Upsher Smith – IP Telephony

Upsher-Smith looked to N'compass for building infrastructure and voice, video and network expertise when they embarked on a new corporate campus in Maple Grove. Upsher-Smith's entire staff was working diligently to accomplish aggressive business goals; the Management Information Systems (MIS) department was being tasked to implement new enterprise requirements planning software (SAP); and the new corporate building was on the drawing board at an accelerated schedule, all contributing to an overextension of the company's internal resources.

Upsher-Smith is a large pharmaceutical company with their own research and development department, manufacturing division, and sales and marketing department. They know how to take drugs to market, and their business areas and product launches drive their technology. Technology works in conjunction with the business requirements and the highly regulated environment requires more proactive planning and attention to detail. The technology solution for the new corporate headquarters had to take the forward-thinking pharmaceutical company into its next evolution.

Upsher-Smith's growth projection to quadruple revenue by 2010 affected both business and manufacturing processes, requiring an upgrade to the corporate office and the connections to manufacturing plants located in Denver and Plymouth. They needed someone to guide them in determining their technology requirements to accomplish their business goals, translate those business requirements into technical designs and bid documents, determine the best solution, and manage the installation and construction coordination.

N'compass conducted a series of interviews of key personnel in the Executive offices, Sales and Marketing, Finance, Administration, and Information Technology in order to assess Upsher-Smith's current technology, user requirements, and business objectives. Much of the demand to upgrade technology was driven by the company's Sales and Marketing team, a group of 250+ people who sell directly to physicians and pharmacists.

N'compass then performed a Needs Assessment of the current data center, cable infrastructure and voice systems, reviewed Upsher-Smith's business objectives, and created an initial budget, high-level design and assumptions. The Needs Assessment Findings revealed that the current systems would not support their ambitious business requirements.

In order for Upsher-Smith to accomplish their aggressive growth plans, N'compass recommended an IP-Enabled PBX and IP trunking between buildings; a network between all three sites in order to provide centralized 4-digit dialing, centralized trunking and voice mail; and ACD functionality and a Call Accounting System.

Once Upsher-Smith had all of the pertinent information in front of them„business requirements, needs assessment findings, recommendations and budget numbers—N'compass provided the expertise and knowledge transfer to assist in their decision-making.

After the technology priorities were established, N'compass developed the technical designs and bid documents, managed the bid process, and assisted Upsher-Smith is choosing the best vendors for the job. Once vendors were hired, N'compass served as the central point of contact—managing the installation of the voice system and cable infrastructure. Ensuring that specifications were met during the installation was important to Upsher-Smith and allowed them to focus on the demands of their day-to-day business operations.

COMPANY OVERVIEW
Founded in 1919, Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc. is a rapidly growing, fully integrated pharmaceutical company and a recognized leader in the sales and marketing of cardiovascular and dermatological products. The company develops, manufactures and markets prescription pharmaceutical products and is actively involved in licensing innovative compounds that are in clinical development. Over the last 85 years, Upsher-Smith has grown and expanded to become one of the top 100 largest pharmaceutical companies in the US.

PROJECT OVERVIEW
In 2001, at a time when most companies were cutting back or downsizing, the privately-held pharmaceutical company was projecting to quadruple revenue by 2010. With space becoming an issue and their lease coming up for renewal in May 2003, it was a great time for Upsher-Smith to build a new corporate headquarters to take them into the future.

The new corporate campus at 6701 Evenstad Drive in Maple Grove was completed in July 2003, and the company took occupancy in September 2003. The new campus is a 3-story, 180,000 square foot facility that includes a 1,200 square foot data center with 400 additional square feet of raised floor expansion space. Future plans for the campus include two additions to the 6701 Evenstad Drive facility and two more buildings on the site.