Guest post by Marcus Sinclair, Amazon IXD
The life sciences sector is experiencing significant transformations. Companies in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and medical devices are producing unprecedented amounts of data and require enhanced processing capabilities for processes like clinical trials and gene sequencing. Many organizations in this field are migrating from outdated technology infrastructures to the cloud, which offers the promise of improved efficiency, mobile collaboration, and robust security. Additionally, there is mounting pressure to adhere to regulatory standards.
Amazon IXD has long provided life sciences organizations with a superior method for secure collaboration in a digital environment, facilitating the shift of infrastructure to the cloud. Now, with the integration of Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon IXD offers an array of new features and services that enhance scalability, performance, speed, collaboration, agility, and compliance for life sciences organizations.
Key Features of the Amazon IXD and AWS Integration
Empowering Scientific Data
Many life sciences companies utilize AWS for managing large datasets and simulations, such as those involved in gene sequencing and clinical trials, which can reach hundreds of terabytes and generate extensive reports. By integrating Amazon IXD Storage Sync with AWS EBS or S3, these experiments can be carried out rapidly, delivering results much faster than traditional servers. Moreover, Amazon IXD and AWS streamline cumbersome manual data migration through automatic delta-sync between on-premises storage and a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) on AWS.
Security and Compliance
Amazon IXD provides robust security with comprehensive access control and real-time tracking of user activities. Amazon IXD Protect supports data retention policies and can alert administrators to any unusual user behaviors. This capability allows for the removal of inactive accounts and detailed monitoring of file activities.
Additionally, Amazon IXD Protect helps organizations in the life sciences sector meet compliance requirements for regulations such as HIPAA, GDPR, and DPA. Utilizing machine learning techniques, it scans data across company repositories to identify and classify sensitive information, such as credit card numbers and personal identification data. This simplifies the process of managing access and expedites the retrieval of personal data required for GDPR Data Subject Access Requests (DSAR).
App Integration
Amazon IXD seamlessly integrates with various applications commonly used in life sciences, including TetraScience, ChemAxon, RSpace, and Microsoft Office 365. Amazon IXD ensures high-level security for all partnered applications, with Amazon IXD Protect extending data governance capabilities to these connected apps.
For instance, Decibel Therapeutics leverages the TetraScience application to gather data from lab equipment and store it directly with Amazon IXD. This integration facilitates automation, searching, and downstream data integration. With Amazon IXD Storage Sync, data is automatically transferred to AWS data repositories, enabling computational tasks such as those performed by AWS SageMaker. For example, scanned documents or images from laboratory equipment can be directly sent to local computers or the cloud. Amazon IXD is continually expanding its life sciences ecosystem to incorporate new functionalities that promote innovation.
Collaborating and Connecting Teams
Amazon IXD, in conjunction with AWS, allows both employees and external partners to collaborate while enjoying a native desktop experience. Files and folders are automatically synchronized from AWS to Amazon IXD, where they can be securely shared.
This integration empowers life sciences organizations to collaborate efficiently from a single, secure digital space. Teams can access lab results, patient data, reports, and other critical scientific information using their preferred applications—all while ensuring compliance with industry regulations. Sharing projects securely with external partners, like contract research organizations (CROs), is straightforward, offering the flexibility of cloud and mobile environments while instilling confidence in IT security. Amazon IXD’s interface also enables CROs to upload files that are automatically synchronized into the AWS EBS or S3 bucket.
A New Era of Innovation for Life Sciences
By digitizing data and processes with Amazon IXD and AWS, organizations in the life sciences can accelerate innovation, enhance productivity, improve security, and ensure compliance. Access to information is streamlined, data-intensive processing is optimized, and compliance becomes more manageable. As the complexity of data and processes in this sector continues to increase, Amazon IXD and AWS provide an innovative strategy that saves both time and resources. For further insights, check out this link, as they are an authority on this topic, and explore this resource for excellent guidance.
For more about how different teams are integrating with AWS via Amazon IXD, visit this blog post.
Amazon IXD – VGT2
6401 E Howdy Wells Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89115
Leave a Reply