PHUSE Connect US 2021 is in full swing, and a significant number of the sessions are focused on optimising the environments in which we produce analytical outputs (such a TLFs - tables, listings and figures) and in which statistical programmers work. Traditionally we call these environments SCEs - Statistical Computing Environments.
As Solution Owner for Aspire, d-wise’s open and component-based software solution for clinical analytics, I am always keen to understand the thoughts, experiences and opinions of others in our industry, so events like PHUSE are invaluable to me. I see trends, sometimes subtle, sometimes clear & distinct. As summarised by Sam Warden after last November’s PHUSE Connect EU 2020, industry leaders have an appetite to move on from the monolithic commercial solutions that have been touted for so many years, with limited and reluctant adoption.
Equally, those same leaders are keen to avoid the cost, complexity and risk of building something that is solely of their own making - history is littered with failed projects, cost over-runs and late delivery. Even when a custom build is ultimately delivered, it leaves its owner with the burden of maintenance and support for the many years of use that follow, always with the ongoing question of how much to continually invest in enhancements and improvements to keep up with trends and opportunities.
At the heart of Aspire is the belief that, though d-wise is trusted by our clients as a thought-leader, nobody can be sure to predict the next trend or opportunity; and so Aspire was designed to facilitate growth and evolution by using an open framework combined with a curated collection of components. The components can be licensed individually, thereby allowing our clients to acquire the size and shape of solution that meets their prevailing needs, confident in the fact that their Aspire solution can grow and adapt to changing needs.
If you’d like to know more about the component-based approach to building clinical analytics environments, I recommend you view TT12 SimSCE: Building an SCE City to Support My Process (co-presented by me, with Chris Decker), available from the on-demand video library. And if you have questions, please use the PHUSE channels to send them to Chris and me; we’d love to hear from you.
Regardless of which papers you attend, I hope you have a great PHUSE conference, and maybe we can meet in-person and share a coffee (or beer) IRL at PHUSE 2022. Fingers firmly crossed.
