Summary
Biotest AG is a global medical company specializing in innovative hematology, clinical immunology and intensive care medicine. They develop, manufacture and market plasma proteins and biotherapeutic drugs.
In business for more than 75 years and headquartered in Dreieich, Germany, the company’s largest markets are in the European Union and Brazil. They currently have more than 2,000 employees.
Doing business in international markets, different regions’ privacy regulations are a natural concern for the company’s operations. However, Markus Hagena, Consultant Application, Web & Cloud Services, Corporate IT, noted that “in all countries we operate in, the GDPR seems to be stricter than the possible local regulations. So focusing on being compliant with the GDPR meets the highest standards.”
This focus has provided a strong foundation for Biotest’s privacy compliance initiatives and helped direct what they were looking for in a Consent Management solution. Biotest started working with Usercentrics in early 2021, and currently uses the Usercentrics Web CMP on over 40 websites.
Challenge
Biotest wanted to ensure that they were transparent with customers about how their data is used, while providing clear choices about that processing. Consent rates have value to the company, but regulatory compliance is their primary concern.
From a technical standpoint, they wanted one system for the CMP to cover all of their websites, even with complex needs in implementation. The company also wanted to ensure maximum security of their local infrastructure and “avoid the need for a local server that has to go through a firewall or has to be in a DMZ”.
Goals
Easy implementation and comprehensive functionality
Get the CMP installed and up and running as quickly and easily as possible. Make use of the CMP’s features to ensure all services in use on the websites are detected and classified.
Flexible and user-friendly configuration
Ensure that even non-technical staff can implement and customize the CMP, as well as ensure ongoing privacy compliance as regulations and web technologies evolve, while saving the company time and resources.
Strong support
Solid and ongoing collaboration, with guaranteed high availability and responsiveness, and solutions that solve customer issues quickly.
Peace of mind with regulatory compliance
Meet GDPR requirements — and any other relevant regulations — for consent and data security, reducing legal risk and ensuring the company’s web properties stay online.
Making It Work Together
Markus Hagena, Biotest’s Consultant Application, Web & Cloud Services, Corporate IT, talked to us further about the company’s priorities, implementing the Usercentrics CMP, and key benefits they’ve seen.
Well supported
Hagena noted the value of Usercentrics’ “contractually guaranteed high availability” and has also appreciated receiving “very good support so far”.
Performance and optimization
Biotest implemented a privacy wall with a number of customizations, like links, colors and buttons. They had more sophisticated needs in the back end system. Hagena noted a benefit of Usercentrics’ CMP was that “only one system is needed to provide a CMP for a multitude of websites (even if they rely on completely different technologies).”
Save time and work
Hagena noted the ease of implementation, even with third-party hosting for many of their websites. Their team also found the DPS Scanner and other tools invaluable. “Recommendations for classifications (analytical/functional/strictly necessary) and readily available descriptions of well-known cookies and services are provided by the system,” saving a lot of manual effort and helping ensure nothing gets missed.
Security and optimization today and tomorrow
Regulatory compliance is the company’s main concern, and “we lowered the risk for using data without consent significantly”. He also commented that while Biotest is not yet using the CMP for apps, they “probably will be soon”.
