China Entercom’s Digital Transformation Success Stories: Novotech
CITIC Telecom International CPC Limited (“CITIC Telecom CPC”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CITIC Telecom International Holdings Limited (SEHK: 1883) is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, China Enterprise ICT Solutions Limited (“China Entercom”), leveraging its extensive global network resources and intelligent “Cloud, Network & Security” integrated solution, is assisting Novotech in enhancing its digital innovation capabilities. Through the integration of global research and development (R&D) resources and data, Novotech ensures data integrity and compliance, thereby accelerating global drug R&D and actualizing the digitalization of the pharmaceutical industry.
Amidst the rapid evolution of pharmaceutical R&D, Contract Research Organization (CRO) has emerged as a pivotal bridge between drug R&D and clinical application. Founded in 1997, Novotech stands out as an international CRO owing to its extensive expertise in clinical trials, drug innovations and advanced therapies. This has also positioned the company as an industry leader in various therapeutic areas, including oncology, infectious diseases, neurology, and rare diseases.
With a workforce of over 3,000 employees across 34 office locations in the Asia-Pacific, the United States, and Europe, Novotech has successfully accomplished more than 5,000 clinical projects. As a strategic partner for biotechnology firms, Novotech accelerates the development of innovative therapies through its specialized knowledge and global operational capabilities.
Data Compliance as the Foundation of CRO Globalization
The core value of the CRO industry lies in providing outsourced research services to pharmaceutical enterprises, enabling them to optimize resource allocation, reduce risks, and shorten the time to market for new drugs. The industry estimates that the global clinical CRO market is projected to reach USD 73.2 billion by 2026. Meanwhile, the Chinese market is also experiencing rapid development, with the clinical CRO market size reaching RMB 44.24 billion in 2023 and expected to grow to RMB 59.79 billion by 2026, representing a compound annual growth rate of approximately 10.6% from 2023 to 2026.[1]
Over the years, Novotech has committed to fostering the globalization of CRO operations, establishing itself as an essential hub for biotechnology R&D in the Asia-Pacific region through its dedicated efforts in the local market. Nevertheless, as its global business expands, a new challenge has swiftly emerged – maintaining data security and operational efficiency across varying regulatory landscapes.
Strict requirements for sensitive clinical data are enforced by countries worldwide. Institutions such as the FDA in the United States and the NMPA in China implement standards that mandate CROs to uphold data integrity and compliance. Moreover, the involvement of multinational participants and various stakeholders in clinical trials amplifies the demand for real-time data access and secure communication, thereby imposing additional challenges on IT infrastructure.
“Data is an exceptionally important core asset for CROs,” said Mr. Minjie Chai, Head of IT Department of Novotech. He pointed out that Novotech maintains high standards for both data privacy protection and the quality management of clinical data. Consequently, the necessity for a more secure and stable network and data management platform creates an opportunity for collaboration with China Entercom.
IT Demands and Challenges in the CRO Industry
The IT demands in the CRO industry are distinctly different from those in traditional manufacturing or retail sectors. Rather than focusing on ERP and MES systems as in manufacturing, CROs rely more on specialized platforms like clinical trial management systems (CTMS) and laboratory information management systems (LIMS), with a strong emphasis on compliance.
“In pharmaceuticals, any modification to data must be logged in detail, as even minor discrepancies can potentially result in compliance issues,” noted Mr. Chai. This highlights the need for system stability and security, as well as the capability to quickly respond to changing business conditions, thus guiding Novotech towards digital transformation.
In this context, Novotech’s IT framework is structured around three essential components: a SaaS platform for customer relationship management (CRM) and clinical trial management; a private cloud solution for safeguarding sensitive data, namely China Entercom’s SmartCLOUD cloud computing service; and local systems that primarily manage non-critical applications such as file servers. Overall, the intention of this hybrid approach is to harmonize flexibility, security, governance, and cost efficiency.
“In situations where the current architecture could no longer meet business needs, we explored the option of migrating some core systems and devices to a private cloud,” stated Mr. Chai. Initially, Novotech operated with on-premise deployments in Shanghai and Xuzhou for redundancy. However, the recovery speed was limited due to hardware constraints related to increasing data volumes, which prevented compliance with the company’s SOP of restoring systems within an hour.
Furthermore, frequent network performance bottlenecks, especially during peak traffic times, resulted in connectivity issues that disrupted business continuity and user experience. These pain points underscored the limitations of traditional IT models and prompted Novotech to seek more resilient solutions.
“Cloud, Network & Security” Solution Presented by China Entercom
To meet these challenges, Novotech opted for a partnership with China Entercom, an intelligent technology-driven ICT enabler and a member of the CITIC Group. Together with its parent company CITIC Telecom CPC, they have strategically deployed resources in the “Belt and Road” region and RCEP member countries. It has brought them a competitive edge, with service coverage extending to nearly 160 countries and regions across five continents, and global network resources connect nearly 170 PoPs.
“We delivered a comprehensive suite of solutions for Novotech, covering cloud, network, and security,” said Mr. Henry Ko, General Manager of Enterprise Sales at China Entercom. Firstly, the dedicated private cloud service SmartCLOUD™ vONE, developed with the parent company CITIC Telecom CPC, is deployed in cities across Asia, such as Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore, ensuring data residency compliance while supporting the operation of critical applications. Secondly, the CeOne-CONNECT MPLS private network service is combined with SD-WAN technology, establishing a highly efficient and stable global network. Moreover, the TrustCSI 3.0 Unified Threat Management (UTM) provides multi-layered protection for network security.
Beyond aiding Novotech in successfully migrating its good practice (GxP) system to the cloud, China Entercom also played a key role in connecting cross-border Internet data centers (IDCs) with Australian suppliers. “At first, we were concerned about potential connectivity issues with the Australian suppliers. However, with the comprehensive support and exceptional solutions offered by China Entercom’s team, we realized real-time data synchronization between Chinese Mainland and Australia,” recalled Mr. Chai.
Henry continued, “During the deployment in Australia, our sales and deployment teams showcased unparalleled synergy. We successfully coordinated various software and hardware resources across countries, and overcoming cross-border challenges to ensure timely delivery.” This underscores China Entercom’s technical and service strengths in global projects.
“Another reason for choosing China Entercom as our partner lies in our market alignment.” Mr. Chai stated that in the course of searching for IDC providers in various regions, Novotech found that China Entercom had already deployed their service sites, enabling them to quickly deliver tailored solutions.
“It is essential to lead our clients in order to quickly deliver solutions,” said Henry. He noted that establishing a local PoP that is supported by stable local data centers, and building their own cloud system are crucial steps when China Entercom delivers solutions, which takes about six months to prepare.
The performance of these solutions has been significant for Novotech. Their disaster recovery capabilities have improved markedly, reducing site-level recovery time from a week to a day, far exceeding internal expectations. Network stability has also been greatly enhanced. “Since the deployment last year, the solutions have achieved 99.99% operational availability with zero failures reported,” commented Mr. Chai.
Besides, the flexibility of the cloud platform has allowed for more efficient resource adjustments. For instance, it has quickly fulfilled the demand for upgrading from physical hard drives to solid-state drives, receiving positive feedback from both the IT team and the client. Furthermore, this collaboration between Novotech and China Entercom won “2024 National Award for Outstanding Practice and Team in Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Digitalization”.
Mr. Chai expressed a positive perspective on the collaboration by quoting Li Bai’s “Hard is the Way of the World”: “A time will come to ride the winds and waves; we’ll set the sails and cross the sea we yearn.” China Entercom’s high-quality, reliable comprehensive “Cloud, Network & Security” solutions will empower Novotech to transform technology into business value, driving steady advancement in the global pharmaceutical industry.
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