Chugai Moves Device Management to the Cloud with Intune & Entra ID enabling a Hybrid Work Environment

Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. positions digital transformation (DX) as a key driver of its growth strategy and promotes its strategy. One core activity was the shift of device management from on-premises to the cloud.

When it came time to replace PCs during the Coronavirus pandemic, Chugai was faced with reduced operational efficiency and increased infection risks, as conventional on-premises management required employees working on device provisioning at the office. This created the urgent need to move away from on-premises device management.

A new way of working (smart work) started in 2021, characterized as "a highly flexible work style adapted to the unique jobs, type of work, and organizational characteristics" in tandem with adoption of the modern management approach proposed by Microsoft. This promotes the digitalization of work and realizes cloud-native device management in anticipation of the company-wide establishment of hybrid work after the Coronavirus pandemic.

Chugai’s goal is to enable hybrid work where each person autonomously combines telecommuting and work-at-home work. They have built a cloud-based device management system centered on Microsoft Intune and Microsoft Entra ID to simplify operations, speed troubleshooting and optimize costs.

Accelerating DX to become the "Top Innovator in the Healthcare Industry”

Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is addressing the challenges of effective treatments for as-of-yet unmet medical needs. Chugai is currently positioned as No. 1 for the largest domestic market share* of oncology and antibody medicines that act on abnormal cells with pinpoint accuracy. Since its establishment in 1925, Chugai has been committed to "creating medicines that benefit the world.” This "desire" has expanded internationally starting a strategic alliance with the global pharmaceutical company Roche in 2002.

The company is aiming to become the "top innovator in the healthcare industry" by 2030. Chugai announced its growth strategy to achieve this goal in 2021 called "TOP I 2030". Two pillars are ‘realizing the world's highest level of drug discovery'' and ‘building an advanced business model’, specifying the use of digital technology for both, and positioning DX as one of the key drivers. In January 2022, the Digital Transformation Unit was established across the company to promote DX.

The difficulties during Corona as the background for introduction of modern management

An essential issue of on-premises-based device management is that it is assumed that company-issued PCs and tablets will be used within the company. Chugai was timed to replace company-supplied PCs and smartphones in 2020, right at the beginning of the pandemic.

Ishido explains as follows saying, “In the face of social demands to avoid crowds, how could we distribute new devices and retrieve old ones? At the time, the only option we could offer employees was to say, 'Come in to handle things.’ This difficult experience eventually led us to consider device administration in the cloud with modern management.”

Chugai has long responded to the diverse work styles of employees, in areas such as childcare, nursing care, and other work styles that suit their circumstances, including voluntary choice of work location. Remote work was expanded to include all employees and has continued even after the pandemic.

Many tasks at research or production sites require workers to come to the office, making remote work difficult for them. However, the company is responding to requests to allow remote work from its frontline departments by promoting business process innovation using smartphones and tablets. One example is using a smartphone camera to operate work systemswhile showing the scenefrom a remote environment.

Yohei Matsuzaka, Senior Manager, Digital Transformation Unit, IT Solutions Department, Platform Service Group, explains more details of the decision saying, “If we don't implement modern management by 2024, we will continue to manage devices by the traditional way until 2028, when they will be replaced. We thought it ideal to not miss this opportunity to further accelerate DX for 'TOP I 2030' and make a significant contribution to achieving our 2030 goals.”

Simplifying operations with best practices from Microsoft

Modern Management is a method of administrating and operating devices regardless of where they are located, centered on the cloud-based endpoint solution Microsoft Intune (Intune) and the identity solution Microsoft Entra ID (Entra ID).

Matsuzaka explains why they chose Microsoft's integrated solution rather than other approaches (a method of maximizing operational efficiency and performance by combining systems and applications provided by different companies) as follows.

"The use of multiple tools complicates operations and increases possible delays in responding to problems. We have always used on-premises Active Directory. The cloud-based Entra ID also works with a variety of internal services with single sign-on and Conditional Access. Given these advantages, it was a priority to leverage Microsoft's best practices for Entra ID."

Chugai has previously used non-Intune tools for mobile application management (MAM) and mobile device management (MDM). The vendors providing support were all different, which sometimes caused problems due to lack of coordination. Matsuzaka added, "Integrating Intune will allow uniform business management and speed up troubleshooting.”

Against this backdrop, the company switched from Microsoft 365 E3 to the enhanced zero-trust security offered by Microsoft 365 E5, and its integrated third-party tools which comprehensively utilize Microsoft licenses, thereby enhancing security.

However, with more than several hundred applications in use, how could migration to modern management be handled smoothly? Chugai built an environment equivalent to the production configuration, distributed PCs for verification to key personnel in each department and conducted a PoC (proof of concept).

The project was officially launched once it was confirmed that there were no major issues. However, Takayuki Mori, Digital Transformation Unit, IT Solutions Department, Platform Service Group recalls, “We started discussing technical details from the very beginning, and we were not sure if we had really covered all the necessary considerations."

Creation of a blueprint to eliminate latent concerns

Neither the company nor the System Integrator had sufficient skill sets or know-how to handle the transition to modern management. The blueprint, used to form a common understanding with customers by the Intune product development team at Microsoft's U.S. headquarters, was the turning point in dispelling lingering vague apprehension.

With Microsoft's support, the project team held workshops and organized business requirements. The requirements were then broken down into the devices, technologies, and functions necessary to meet those requirements, resulting in the creation of Chugai’s blueprint.

Mori highly appreciates Microsoft's support, saying, "Through this process, we were able to see the right direction to proceed. The blueprint created at that time gave us an overall systematic view for the implementation of modern management. It also provided a baseline to ensure that the project would proceed smoothly and reliably.

Mori also says the following about Microsoft's Unified Support assistance. "Unified Support allows for unlimited inquiries, so their prompt responses and troubleshooting to our technical issues, especially around device kitting, contributed to a smooth deployment with no general impact on the schedule.”

Chugai has deployed 10,400 Windows PCs for all employees and contractors from April to August of 2024. Alongside the introduction of tools necessary for modern management, migration from Windows 10 to Windows 11 is being conducted at the same time as the PC switchover. One of the PC procurement requirements for this major update was the use of Windows Autopilot, which automates initial provisioning and configuration of the company's Windows devices (known as ‘kitting’) via the cloud and the Internet. This eliminates the time and effort of manual kitting.

The vendor decided to provision Chugai’s Windows PCs using Autopilot to meet these requirements for its notebooks and Microsoft Surface devices. Those were delivered not only to offices nationwide, but devices could also be shipped directly to the homes of the users who requested it.

Ishido commented on the benefits of this service saying, “Users only need to connect their distributed PCs to the Internet and turn them on to start registration automatically. That eliminates the need to come all the way to the office for ID authentication, a convenience that was unthinkable before. We also no longer need to set aside space for kitting.”

The deployment of 8,500 company-issued iPhones for selected employees was conducted from January to March 2024. These iPhones are already managed by Intune. Ishido adds, “We use iPhones in our daily work, mainly for communication with Outlook, Microsoft Teams, etc. We use the chat function in Microsoft Teams among team members, rather than calling when we communicate.

New services connected through modern management

The operational benefits of implementing modern management have already begun to emerge. Matsuzaka explains, “The deployment of Microsoft 365 E5 as the core system has eliminated the need for multiple existing tools, resulting in cost savings. We no longer have to deal with end-of-life (EOL) issues, such as end of support or version upgrades, greatly reducing for the time it takes to manage the device.”

What is the next step in achieving modern management to support hybrid work? Mori cites the introduction of Windows 365 for Cloud PCs as the way forward. “We are already using a virtual desktop environment, mainly for our outsourced employees, but also for employees dispatched overseas. We have configured modern management based on Intune and Entra ID with a focus on physical PCs, but Windows 365 is a good match for these solutions. So, we believe we can achieve further management and cost benefits by migrating existing virtual desktop environments to Windows 365.”

The use of generative AI and Microsoft 365 Copilot has become a hot topic for improving the productivity and creativity of all employees.

In this regard, Masumi Sato, Digital Transformation Unit, IT Solutions Department, Platform Service Group, says, "We conducted a trial with 340 employees for four months from April 2024. We have seen a good number of people making the most of hybrid work with Teams, getting summaries of meetings they were unable to attend, and so on with Microsoft 365 Copilot. When surveyed after the trial, more than 95% of the respondents said they would like to continue using the service. We are now preparing for a company-wide rollout.”

Chugai is also developing a grassroots effort to expand staff use of data in the field based on DX.

Sato says, “We have employees with IT knowledge and skills in all of our offices, laboratories, and factories. By using the Microsoft Power Platform, a low-code development tool, we can expand the field-led utilization of data without limits, as exemplified by the automation of workflows. We are in the process of discussing development ideas that make the most of the front-line perspective.

The adoption of cloud-native mobile management is the foundation for new values, such as cloud PCs, generative AI, and our grassroots development."

Microsoft will work together with Chugai Pharmaceutical on the provision of technology and services to realize the company’s goal of becoming a "top innovator in the healthcare industry."