newsletters
LSAF October 2020
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LATEST NEWS
In this newsletter:
● What is LSAF?
● What's new in 5.3?
● Collaboration with SAS
● Our experiences with LSAF (projects)
● Our LSAF services: ● Implementation and Migration ● Managed Application Services
● LSAF training offering
What is LSAF?
The SAS® Life Science Analytics Framework (LSAF) renders a single, integrated program environment that delivers three key efficiencies: it provides a repository optimised for data standardisation; eases the burden of project management through workflow enablement; and streamlines the management of compliance and transparency – all from the world leader in clinical data analysis and reporting.
The availability of analytic modules within the framework opens the power of analytics to a wider audience of knowledge workers within the organisation – so that statistical expertise is no longer required for most clinical researchers to derive business benefits from analytics. SAS is the de facto standard for clinical trials data analysis and reporting for new product submissions to regulatory authorities, such as the US Federal Drug Administration. With LSAF, SAS delivers a foundation for building one integrated source of clinical data and metadata from various data sources and departments where clinical researchers can instantly query or analyse data. The SAS® Life Science Analytics Framework integrates both information management and analytics in a single solution while seamlessly integrating with the SAS program development and execution environment, complete with CDISC global standards, study metadata management and workflow capabilities.
What’s new in LSAF 5.3
SAS has announced that it is on track for its newest release of LSAF, version 5.3. The feature that stands out most is probably native support for the execution of R code! This is something that has been on the wish list for many users for a long time and it’s finally here. Other features include further automation of the TLF development workflow, global dictionaries for value level metadata, fast data and log viewers and additional customisation settings for the program editor.
If you’re interested in migrating to version 5.3 as soon as it’s available – or maybe slightly later – please get in touch with us. 
Our experiences with LSAF (projects) By Jules van der Zalm - Manager OCS Life Science
Following the accelerating adaptation of LSAF in the industry, consultants of OCS Life Sciences have undertaken a number of LSAF related projects.
LSAF for first-time users One of our clients is a European biotech. This organisation has approached OCS with a desire to move from their PC SAS based programming environment to SAS LSAF, in order to have a validated data storage and statistical compute environment. OCS has had the opportunity to take a key role in this project, providing our client with technical as well as functional support throughout the implementation and commissioning of the system.
Consultants of OCS have lead the client to a new design for their folder hierarchy and the use of contexts, which is a special type of container with LSAF that gives folders special abilities. They’ve also implemented a permission and privilege model that allows for precise control over who can go and see in which studies.
LSAF version migration Another one of our clients is a European pharmaceutical company. This company has previous experience with LSAF, currently on version 4.7, which has required us to take a significantly different approach. In this project consultants of OCS have taken it upon themselves to review current processes and methods, and to assess whether they are still the right choice in the new LSAF 5.2 environment. The team, comprised of both OCS and client staff, continuously challenges every aspect and every new idea, which ultimately leads to a best of breed taking existing elements and joining them with new or improved ones.
The common ground — the OCS LSAF Toolbox Because of how highly standardised SAS LSAF is, every project, whether it’s a new environment or a migration, brings a number of highly similar tasks. This includes the setup of the folder structure or hierarchy, the permission and privilege model, and the creation of SAS programs and jobs to automate and control the creation of new users, studies, and tools in the system.
OCS is developing a toolbox of validated templates and utilities to further standardise this process, allowing us to further reduce the deployment time for new or migrated LSAF instances.
Our LSAF services
Implementation and Migration:
To facilitate a smooth and speedy implementation of a new or migrated LSAF environment, our Life Sciences team has developed a set of fit for purpose service offerings, including:
● Design of folder hierarchy ● Design of access, permission and privilege model ● Workshops to (re)map working practices on LSAF ● Development of jobs and process flows to automate tasks ● Hypercare after go-live ● Administration support ● User coaching and bespoke training workshops
OCS can offer a bundle of these services for new or migrated LSAF instances in a single package, depending on the specific wish list of the client.
Managed Application Services:
The OCS Managed Services team has expanded its capabilities to include Application Services: our solution that facilitates the management of your organisation’s LSAF environment, so that you may concentrate more on your critical business functions. The Managed Application Services are based on a blueprint of fixed activities and include: monitoring; reporting; service-desk availability; handling of ad-hoc requests or questions for job execution; user management and more generic LSAF user support.
OCS training offering By Lieke Gijsbers - Project Lead OCS Life Science
Is LSAF new for you and would you like to get familiar with the interface of LSAF and learn how to manage content in the repository and workspace? Or are you a LSAF user, but would you like to get more out of your LSAF system as a programmer by for instance setting up more advanced jobs or as administrator in managing privileges, roles and permissions in a more efficient way, then we can help you! OCS Life Sciences offers off-the shelf training suitable for Data Managers, SAS Programmers and/or Administrators, but also develops bespoke training tailored to your needs.
If you are interested in a LSAF bespoke training or other training provided by OCS Life Sciences please contact us!
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