Moving Specialty Pharma Publishing and Review From an On-Premise Server to the Cloud
From an On-Premise Server to the Cloud — Without Stopping Live Work
Specialty pharmaceutical customers running DnXT Publisher and Reviewer on a dedicated on-premise server moved to the cloud platform. Single sign-on, document-repository integrations and years of filed submissions had to arrive intact while the old system kept working.
A migration where the old system has to keep running
An on-premise installation carries more than software. It holds the company’s sign-in arrangement, its connections to document repositories, and every sequence the company has published — in a working area where documents are prepared and an output area that is the filed record.
Regulatory teams cannot pause filings for a migration. The new environment had to be proven, piece by piece, while the existing one continued to serve daily work.
- Single sign-on had to work in the cloud without breaking sign-in on the old server
- Document-repository integrations had to keep working from a new location
- Every filed sequence had to arrive complete, and be verifiable as complete
Prove each piece in parallel, then cut over on notice
Sign-in, side by side
Configured single sign-on for the cloud environment alongside the existing one — a second credential rather than a replacement — so both environments worked during the transition, and verified it end to end with the customer’s regulatory lead.
Integrations from the new home
Confirmed the document-repository integration in the cloud environment. It worked through the provider’s own allowance for the new address, with no code change on either side.
Archive copy, verified by bytes
Copied both the working area and the published output to cloud storage, and verified completeness by comparing total bytes rather than file counts — which can match while content is missing.
Users, training and cutover
Provisioning users against the customer’s own directory identities, with cutover planned on two weeks’ notice and training on what changes for users.
Migration rules we hold ourselves to
Never break the system people are using
Every step was additive until cutover. The old environment kept working throughout.
Decide by the filed record, not folder names
Where staged copies of submissions disagreed, the application number in the filed regional backbone decided which copy was authoritative.
Verify content, not counts
A copy is complete when its bytes match, not when the number of entries looks right.
Give users notice and training
Cutover dates were agreed with the customer’s regulatory lead, with time to prepare the team.
Cloud environments proven before anyone had to switch
Single sign-on and the document-repository integration were verified working in the cloud environment while the on-premise system stayed in service, and the submission archive was copied and checked for completeness.
Cutover will be scheduled with the customer on two weeks’ notice. The same approach is now DnXT’s standard route for moving customers from dedicated installations to the cloud platform.
Still running regulatory software on your own server?
Talk to us about moving to the cloud with your history, your sign-in and your integrations intact.
