Companies in the Life Sciences industries -- Healthcare, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology -- have common business issues that are driving their top technology initiatives:        

• Regulations such as the Patient Privacy Record Acts (in the US) are placing demanding information privacy and secure transaction requirements on the sector
• Cost control and containment is ever-increasingly important, specifically related to automating processes and sharing intelligence & data across the enterprise
• Mergers and Acquisitions are consolidating the Life Sciences universe and creating a need for easier integration of systems (in the case of mergers) and separation of systems (in the case of divestitures).