Ascend: pharmaceutical technology with a global presence
Laboratorios Ascend is a subsidiary of Alkem Laboratories, a high-technology pharmaceutical company headquartered in Mumbai, India. Operating across five continents in over 50 countries with 21 manufacturing facilities, the company stands out globally for its excellence and innovation in the healthcare sector.
With highly regulated, tech-driven operations, the organization has been accelerating its digital transformation. In Chile, the Ascend subsidiary structured a strategic project to align its local operation with the parent company's global standards — including a major migration to SAP S/4HANA —, demanding strict compliance and robust cybersecurity posture.
Compliance and Global Standardization Challenges
To align the Chilean subsidiary with global corporate standards and pass rigorous international audits, Ascend needed to translate complex corporate guidelines into the local regulatory landscape.
Key challenges identified by Ascend’s management team included:
- Adopting and deploying platforms, procedures, and technology frameworks established by the headquarters in Mumbai;
- Ensuring regulatory compliance and aligning internal procedures with Chile's local legal framework;compliance) and align internal procedures with Chile’s regulatory framework;
- Closing cybersecurity gaps identified by external assessments and bringing vulnerability indicators down to zero within 12 months;
- Providing a secure, stable environment to support the critical SAP S/4HANA ERP deployment.
The Solution: Strategic Partnership and Virtual CISO Model
Faced with these technical and regulatory complexities, Ascend sought a partner capable of moving beyond theoretical advice to deliver practical execution, close collaboration, and trust.
Partnering with Conversys, Ascend found the expertise required to establish security policies, deploy technical controls, and elevate its overall cybersecurity maturity.
"For us, the Virtual CISO service truly reflects the purpose for which it was created: accompanying the client from gap identification to remediation, implementing better controls, and building a stronger cybersecurity posture." — Iber López, Business Transformation Manager at Laboratorios Ascend.
Project Execution & Conversys Approach
1. Project Execution & Conversys Approach
The initiative began by building an internal regulatory umbrella, establishing usage policies and governance rules that balanced corporate guidelines with local compliance requirements.
2. Platform & Control Implementation
Conversys worked side-by-side with Laboratorios Ascend's technical team to deploy required software, hardware, and standard methodologies, securing the infrastructure ahead of the SAP migration and resolving identified vulnerabilities.
3. Continuous Support & Staff Training
Conversys’s involvement extended beyond technical delivery to include ongoing training programs, empowering both technical teams and staff to understand the organization’s cybersecurity roadmap.
Tangible Results & Audit-Verified Satisfaction
One year after initiating the Virtual CISO service and control rollout, Laboratorios Ascend underwent a comprehensive follow-up audit conducted by the parent company's external auditors. The findings demonstrated remarkable progress, satisfying corporate requirements and elevating the Chilean subsidiary's security maturity.
"We set out to find a vendor to help us with a very specific technology deployment, and what we found was a trusted partner." — Iber López.
Conversys: The Ideal Partner for Complex Tech & Security Initiatives
With operations across Brazil, Latin America, the United States, and Europe, Conversys has been delivering high-value Information & Communications Technology (ICT) solutions for nearly a decade. Driven by multidisciplinary, highly certified teams, we design and execute projects tailored to our clients' real business needs. To learn more about our solutions and services, explore our website or get in touch with the Conversys team.
To find out more about our solutions and services, browse our website or go to contact with Time Conversys.