Embracing the Healing Powers of Forced Disruption

Bob McCowan is on a pretty good roll.

The CIO of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has just rattled off a series of positive dynamics emerging from the first month of a pandemic-forced, work-from-home initiative.

• Employees embracing agile, driving toward quick, sensible outcomes
• Co-workers looking after each other, picking up tasks for single parents or those tending to sick family members
• New efficiencies not tethered to a traditional office environment, which could also create remote hiring opportunities for future staff and contractors

If there is organizational light at the end of COVID-19’s dark tunnel, McCowan wants to harness that hopeful light, and never look back.

People are really recognizing this is a time for change and if you think broadly enough, there are many opportunities for people to get involved and learn new skills and ways of working.

McCowan says, “This crisis has forced us to reconsider and rethink our approach.”

At Regeneron, there is little time to waste. In addition to working on a vaccine, the Westchester, New York-based biotechnology company made headlines by rapidly implementing a global clinical trial for Kevzara (Sarilumab), an existing drug that could be successful in combating some respiratory challenges caused by COVID-19. McCowan’s technology team is fully engaged supporting the scientists, clinical teams and everyone involved in this critical work.

As that work continues, McCowan reflected on the first month of remote work at Regeneron and how a crisis is changing him as a CIO leader:

As CIO for an organization on the front lines of COVID-19 response, how does that raise the stakes for your technology team?

As an organization, we are driven by science and always looking forward and thinking about the “what if.” From an infrastructure perspective, we’ve been executing on several three-year programs to build an agile and scalable set of services and that’s what we’ve tapped into here. When we moved our staff into their homes, we had already implemented a new firewall and secure connection capability that had been tested with three thousand people on remote “snow days.” Overnight, that grew to eight thousand remote staff fully enabled to access their systems at Regeneron and collaborate with our staff and partners with all the security in place – multi-factor, end user protection and everything else.

Can you give a specific example of how your technology team has risen to the challenge working remotely?

We’ve seen a huge uptick in people using Skype, One Drive and One Note. They’re collaborating on documents, multi-users working on data in a way they’ve never done before. To be honest, it is going to change some working practices going forward. It’s allowing them to do their jobs with remote tools, without having to be within the four walls of the office. New capabilities have been also built out in a short time to address challenges like enabling remote presentations by our Commercial Field force, as well as changing how we engage with critical partners and regulatory bodies such as the FDA.

How proud are you of the way your teams have responded to the crisis, especially as your company conducts critical research and trails?

I’ve been absolutely elated by how well the IT team, our systems and all our supporting staff have responded. A lot of times in IT, you’re doing this backend work that has to get done but nobody is really paying attention – the focus rightly is on the business outcomes. I think this situation has really brought to light the importance of staying focused on the balance between the two. You must be thinking in three-year plans and be continually executing and updating to make sure you can support the business goals, and you can’t rest.

You referenced the work you did a few years ago setting up your team’s ability to respond. What would you offer to CIOs who feel as though they’re behind the curve?

You must stay close to the business, see where the value is and how it’s being realized. Ultimately, our organization is driven by science and data. It’s making the leap to say, “What are the implications on our network and compute power, what are the implications on our data transfer rates and our partners?” You must make time to do that kind of thinking, and as a CIO you’re never going to do it on your own. You have to find those individuals in your organization who think about big picture and are willing to challenge you and others. That’s where your ideas come from.

Any final thoughts you’d like to share?

We’re three or four weeks in, we have a pattern now, and we’re reprioritizing projects based on what we are dealing with. Now is the time to pressure-test our roadmaps, pressure-test our budget and plans for 2020 and realign them to the new reality we face. Include your partners and vendors as you perform this assessment. I’ve been reaching out and thanking them for their contribution and checking to make sure their teams are also okay. The onus is on us all to think about everyone we do business with and all those we serve. We must sustain these connections to keep our companies and each other healthy and consider what else we can do as a broader approach as our country and the world recovers from this global challenge.

Special thanks to Bob McCowan and Regeneron.

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