Technology is only useful when it is in the service of people. This concept is by no means earth-shattering, but it is a fundamental truth that, surprisingly, is ignored by many vendors and technologists.
 
Technology can be a powerful enabler that has permitted industries to create significant progress at record speeds, but it can also be a source of incredible frustration. 
 
Let’s take a look at clinical trials, or for that matter, healthcare. Advancements areseen every day in healthcare. So, why is it that technology also gets in the way of the day-to-day? Particularly when it comes to caring for patients, developing a next new vaccine, cure or treatment through clinical research.
 
There are five key elements to consider when selecting technology for clinical research to create a cohesive experience for teams, patients, and stakeholders.
 

1.  Select technology that has a future-proof model.

Building technology is a challenging task. Like every other practice, vendors can do it well, or they can do it poorly. And as the buyer, you need to know if your vendor will scale as you scale with the industry. 
 
Asking your vendor if they built a “future-proof” technology is of no use. Their answer will always be yes. Instead, you need to look at the evidence in their technology and processes that may reveal the answer.
 
Here are some examples of what to look at when evaluating your vendor:

·      How many versions of the software are currently supported and in use by existing customers?
If many versions exist, the software may be difficult, costly or risky to upgrade. On the other hand, if most customers are using the latest two versions of the software, the vendor likely has a practical strategy to support both organizational growth and the software evolution.
·      Does the technology integrate easily with other systems?
Vendors should not build software in a silo. There should be open, well-documented, and easy to understand ways to integrate with other systems, whether it is APIs or data protocols to exchange data. Effective software for clinical research should not live entirely on its own. Instead, it should be a specific tool in a toolset that operates as part of a larger ecosystem.  Without system integrations, technology will not “talk” to or “work with” current technology or future platforms.
·      Can the vendor incorporate your needs into the evolution of the software?
No software is perfect. Organizations will find opportunities to solve additional problems or change how certain features work. The vendor’s willingness to incorporate suggestions into future product updates may partially dictate your satisfaction with the software. Determine if there is a way to provide meaningful input. Some feedback opportunities to look for include product office hours, account manager meetings, product feedback forums or in-app satisfaction surveys. Go into a software purchase with complete clarity on if and how customer feedback is incorporated.
 

2. Find a vendor with a team you can trust.

When buying software, you are creating a relationship between your organization and the vendor. Every single aspect of the experience – the software, onboarding, customer support and potential challenges – will all be laced with the vendor’s company culture.
 
The people behind the technology will dictate your overall satisfaction. Some questions to help you investigate:
·      Do you mesh well with the team members you have engaged with at the company?
·      Does customer service prioritize the company’s interests before the customers’?
·      Does the sales team feel disingenuous? Do they answer your requests on time?
·      Is the marketing messaging gimmicky?
·      Does the company have thought leaders in the industry? Do they have a mission you believe in?
 
An unauthentic company reflects on the quality of their products. Not many companies can survive with the brilliant jerk culture or the cut-throat management culture without it permeating into their products. Maybe it is not evident at the moment, but it will likely show up down the road.
 

3.  Look for innovative vendors, not cutting-edge technology.

Cutting-edge technology may not always be the best answer to your needs. Being an early adopter of a brand-new technology creates great opportunity but also great risk.
 
Instead, consider focusing your efforts on the innovative nature of the vendor rather than the shiny bells and whistles of the technology.
 
Innovation happens on established and proved technology. An innovative vendor is much more valuable than leading-edge technology because they can adapt and evolve with the industry’s needs. Innovation is manifested in processes, flexibility and stability of solutions and responsiveness to your needs.
 

4. Focus on user-centered design that is visible and evident.

Health care, especially clinical research, has historically had a limited number of technology options available. Many companies in this space have been busy creating functional technology without focusing on how easy or intuitive it is to use. These vendors are only interested in creating intriguing software to sell to high-level executives and disregard the ease-of-use for lower-level team members who will be using the software daily.
 
Technology that isn’t easy to use or intuitive has major hidden costs down the road: slow training and onboarding, low rates of site or user adoption, high levels of user errors, employee dissatisfaction and higher risk for audit findings.
 
A vendor that values their users will reflect this in user-centric design, ease-of-use, accessibility to users with disabilities, interoperability, reportability and customer support. 
 

5.  Ensure capabilities for two-way integrations.

Interoperability is an important aspect of any software solution. But one very important distinction is that the technology needs the ability to have two-way integrations with other systems.
 
Two-way integrations are an advanced topic and rarely discussed among people without technical backgrounds, but this is an important factor to consider.
 
Software applications can usually communicate with one another by “exposing” what is called API endpoints; that is, functions that can be invoked by an external system. For example, in a document management system, an external system can programmatically upload a document by invoking one of these endpoints.  
 
Many vendors tout the interoperability of their solution by showing the myriad of interfaces and APIs they expose. This usually means that external systems can use the solution to perform inbound actions, which is helpful. 
 
However, the solution also must allow outbound interfaces to run. Consider asking the following:
·      Can the solution notify other systems of actions or events that are taking place in it? 
·      Can the solution push commands or notifications to other systems?
 
If the answer is yes and the vendor provides both inbound and outbound interfaces, you will have a good chance at integrating this solution with your current or future technologies. If the answer is no, be aware that someone in the IT department, or a consultant, will have to create complex solutions to integrate this software with others, most likely at a high cost.

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Andres Garcia is Co-Founder and CTO of Florence Healthcare, an organization focused on improving clinical trials by building technology that helps research sites, CROs and sponsors streamline complex processes and workflows. Before co-founding Florence, he served as Product Manager for AirWatch prior to its $1.5B acquisition by VMware. His experience in security technology coincides with his passion for solving problems with technology, and he believes culture is the most important aspect of a company.