Many teams treat each Veeva release like starting from scratch. The result? Updates get skipped, validation becomes overwhelming, and teams fall further behind with each cycle. Systems drift out of sync with business needs, and adoption slows.
We recently explored this challenge in our Unlocking the Vault webinar series, bringing together experts to discuss how teams can take control of their release cycle.
The message was consistent: the updates aren't the issue. It's how they're handled.
Veeva's update cadence is predictable. Still, many teams approach each release reactively – as if it's the first time.
As Hannah Greiner, Director of Strategy & Business Consulting at Epista, put it:
"Release management is often treated like a one-off project. That's where things start to break down. You need a structure you can reuse so you don't start from scratch every time."
When ownership is unclear and responsibilities are scattered, even small updates become disruptive. The process loses momentum, and releases turn into compliance checklists rather than opportunities to improve how the system is used.
Efficient release management depends on three things: structure, ownership, and collaboration. In practice, the work typically splits across three tracks:
Business ownership is often the missing piece. As Hannah said:
"If there's no business ownership – no one steering where the platform should go – you risk treating every release as a compliance check, instead of a chance to improve operations."
But clarity around roles is just the starting point. Teams also need to understand what type of release they're working with – and how to respond accordingly.
Not all updates are the same. Veeva categorizes them into three types:
General releases: delivered by Veeva, with platform or suite-level changes
Project releases: customer-driven, linked to new processes or capabilities
Operational releases: smaller tweaks, fixes or optimizations
Each type requires a different approach. Recognizing that helps teams avoid unnecessary validation – and ensures important changes don't go unnoticed.
Every release comes with a full set of documentation: validation plans, requirement specifications, traceability matrices, OQ and regression tests, known issues, and more.
Haik Gazarian, Head of Quality at Epista, highlighted how underused these resources often are:
"Veeva is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. If you're duplicating their effort with your own full-scale validation every time, you're solving for compliance – but in an inefficient way."
Instead of building everything from scratch, use these materials as your starting point. It reduces time, avoids duplication, and makes room for more targeted validation where it's actually needed.
Validation isn't about doing everything. It's about doing the right things well.
"You don't need to revalidate what hasn't changed," Haik said. "Focus on the deltas."
That means trusting your own impact assessments. If a change has no effect on your intended use, you don't need to spend time validating it. A risk-based approach doesn't mean taking risks – it means making informed decisions.
Each Veeva release follows the same rhythm. About eight weeks before deployment, you get access to release notes, sandbox environments, and supporting materials. That gives you time to prepare.
A strong release process includes:
Neel Patel, Principal Consultant, Technology, pointed out:
"You need both a bottom-up and top-down view. Business users know what's impacted. Governance ensures that one vault's changes don't create problems for others."
Most teams fall into one of three patterns:
The difference isn't technical skill – it's process. The most effective teams align their release model with Veeva's and build their validation around what's already provided.
It's not about rushing through updates. It's about reducing the noise so you can focus on the changes that really matter.
Treating releases as isolated tasks makes them harder to manage – and more likely to be postponed. But with the right structure, aligned roles and a predictable rhythm, release management becomes just another part of how your business runs.
Done right, it keeps your platform current, compliant, and aligned with your organization's goals.
Our second webinar explores what happens when your system and your business evolve in different directions. Join us as we look at how to close that gap and keep your Vault aligned with real-world needs.
We enjoy sharing our knowledge. Get in touch to find out how Epista can add value to your Life Science company.
