Platform-as-a-Service for data analytics based on Microsoft Azure

 

Service offered: Validation & Test Management

Project intro: The Data Platform is an in-house built platform based on Azure services to deliver an automated business inteligence service to the organization. 

Business case: Several departments of the client had the need to report on metrics specific to their function, eg. financial reporting, staff reporting, etc. The benefit behind the business case was to standardize and harmonize the reporting services within the company. Based on this, the client’s Data Competency team established a platform and the need was to qualify it in order to ensure its availability, integrity and confidentiality but also to prepare it for GxP reporting.

Project description: With the platform already implemented, the project’s objectives were mainly the qualification effort. The project activities consisted in the delivery of the qualification documentation to be approved by the Data Competency team and the Compliance & QA organizations. Weekly and ad-hos meetings were arrganged with these stakeholders to ensure alignment on the deliverables.

Our contribution: Our team has contributed with a Validation Manager and a Test Manager which have delivered across all quality activities . These can be brokwn down into the following:

  • Quality documentation
    • Impact and Risk Assessments, Quality plans and reports,  User Requirements Specifications, Design specifications, Traceability Matrix, and Configuration Item List.
  • Qualification documentation
    • preparation of IQ and OQ protocols for qualifying the Microsoft Azure resources (Azure Data Factory, Data Lake, Azure Synapse, SQL server and Database, Analysis Services)
  • Test management in Azure DevOps
    • the creation and execution of all tests including test reporting
  • Operation documentation
    • creation and approval of the Operation and Maintenance SOP to ensure that the qualified state of the platform is maintened once taken into operation

Tips and Lessons Learned:

  1. Use a risk based approach for evaluating which areas to focus more qualification effort on
  2. Microsoft offers extensive documentation on their processes for qualifying Azure and which services fall under the customer’s responsibility for qualifying.