operate the containment laboratories where highly infectious diseases are handled and researched. With outdated servers, limited wifi capabilities due to concrete walls, and lab equipment which needed precise controlling, this company needed solutions that literally couldn’t fail.

IP SOLUTIONS

On-site IT Management with C-Level Executives

We learned their business from the inside and worked directly with C-suite leadership to ensure company-wide solutions and consistency. We began leading the IT department, training and overseeing their team to solve problems and create innovative solutions together.

Developed Monthly IT Budget

We gauged the monthly IT spend and created a budget that included everything they would need to remain effective, efficient, and secure without unexpected expenses. 

Updated Hardware and Infrastructure

Their servers and network drives were scattered among facilities and were regularly failing, so the InfoPathways team moved the company from being hardware dependent to cloud-based which improved efficiency and security while providing universal accessibility.

We updated antiquated communication and documentation systems. For example, high containment areas require no physical items (including records) to ever leave the labs. They previously relied on faxing paper documents from the labs to other fax machines outside of the secure environment. We created streamlined digital solutions which significantly reduced associated administrative tasks.

Reliable Redundant WiFi Everywhere. And at half the cost.

After being told it simply wasn’t possible to provide WiFi throughout the facilities due to concrete, we leveraged our knowledge of enterprise level broadband services and found a solution.

We negotiated with their internet service providers to cut their internet costs down by 50% and increased bandwidth by 2000%. We incorporated internet redundancy so there is no single point of failure. If one service fails, another is already running and becomes the primary connection so the internet is never down. 

Finally, when they moved into a fifth building across the parking lot to facilitate COVID-19 research, we built a WiFi transmitter to beam their service across the parking lot and avoid the need for an additional contract for that facility. 

Highly-Specialized Equipment Controls 

As one of the most highly-regulated industries in the world, the seemingly small things are critical. 

• • The laboratories must maintain positive airflow. Previously this was only measurable with hand-held sensors. With WiFi now in place everywhere, we were also able to install sensors on every door to measure how fast the air is moving.

• • Temperature control in every environment is also vital. With 40 freezers, 30 liquid nitrogen tanks, and many specialized labs, they needed modernized solutions for monitoring and certifying temperatures. We installed bluetooth temperature monitors, which connect to the wifi, upload secure data to the cloud, and are easily monitored via a digital dashboard. This resulted in instant temperature monitoring and control. 

• • Many labs need to be decontaminated regularly which would damage standard wireless access points. We installed heavy-duty, weather-proof access points and switches so they can withstand the decontamination process.

• • Research animals need to be weighed every single day. We enabled the scales to automatically update databases so manual entry was no longer necessary and recording mistakes were eliminated.

Developed Internal Policies and Procedures 

We standardized all IT practices and developed documentation so everyone on the team is able to maintain consistency and work efficiently and securely together.