MARCH 2020CIOAPPLICATIONS.COM 19really helped our customers get up and running quickly. We've been able to stay agile and support new modalities as the industry continues to innovate. What are the challenges that your clients face with biotechnology, and how do you help them overcome those?Michael: In the biotechnology space, our clients are working at a blistering pace to get the next generation of drug candidates into clinical evaluation. There are powerful new tools like next-generation sequencing, lab automation, and high throughput screening that have led to an explosion of data. Most of this data goes unanalyzed because it lacks the requisite structure and context. For example, not having the ability to link protein production to the underlying cell lines and plasmids used in the process can hinder scientific decision making and parameter optimization.These challenges are only exacerbated by the rapidly evolving nature of biotechnology. A new generation of therapeutic modalities has emerged, including cell and gene therapies, bi-specific antibodies, and antibody-drug conjugates. These modalities will also at some point be replaced by a future generation of approaches developed by our clients. Benchling was designed to accommodate these varying approaches and evolve with our customers' needs.Ashu: Building on what Michael said, the legacy software that scientists previously had to use is inherently rigid. Many of these systems were built for chemistry-based research and simply cannot accommodate the innate complexity of biologics. Others are still mostly deployed as on-premise applications that lack the continual innovation we can offer as a unified cloud service. Our approach makes a difference here. We offer products that make the underlying data models, workflows, and the system flexible. This empowers our customers to have a better understanding of their samples and processes, which in turn leads to better insights across their R&D programs. Could you elaborate on the solution and the products that you deliver?Michael: From day one, Benchling has been focused on enhancing the user experience by reducing the amount of manual work required by scientists and by providing a consumer-grade interface that is easy to learn and operate. R&D teams want to collaborate more and work better across highly specialized teams. Benchling promotes these interactions by providing permission-controlled visibility to data and by orchestrating cross-team requests and workflows. Many of our customers had been using spreadsheets, email, or point solutions to initiate these kinds of processes. That leads to long chains of inefficient communication and error-prone hand-offs. With Benchling's process management solutions, the requests are accompanied by a complete set of underlying parameters. For example, a request that goes to a cell line engineering team would include the plasmid sequence, method of production requested, and even the precise location of reagents in the freezer. We offer various application configurations that can meet the needs of any kind of organization, from startups to the largest global biotech and pharma companies. Our Professional Services team really takes the time to understand our clients' research. They deliver a data model and schema that reflects their workflows and builds in any other logic that applies to their company, including computed fields, validation rules, and naming conventions. Ashu: Our customers, as in many other industries, are seeking to become more data-driven organizations. They want to leverage the power of data science and machine learning to increase their prowess and decision-making abilities. Even if CIOs invest in machine learning and scientific analytics, they still need a centralized repository for data. This is where we fit in by providing a unified platform that captures and structures data in a way that is primed for automated analysis. As CIOs continue to drive digital transformations in their organizations, we often get asked about the security and architecture of the platform. Since our platform is cloud-native, it has the highest level of security, access, provisioning, and permissions. Another top concern we hear from CIOs is the need to ensure that all applications maintain some degree of interoperability with each other as needed. Benchling has a set of REST APIs that allows for flexible integrations with R&D software and databases, as well as a set of out-of-the-box integrations for laboratory automation. Our goal has been to make Benchling a complete solution for R&D, while still Michael Schwartz, Head of Product Marketing
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