Unlocking Veeva Value: Services, Migrations, and Strategic Shifts in 2025

This video provides an in-depth analysis of the evolving Veeva services market, drawing insights from the upcoming Everest Group Veeva Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2025. The discussion, featuring Everest Group experts, focuses on major strategic shifts impacting pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, particularly the move toward platform-based implementations, the increasing role of AI, and changes in service provider engagement models. The context is set by highlighting Veeva's significant growth and influence in changing how pharma companies utilize technology, positioning the services market (estimated to be over $1 billion) as a critical area for optimization and innovation.

A major theme explored is the industry-wide shift from module-based to platform-based Veeva implementations. Historically, companies adopted modules in silos (e.g., PromoMats here, RIM there), but clients now demand integrated "Veeva programs" that connect workflows, share data, and utilize a single reporting universe across functions like Quality, Safety, and Regulatory (RIM). This platform thinking, which is long overdue, creates complexity in delivery, requiring cross-functional teams with expertise in architecture, validation, and regulatory compliance. The speakers emphasize that this shift is particularly evident in R&D, where organizations are consolidating applications across Clinical, Safety, Regulatory, and Quality onto an end-to-end platform, a trend that began around 2019-2020 and is now manifesting in major sourcing initiatives (e.g., Boehringer Ingelheim's "one medicine platform").

The panel also delves into the changing dynamics of service provider strategies and the increasing maturity of the market, which has grown from 15 assessed players in 2021 to 35 in the current assessment. Providers are pivoting away from traditional execution-focused delivery (measured by consultant count and implementation volume) toward value-linked services. This involves outcome-based contracts, such as Application Management Services (AMS) tied to reducing change request backlogs by a percentage or improving submission cycle times. Furthermore, successful providers are building credibility across the entire Veeva value chain, linking functions like Safety with Labeling, Regulatory with Quality Management, and CRM with Content Ops. The role of accelerators—like GenAI testing bots and automigration utilities—has become central to provider pitches, moving from being buried in slide decks to becoming core components of service delivery, signifying a shift from mere execution to anticipation and innovation.

Finally, the discussion addresses the impact of Generative AI (GenAI) and the competitive landscape. While GenAI buzz is "deafening," its adoption in production-level Veeva services remains cautious and focused on specific, high-value areas. Current use cases include AI-assisted call planning and coaching in CRM, and validation bots, autotagging, and content reuse in Vault. Providers are gaining traction by demonstrating real delivery stories and tangible results, such as one partner renewing a contract by using GenAI-based regression tests to shave off 60% of effort. The competitive dynamic between Veeva and Salesforce Life Sciences Cloud is also highlighted, with the market now considered a more level playing field than initially anticipated after the split, with an estimated 55-60% of customers with Veeva and 35-40% considering Salesforce, emphasizing that platform decisions prioritize strong tech architecture and customization over AI capabilities alone.

Key Takeaways:

• Platformization is the Core Strategic Shift: Enterprises are moving away from siloed, module-based Veeva implementations toward integrated, platform-level "Veeva programs" that connect Quality, Safety, Regulatory, and Commercial functions for shared data and connected workflows. This demands cross-functional delivery teams and integrated governance.
• Outcome-Based Service Models are Gaining Traction: Service providers are shifting from traditional time-and-materials support to value-linked, outcome-based contracts (e.g., AMS contracts committing to reducing change request backlogs or improving submission cycle times by a specific percentage). This holds providers accountable for tangible business impact post-implementation.
• GenAI Adoption is Cautious but Targeted: While GenAI is a major buzzword, production-level adoption focuses on specific, compliant use cases, such as AI-assisted call planning and sales coaching in CRM, and validation bots, automated test documentation, and content summarization/autotagging in Vault.
• Accelerators are the New Currency of Credibility: Tools like GenAI testing bots, automigration utilities, and compliant assistants (e.g., for drafting audit reports) are now front-and-center in provider pitches, indicating that providers must anticipate client needs and embed innovation into core services, not just execute tasks.
• Safety Vault is a Strategic Gateway: Safety Vault implementations are increasingly acting as the anchor point for broader R&D platform expansion, often leading to subsequent engagements in Quality, Regulatory, and Medical Affairs. Partners must demonstrate deep domain expertise in areas like PV-compliant rollouts and Argus interoperability.
• Talent Continuity is a Key Differentiator: For long-standing engagements, pharma clients highly value continuity in the service partner's talent pool, disliking resource swaps once a project finds its footing. Consistency in the A-team throughout planning, execution, and maintenance is critical for renewals and expansion.
• Hybrid Sourcing is Common: Clients frequently employ a dual sourcing strategy, using boutique specialists for high-compliance, tightly scoped work (like MVP design or validation) due to their deep domain expertise, and then bringing in Global System Integrators (SIs) for scale, multi-country rollouts, and cross-platform integration (Veeva + Salesforce + SAP).
• Market Growth and Competition: The Veeva services market is estimated to be over $1 billion annually, with the number of assessed service providers growing significantly (from 15 to 35). The consulting and custom application development portion of the market has expanded from 15-20% to nearly 30-35% of the total pie.
• Evolving CRM Expectations: The future CRM is expected to be a "system of engagement," not just a system of record. Service partners must help enterprises define their future CRM needs and weigh platform options (Veeva vs. Salesforce Life Sciences Cloud) based on architectural strength and customization capabilities, not just AI features.
• Compliance and Agility Drive Partner Selection: Pharma companies seek partners who are agile in addressing compliance risks or fast-paced go-live activities, demonstrating flexibility both within and outside the defined service engagement scope.
• GenAI is Not a Platform Checkbox (Yet): When enterprises evaluate platforms, the decision prioritizes fundamental factors like strong technology architecture and customization capabilities over AI/GenAI features, which are still viewed as secondary, albeit important, capabilities.

Tools/Resources Mentioned:

• Veeva Vault: Mentioned across various functions (Safety, RIM, Quality, Content Ops).
• Veeva CRM: Discussed in the context of AI-assisted call planning and sales coaching.
• Accenture GenAI Engine: Example of a provider tool automating validation matrices and test documentation for quarterly Vault releases.
• Dakoma Good Practices Compliant Assistant: Example of a provider tool that drafts audit reports and retrieves SOPs, integrated into Veeva workflows.
• Salesforce Life Sciences Cloud: Mentioned as the primary competitor to Veeva in the commercial space.

Key Concepts:

• Platformization: The strategic move by life sciences companies to consolidate multiple functions (e.g., Clinical, Regulatory, Safety, Quality) onto a single, integrated platform (Veeva Vault) to ensure connected workflows, shared data, and unified reporting, moving away from siloed module implementations.
• Value-Linked Services: A shift in service provider engagement where contract terms and pricing (often incentive-based) are tied directly to measurable business outcomes (e.g., cycle time reduction, improved audit readiness) rather than just time and materials or execution volume.
• Cross-Cloud Maturity: The ability of service providers to deliver integrated solutions across different Veeva clouds (e.g., Development Cloud and Commercial Cloud) and link disparate functions (e.g., Safety with Labeling, CRM with Content Ops).

Examples/Case Studies:

• Boehringer Ingelheim's "One Medicine Platform": Cited as a public example of an organization pursuing an end-to-end platform vision for R&D.
• GenAI Regression Testing: A service provider successfully renewed an MSD contract by using GenAI- based regression tests, reducing effort by 60%.
• Quarterly Release Cycles: A large pharma company is using GenAI tools to speed up their quarterly release cycles, demonstrating a cautious, efficiency-focused application of the technology.