More than half of life science companies now outsource their customer database requirements, according to a new survey.
Cegedim Relationship Management’s EU customer data study found 53 per cent of respondents outsourced their data management, a four per cent rise in two years.
The trend “may signal that companies are coming to understanding that it is becoming too problematic to collect and maintain data internally”, the company said.
The figures from the database provider fit into the wider, long-term industry trend for greater outsourcing of functions from research to salesforce support.
Cegedim also found that 68 per cent of life sciences executives said they plan to invest in outsourced databases, as opposed to retaining the function in-house.
Esther van Hulten, senior VP of Cegedim Relationship Management’s Global OneKey Customer Insights Division, said: “The 2013 EU survey illustrates that companies are looking for more comprehensive, intelligent, and up-to-date customer databases due to the increasing complexity of today’s data.
“As a result of the larger role that data now plays in business operations, it is imperative to have a well structured database that enables the aggregation and consolidation of all of a company’s interactions and spend at a unique healthcare professional level.”
The online survey was conducted during October 2013 and involved some 130 life sciences executives from a range of disciplines.
Its findings also included that 82 per cent of survey respondents valued accuracy as the most important criteria in selecting a data vendor, while 61 per cent found internally managing data and matching all sources and establishing a unique identifier for each HCP to be very challenging.