Case Study: UCB achieves 20x faster clinical data analysis and higher availability with NetApp EF540 Flash Array

UCB Accelerates Clinical Data Analysis with NetApp EF540 Flash Array

UCB, a Brussels‑based global biopharmaceutical with about 9,000 employees and €3.4 billion in revenue, needed a reliable, high‑performance storage environment to keep up with rapidly growing clinical data volumes and to speed SAS‑based analyses that drive drug approvals and publications. The company sought a solution that would deliver both much faster processing and near‑continuous availability for critical clinical studies.

UCB deployed NetApp EF540 flash arrays (connected via FCP SAN to eight blade servers) in partnership with NetApp, moving from traditional storage to all‑flash. The new environment delivered dramatically faster analytics—up to 20× in some workloads—along with improved availability and failover, easier scaling, reduced costs, and a clear roadmap toward hybrid‑cloud and broader flash adoption.

UCB

Herman De Prins

CIO