A big change is coming for pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Two major customer relationship management (CRM) providers, Salesforce and Veeva, will split in the future. Even though this split is years away, companies need to start thinking about which one they will choose now. Both Salesforce and Veeva have been improving their services to attract drugmakers. Veeva released its Vault CRM Suite in April 2024, and Salesforce updated its Life Sciences Cloud this month with better artificial intelligence (AI). Ernie Payne, a senior vice president at a consulting firm, says companies need to make this decision years before the official split in September 2030. In a recent poll, 40% of readers said they plan to stick with Salesforce, while 25% said they will work with Veeva. Payne believes both providers should focus on the needs of all drugmakers, not just the largest ones. Choosing a CRM is more than just loyalty to a brand. Companies need to think about what each provider can do for them. Payne suggests that this is a good time to improve processes and get better buy-in from stakeholders. For Tim White, the chief digital and technology officer at GSK, a CRM is a critical part of a sales team’s infrastructure. GSK made an early decision to go with Veeva’s Vault. White says a CRM should help manage relationships with customers effectively. According to Payne, about 20% of companies have fully migrated to a new CRM, 30% have made a decision but haven’t started the work, 30% are evaluating different solutions, and 20% are still monitoring the market. Smaller companies may struggle to meet deadlines if they don’t start soon. Payne warns that if companies don’t plan for this right away, they may face problems later. White and his team at GSK needed a platform that allowed them to continue their work seamlessly. Their long relationship with Veeva drove their decision to be an early mover. GSK will be fully migrated by the end of the year, allowing them to focus on how to use the platform to their advantage. Both Salesforce and Veeva are adapting to customer needs and will likely look similar in the future. Payne says both providers are developing new solutions beyond traditional CRM. However, companies that haven’t migrated yet won’t be able to access much of this innovation. The competition is pushing both providers to develop the best possible platform. Payne hopes providers won’t release anything until it’s ready, as using drugmakers for a software test case can have serious impacts. He cautions both providers to pressure-test what they have before it goes out.