Thomson Reuters JPharm: Reengineering Large-scale Enterprise Collaboration Platform

NIX successfully strengthened the JPharm platform for Thomson Reuters by enhancing its architecture and functionality. The NIX team showcased exceptional technical expertise and collaborative capabilities, delivering tangible results within a short timeframe.

Business Domain

Pharmaceutical, Healthcare, Science
Service

Web Development
Technologies

Java

Business Overview

Thomson Reuters is a prominent worldwide supplier of solutions to academia, corporations, and brands seeking to keep track of the market and undertake pharmaceutical initiatives in partnership. The company’s global presence includes branches in Philadelphia, London, Beijing, and Tokyo, and it attracts talented individuals from diverse backgrounds worldwide.

Cortellis is a system that fosters collaboration and collects data essential for uncovering groundbreaking medications, distinguishing treatments, and boosting the chances of receiving regulatory approval. It aids professionals in research and development, portfolio strategy and business development, as well as regulations and compliance.
JPharm is an internal Cortellis’ platform for collaboration in which editors in the fields of chemistry, patent law, pharmacology, and medicine from across the world can submit and update medication information.

Thomson Reuters experienced a range of challenges with the platform—a heavy legacy system that no longer fulfills performance requirements and proves challenging to maintain and expand. The client contacted NIX after years of collaboration with different vendors on platform modernization and already had an unsuccessful experience of working with several remote teams—lack of coordination and expertise hampered the delivery process.

Due to our extensive expertise and proven experience in working with large-scale enterprise systems, the client entrusted NIX with system modernization and quality assessment services. NIX operatively assembled a hands-on team to dive into the complex legacy architecture of the JPharm platform, identify pain points, and provide a solution.

Challenge

The NIX team encountered two main challenges with the JPharm platform:

Lack of Documentation

Thomson Reuters didn’t have a full understanding of the platform’s architecture due to absence of any technical documentation from the previous teams, and couldn’t take steps on enhancing the user experience—they could only maintain the system as-is.

Heterogeneous Data

JPharm comprised several disjointed databases and data sources that were not operating as a cohesive system. As a result, editors were unable to upload and change data in real-time, necessitating a tedious process of assessing material and wasting critical time.

Solution

Firstly, we reverse engineered the complex, multi-component legacy enterprise system with multiple interfaces to gradually unravel the platform’s architecture and functionality. The NIX team created comprehensive system documentation that outlines the architecture of the system, how its components work, and how functionality aligns with business requirements. The output of this phase enabled the client to make informed decisions about how to modernize and extend the system while minimizing risks and ensuring continuity.

Secondly, we investigated and documented potential bottlenecks and technical risks that may arise during development and operation.

We put forward a product modernization roadmap to address weak points, lay a solid foundation for scalability, facilitate continuous development, and eliminate any technical debt.

Once we examined the roadmap and had it endorsed by the client, we formed a bigger team to implement these improvements. We reconstructed the various levels of the system’s components, enabling us to incorporate new elements and help the client meet essential business goals. For instance, we developed new data-loading modules that streamlined and enhanced the editors’ tasks, enabling them to upload data to the system effortlessly and automatically in the necessary format.

Outcome

Thomson Reuters received the high-functioning JPharm platform with reinforced architecture and enriched functionality. The NIX engineering team demonstrated superior tech skills and the ability to work as a joint standalone force providing tangible results in a short timeline.

Our collaboration kicked off with a highly skilled A-team working closely with the client to dive deep and evaluate the existing product’s state, unravel all the issues and potential pitfalls, and identify points of growth. This not only tackled initial hurdles but also paved the way for swift deployment and scaling of crucial features down the line.