Document Audit Trail Formula Fields Limited to State and State Type in 24R3

Document audit trail formula fields are defined as document fields and can be used to perform cycle time calculations for documents within reports. Certain functions available including DurationInValue(), NumTimesInValue(), FirstTimeInValue(), LastTimeInValue() and PreviousValue() work by querying a Vault’s audit trail to retrieve historical data. Starting in 24R3, these functions will only work for the Document Status (State) and the Document State Type fields. This change is being made to improve the scalability of Vault’s audit trail.

Notice: Encryption Algorithm for FDA and EMA Gateway Submissions

Notice: To enhance the security of gateway submissions for Vault Submission Publishing customers, in 24R2, Vault will update the Encryption Algorithm field on the US FDA Async ESG and EU EMA ESUB Gateway Profiles from Triple-DES (3DES) to AES-256-GCM.

Currently, the default value is Triple-DES (3DES) when no selection is made. In 24R2, the default value will be changed to AES-256-GCM if no selection is made. Veeva advises customers to proactively update their Encryption Algorithm to AES-256-GCM before the 24R2 release if they desire to do so. Changing of the default Encryption Algorithm does not require an update with the agency.

User-based Application License Enforcement

Currently, it is possible for a user’s Security Profile and Permission Set to provide permissions to perform activities that aren’t in line with the user’s application license. In 24R3, User license limits will be enforced on Vaults of product families with user-based licensing.

All Vault families are subject to this change except for the following:

  • Clinical Data
  • Clinical Operations

In 24R2, warning banners will be presented to end-users when performing actions in the UIs that are not allowed with their application license settings. For instance, a user editing a Quality Event record with a read-only QMS application license assignment will see a warning banner. In addition, administrators will have access to a report listing which end-users have licensing exceptions.

In 24R3, access will be enforced at the UIs and APIs level based on application license settings. A resource such as an object record or a UI Tab cannot be accessed if the application license does not allow it.

Sandboxing Allowance & Data Enforcement

Data Limit Enforcement

Vault introduced Sandbox Sizes in 23R1. Existing customers prior to 23R1 received warnings when the data on a Sandbox went over the size limit of the Sandbox. 

Starting September 2024, Vault will start enforcing data limits for all Sandboxes. If a Sandbox is over its limit, no new data or content will be allowed to be added to the Sandbox.

Sandbox Allowance Enforcement

For Production Vaults where we have granted customers additional temporary sandboxes on top of their Sandbox limit (often for projects that only need these vaults for a specific period of time), we are updating our terms of use to allow Veeva to delete sandboxes that have surpassed their expiration date, starting in September 2024.

23R3

10-Minute Upgrades

Starting with the 23R3 release, production Vaults will be unavailable for ten (10) minutes within a two (2) hour period. If users are logged in to Vault, they will receive a warning before the ten (10) minute downtime occurs so they have the opportunity to save any in-progress work.

User-based Application License Enforcement

Currently, it is possible for a user’s Security Profile and Permission Set to provide permissions to perform activities that aren’t in line with the user’s application license. In 24R3, User license limits will be enforced on Vaults of product families with user-based licensing.

All Vault families are subject to this change except for the following:

  • Clinical Data
  • Clinical Operations

In 24R2, warning banners will be presented to end-users when performing actions in the UIs that are not allowed with their application license settings. For instance, a user editing a Quality Event record with a read-only QMS application license assignment will see a warning banner. In addition, administrators will have access to a report listing which end-users have licensing exceptions.

In 24R3, access will be enforced at the UIs and APIs level based on application license settings. A resource such as an object record or a UI Tab cannot be accessed if the application license does not allow it.

RIM-PromoMats - Content Plan Creation & Document Matching Performance Improvements

With the 23R3 release, the RIM-PromoMats Express Matching feature flag is now available and will be auto-on in 24R1.

Submission Content Plans created by the RIM-PromoMats Connection will now be created as Inactive by default. After documents are auto-matched and locked to the Content Plan, the Content Plan Items with matches and their parent Items will automatically be activated.

The connection will no longer be inactivating 2,000+ CPIs on each Content Plan created by the connection.  The intent here is to improve the performance of the connection.

With the 23R3 Release, all existing PromoMats Vaults without Text Asset records will have the Enhanced Suggest Links feature enabled by default and the Vault Platform Suggest Links feature will no longer be available.

With the 24R1 Release, all PromoMats and Medical Vaults will have the Enhanced Suggest Links feature enabled and the Vault Platform Suggest Links feature will no longer be available.

Veeva Snap Deprecation

The Veeva Snap iOS mobile app will be removed from the Apple App Store with the 23R3 release. Users who already have the app downloaded can continue to use it through 24R1, but support for Snap officially ends in 23R3.

The Vault Mobile app includes the same document scanning and upload functionality, and we encourage customers to transition to Vault Mobile as Veeva Snap support ends.

FDA Sync Gateway Deprecating for RIM Publishing Customers

The us_fda_esg__v gateway will be deprecated in 24R1 for RIM Publishing customers. All customers should use the FDA async gateway. During 23R3, activation and creation of new Sync gateway connections will be blocked.

Binder Limits

Starting in 24R1, clearly documented and enforced limits for Vault binders will be delivered to ensure good performance. With these limits in place, binders can be used in a predictable and easy to understand way.

Binder Size Limits

  • Binders will be limited to 50,000 nodes. A node is an element within a binder. A node can be a binder, a document, or a section If a binder reaches this limit, binder nodes cannot be added, but they can be deleted. 
  • A binder cannot be versioned or copied if it has a total size of 10,000 nodes or more.

If your Vault currently has binders with 7,000 nodes or more, your Veeva representative will notify you of their IDs. Veeva recommends updating your business processes to prevent binders from accumulating over 10,000 nodes.

Starting in 24R1, these changes will apply to all Vaults. Existing binders exceeding 10,000 nodes will not be able to be copied or versioned. Binders with over 50,000 nodes will be prevented from adding new nodes, but existing nodes will still be able to be deleted.

Binder Reporting

In 24R1, binder reporting behavior will change: Sub-binders will be recognized as documents, and documents within a sub-binder will not count towards the parent binder’s document count:

Binder Reporting Example

Document Templates Limits

Starting in 24R1, limits on the number of active and inactive document templates will be enforced to ensure reliable document templates performance. Each Vault will have a limit of 5,000 document templates per Vault, 500 document templates per document type hierarchy, and Base document type will have a limit of 50 document templates. A document type hierarchy limit includes all of the document templates in a classification, its parent subtype, and its parent document type.

For example, consider the following document type hierarchy with document templates:

Base Document (20) > VPS Adverse Event Report Document (300) > eDMR (150) > Attachment (50)

This example document type hierarchy has 500 total document templates, so a user will be prevented from adding another document template to any of the above categories.

Your Veeva representative will notify you if your Vault has over 4,000 document templates, if any of your document type hierarchies have over 400, or if your Base document type has over 40. Veeva recommends updating your business processes to prevent the number of document templates from exceeding either limit.

These limits will apply to all Vaults starting in 24R1. If your Vault exceeds 5,000 document templates, users will be prevented from creating document templates until the Vault has less than 5,000. If any document type hierarchy in your Vault exceeds 500 document templates, then users will be prevented from creating document templates within that hierarchy, but they can still create document templates in hierarchies that do not exceed the 500 limit. If your Vault has 50 document templates at the Base document type, then new document types cannot be added to Base.

23R2

With the 23R2 release, the Enhanced Suggest Links feature is enabled on all new PromoMats Vaults, and the Vault Platform Suggest Links feature will not be available on such Vaults.

With the 23R3 Release, all existing PromoMats Vaults without Text Asset records will have the Enhanced Suggest Links feature enabled by default and the Vault Platform Suggest Links feature will no longer be available.

With the 24R1 Release, all PromoMats Vaults will have the Enhanced Suggest Links feature enabled and the Vault Platform Suggest Links feature will no longer be available.

Auto-on Portal User Interface Update

In the 23R3 release, the updated Portal User Interface which was made available in 23R1 will be enabled on all PromoMats and Medical Vaults. Learn more about the updated user interface and how to enable it ahead of 23R3.

Record Detail Page Changes

In the 23R3 release, the following changes will be made to the Record Detail Page:

  • Lifecycle Stages: The lifecycle stages image will move. It will be slightly repositioned, and pinned above the sections, staying in place as the page scrolls. 
  • Sharing Settings: This is currently a separate page that does not display the record name. In the 23R3 release, the record name will be displayed and, in the following release, it will be a section. Users will be able to see the relevant record in the title area while they set record sharing permissions.

In addition, Admins will be able to group relevant sections, so users can view fewer sections at a time. Admins will also be able to create multiple layouts to show a record in different views for different users.

Veeva Snap Deprecation

The Veeva Snap iOS mobile app will be deprecated and removed from the Apple App Store with the 23R3 Vault release. The 22R3 release of the Vault Mobile app introduced the same document scanning and upload functionality, and we encourage customers to transition to the Vault Mobile app as Veeva Snap support ends.

Digital Trials Platform Release Impact Assessment & What’s New

SiteVault, Site Connect, Veeva eConsent, and Veeva ePRO are documented in the Digital Trials Platform Release Impact Assessment (available June 16). SiteVault, Veeva eConsent, and Veeva ePRO features are included in the Digital Trial’s What’s New in 23R2 (available July 7). Site Connect features are included in Vault’s What’s New in 23R2 (available July 10).

FDA Sync Gateway Deprecating for RIM Publishing Customers

The us_fda_esg__v gateway will be deprecated in 24R1 for RIM Publishing customers. All customers should use the FDA async gateway. During 23R3, activation and creation of new Sync gateway connections will be blocked.

Vault Station Manager Mobile App iOS & Android Operating System Support

The Android version of the Vault Station Manager mobile app will not be certified or supported on Android Operating System (OS) version 8.x as of the 23R2 release.

Additionally, as of the 23R2 release, the Android version of the Station Manager mobile app will only be supported on the latest Android OS version through two (2) previous major versions.

The iOS version of the Station Manager mobile app will continue to only be supported on the latest iOS version through one (1) previous major version. See more details about supported OS versions for the Station Manager mobile app.

Binder Limits

Starting in 24R1, clearly documented and enforced limits for Vault binders will be delivered to ensure good performance. With these limits in place, binders can be used in a predictable and easy to understand way.

Binder Size Limits

  • Binders will be limited to 50,000 nodes. A node is an element within a binder. A node can be a binder, a document, or a section If a binder reaches this limit, binder nodes cannot be added, but they can be deleted. 
  • A binder cannot be versioned or copied if it has a total size of 10,000 nodes or more.

If your Vault currently has binders with 7,000 nodes or more, your Veeva representative will notify you of their IDs. Veeva recommends updating your business processes to prevent binders from accumulating over 10,000 nodes.

Starting in 24R1, these changes will apply to all Vaults. Existing binders exceeding 10,000 nodes will not be able to be copied or versioned. Binders with over 50,000 nodes will be prevented from adding new nodes, but existing nodes will still be able to be deleted.

Binder Reporting

In 24R1, binder reporting behavior will change: Sub-binders will be recognized as documents, and documents within a sub-binder will not count towards the parent binder’s document count:

Binder Reporting Example

Document Templates Limits

Starting in 24R1, limits on the number of active and inactive document templates will be enforced to ensure reliable document templates performance. Each Vault will have a limit of 5,000 document templates per Vault, 500 document templates per document type hierarchy, and Base document type will have a limit of 50 document templates. A document type hierarchy limit includes all of the document templates in a classification, its parent subtype, and its parent document type.

For example, consider the following document type hierarchy with document templates:

Base Document (20) > VPS Adverse Event Report Document (300) > eDMR (150) > Attachment (50)

This example document type hierarchy has 500 total document templates, so a user will be prevented from adding another document template to any of the above categories.

Your Veeva representative will notify you if your Vault has over 4,000 document templates, if any of your document type hierarchies have over 400, or if your Base document type has over 40. Veeva recommends updating your business processes to prevent the number of document templates from exceeding either limit.

These limits will apply to all Vaults starting in 24R1. If your Vault exceeds 5,000 document templates, users will be prevented from creating document templates until the Vault has less than 5,000. If any document type hierarchy in your Vault exceeds 500 document templates, then users will be prevented from creating document templates within that hierarchy, but they can still create document templates in hierarchies that do not exceed the 500 limit. If your Vault has 50 document templates at the Base document type, then new document types cannot be added to Base.

Display Format

The 23R2 feature Display Format allows Admins to configure a format mask for text and number field types. This format mask determines how a user’s input will be displayed in the Vault UI, and is different from the raw value they entered. For example, Admins can configure a mask to display a text field value as a phone number (123-456-7890), or a number field value as a percentage (25%).

This configuration is possible for all custom fields in 23R2, and will be possible for most standard and system fields in 23R3.

23R1

Veeva Snap Deprecation

The Veeva Snap iOS mobile app will be deprecated and removed from the Apple App Store with the 23R3 Vault release. The 22R3 release of the Vault Mobile app introduced the same document scanning and upload functionality, and we encourage customers to transition to the Vault Mobile app as Veeva Snap support ends.

Digital Trials Platform Release Impact Assessment & What’s New

SiteVault, Site Connect, Veeva eConsent, and Veeva ePRO are documented in the Digital Trials Platform Release Impact Assessment (available February 24). SiteVault, Veeva eConsent, and Veeva ePRO features are included in the Digital Trial’s What’s New in 23R1 (available March 17). Site Connect features are included in Vault’s What’s New in 23R1 (available March 20th).

Vault Station Manager Mobile App iOS & Android Operating System Support

The Android version of the Vault Station Manager mobile app will not be certified or supported on Android Operating System (OS) version 8.x as of the 23R2 release.

Additionally, as of the 23R2 release, the Android version of the Station Manager mobile app will only be supported on the latest Android OS version through two (2) previous major versions.

The iOS version of the Station Manager mobile app will continue to only be supported on the latest iOS version through one (1) previous major version. See more details about supported OS versions for the Station Manager mobile app.

New Registration Object Types in All RIM Vaults

In 23R1 (22R3.4), the following Registration (registration__rim) object types are added to all RIM Vaults:

  • Investigational Vet Device Registration (investigational_vet_device_registrati__v)
  • Investigational Vet Drug Registration (investigational_vet_drug_registration__v)
  • Marketed Vet Device (marketed_vet_device_registration__v)
  • Marketed Vet Drug (marketed_vet_drug_registration__v)

These object types are in place for a future enhancement. In the meantime, RIM Vault Admins should update them to Inactive to ensure they do not appear in lists, as they do not have an assigned registration scope.

22R3

Vault Loader: Allow Picklist as Unique Field for Upsert

The 23R3.2 Limited Release introduced an enhancement which allows Admins to select picklist fields in the Key Field drop-down when upserting object records. Because the Vault Loader UI always uses the most recent API version, this change also affects Loader jobs created in the Vault UI in General Release Vaults on version 22R3.0.

30-minute Upgrade

Production Vaults will be unavailable for approximately 30-minutes while being upgraded. Immediately prior to the Vault being unavailable, active users will be notified and have time to complete their work. Once your Vault has been upgraded, users will see a “What’s New” notification in the notifications area. Sandbox Vaults will continue to be unavailable for the duration of the maintenance window.

VQL Query Governor

To ensure Vault stability and performance, VQL now enforces constraints on expensive VQL queries. In this release, the FIND clause no longer supports leading wildcards. This change affects API v22.3+, and existing integrations are not affected. Learn more about VQL performance.

Veeva Snap Deprecation

The Veeva Snap iOS mobile app will be deprecated and removed from the Apple App Store by the end of 2023. The 22R3 release of the Vault Mobile app introduces the same document scanning and upload functionality, and we encourage customers to transition to the Vault Mobile app as Veeva Snap support ends.

Admin Tabs & Business Admin Tabs Updates

With the introduction of the Tab Collections feature in the upcoming 23R1 release, the Business Admin tab will be separated from the other Admin tabs as its own tab collection. Users who have permission to view Admin and Business Admin tabs will now access them from a new Tab Collection icon.

Vault will no longer display the existing cog icon for viewing Admin tabs. These enhancements will provide a better user experience for managing data in Business Admin and offer a more consistent feel in viewing different tab collections.

Enablement of Clinical Operations to CDMS Connection Data Deletion Support

With this 22R3 release, the Clinical Operations to CDMS Connection Data Deletion Support will be enabled for all Vaults without an active Clinical Operations to CDMS Connection. Customers will be able to contact Veeva support to turn the deletion feature off.

With the 23R1 release, the Clinical Operations to CDMS Connection Data Deletion feature will be enabled for all customers, and the options to disable will be removed.

FDA Form 2253 Deprecated in Vault RIM

The FDA Form 2253 feature is deprecated in Vault RIM as of 22R3 (22R2.3). The form should be generated in PromoMats and CrossLinked to RIM via the RIM to PromoMats Vault Connection.

New Submissions Archive Viewer Release Plan and Enablement

With the 22R3 release the New Submissions Archive Viewer can be enabled via the New Submissions Archive Viewer setting in the Admin > Settings > Application Settings > Submissions Archive Features. We recommend customers enable the feature in the Sandbox environment and provide user feedback.

With the 23R1 release the New Submissions Archive Viewer will be enabled for all customers, and the option to switch back to the Old Viewer will be removed.

Digital Trials Platform Release Impact Assessment & What’s New

For 22R3 and later releases, features for SiteVault, Site Connect, Veeva eConsent, and Veeva ePRO are now documented in the Digital Trials Platform Release Impact Assessment (available October 3) and What’s New (available October 24).

Study Connect in SiteVault

With the 22R3 release, a new application in SiteVault called Study Connect represents a major update to the Site-side experience around Connected Studies in SiteVault. As part of this update, any documents in Clinical Operations that were received from SiteVault will have their respective Document Link and Document Version Link fields automatically updated.

Additionally, person and organization profile documents will no longer be automatically sent from SiteVault to Vault Clinical. It is recommended that any necessary requests for these document types be added to the appropriate Site Package Definitions.

QualityOne HSE Application Preparation

As preparation for the transition of HSE features to a new HSE Application within QualityOne in 23R1, Admins of existing Vaults using HSE Incident Management may see a new Active User License for HSE listed on the Settings > General Settings page of their Vaults. There is no impact to features or functionality and no action is required.

Vault Station Manager Mobile App iOS & Android Operating System Support

The Android version of the Vault Station Manager mobile app will not be certified or supported on Android Operating System (OS) version 8.x as of the 23R2 release.

Additionally, as of the 23R2 release, the Android version of the Station Manager mobile app will only be supported on the latest Android OS version through two (2) previous major versions.

The iOS version of the Station Manager mobile app will continue to only be supported on the latest iOS version through one (1) previous major version. See more details about supported OS versions for the Station Manager mobile app.

22R2

Admin Tabs & Business Admin Tabs Updates

With the introduction of the Tab Collections feature in the upcoming 23R1 release, the Business Admin tab will be separated from the other Admin tabs as its own tab collection. Users who have permission to view Admin and Business Admin tabs will now access them from a new Tab Collection icon.

Vault will no longer display the existing cog icon for viewing Admin tabs. These enhancements will provide a better user experience for managing data in Business Admin and offer a more consistent feel in viewing different tab collections.

Quality Suite: Quality Event Object Updates

With the 22R2 release, we are removing the following fields from the Quality Event object. If these fields are referenced in any reports, the Vault upgrade task will fail:

  • AR Contact Person (ar_contact_person__v)
  • AR Contact Person’s Details (ar_contact_details__v)
  • Authorized Representative (authorized_representative__v)
  • Importer (importer__v)
  • Importer Contact Details (importer_contact_details__v)
  • Incident - Healthcare Facility (incident_healthcare_facility__v)
  • Manufacturer (manufacturer__v)
  • Manufacturer - Contact Person (manufacturer_contact_person__v)
  • Manufacturer Contact Details (mfg_contact_details__v)
  • Manufacturing Site - Contact Info (mfg_site_contact_info__v)
  • Product Categorization (product_categorization__v)
  • Reporter’s Contact Information (reporter_contact_info__v)
  • Reporter - Occupation (reporter_occupation__v)

Vault Help URLs Changing

With the 22R1 release, we introduced a new Vault Help site and allowed for navigation between it and the Classic Vault Help site. At 22R2, all users will be redirected to the new site. Content on the Classic site is not current and will not be updated any further.

At 22R3, the Classic site will be removed and no longer available. Ensure that all links and bookmarks to the Classic site have been updated to the new Vault Help site.

Vault Connections: User Exception Message Behavior Update

The 22R2 release introduces a change in User Exception Messages behavior. Vault can now generate multiple User Exception Messages for related problems.

This behavior results from scalability work ensuring connections scale with our largest customers. One element of this scalability work is to process connection data and documents in chunks to ensure we don’t overload a Vault. Because data is processed in chunks, if there are object records or documents that fail to transfer in the Vault Connection, Vault creates a User Exception Message for each record or document.

For example, suppose 200 records are processed in two chunks of 100, and five of the records fail to transfer: two in the first chunk and three in the second. This would result in two User Exception Messages, one with the first two User Exception Items and the second with three User Exception Items.

This potentially impacts Vault Connection management. For any user responsible for managing Vault Connections, User Exception Messages should be viewed in proximity to the User Exception Messages of the same type. If there are two or more of the same type in close chronological order they must be evaluated to determine if they were caused by the same issue.

In 22R3, we will enable the ClinOps to CDMS Connection Study Related Data Deletion Support feature, originally released in 21R3, in all ClinOps Vaults that do not have an active ClinOps to CDMS Connection. Without an active ClinOps to CDMS Connection, this change will not impact any other application in the Clinops Vault.

This change only affects customers planning to implement the ClinOps to CDMS Connection on their ClinOps Vault, as the deletion feature will be enabled for them. Customers will be able to contact Veeva support to turn the deletion feature off. We will not change this setting for existing ClinOps to CDMS Connection customers with an active ClinOps to CDMS Connection.

In 23R1, we will remove the deletion flag, and the deletion feature for the ClinOps to CDMS Connection will be turned on for all customers.

Future Release: Inspection Sample Test Result Object Moving to HVO

The Inspection Sample Test Result object in QualityOne, which is used to store test results from an Inspection Sample, is targeted to move to a High Volume object in 22R3 to deliver increased performance and scalability.

22R1

Internet Explorer (IE 11)

With the 22R1 release, Vault will no longer support the Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 browser application. Microsoft has announced IE 11 will be retired on June 15, 2022. Vault customers should explore transitioning to other browser applications in advance of this date. Refer to Vault’s list of supported browsers to identify an appropriate browser to use.

Office Online Support

After the 22R1 release, any documents that are checked out to Office Online™ will no longer be accessible. Documents that are checked out to Office Online can be checked back into Vault only until 22R1.

The Collaborative Authoring with Microsoft Office™ feature replaces this functionality. Collaborative Authoring is more flexible and includes all the functionality of the legacy Check Out to Office Online feature and more. For example, Collaborative Authoring allows users to edit files in native desktop applications, and still allows editing in a browser tab if they work on a machine without Microsoft Office installed.

For customers using the legacy Office Online feature, Veeva is ready to guide you through transitioning to Collaborative Authoring. Learn more about Collaborative Authoring and visit our Resource Hub, which includes demos, setup instructions, FAQs, and more.

The ability for users to check out using the legacy Office Online feature was removed with the 21R2 release.

Yearly SAML/Spark Certificate Rollover

Veeva Vault will now implement a yearly roll over of the signing certificate for SAML Single Sign-on requests and Spark Messaging connections. The information and timeline for the 2022 roll over is available via this link on Trust.

New Vault Help Website

With the 22R1 release, Vault Help now resides here. Users can still access the classic site for 22R1 general release information.

At the 22R1.2 release, classic Vault Help will no longer receive updates. Limited release customers should access the new Vault Help for information on limited release functionality.

The classic Vault Help site URL will redirect to the new Vault Help URL with the 22R2 release.

Customers should update links to the new Vault Help site prior to the 22R2 release.

Future Release: Purchase Order Line Item Object Moving to HVO

The Purchase Order Line Item object in QualityOne, which is used to store items purchased through a Purchase Order, is targeted to move to high volume object in 22R2 to deliver increased performance and scalability.

21R3

Internet Explorer (IE 11)

In the upcoming 22R1 release in April 2022, Vault will no longer support the Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 browser application. Microsoft has announced IE 11 will be retired on June 15, 2022. Vault customers should explore transitioning to other browser applications in advance of this date. Refer to Vault’s list of supported browsers to identify an appropriate browser to use.

Action UI is Standard Vault UI

Action UI is now part of the standard Vault UI. During 21R2, Admins were able to enable or disable Action UI. With the release of 21R3, Vaults that have previously disabled Action UI will be enabled automatically. There is no option to enable or disable it going forward.

For more information about Action UI, visit: https://go.veeva.com/21R2-ActionUI

OneWorkflow

Over the last few releases, we have worked to unify workflows on documents and objects. OneWorkflow on documents (formerly known as multi-document workflows) have become the default workflow on documents for both single and multiple documents. With the OneWorkflow initiative, workflows on documents and workflows on objects have increasingly similar configuration and functionalities, and users are able to interact with them in similar ways.

As we introduce this unified workflow, we will not allow the creation of single-document workflows, found in the Admin > Document Lifecycles > Legacy Workflows configuration tab. While we will not add new features to legacy workflows, we will continue to support all existing legacy workflows. Admins will still be able to edit or update legacy workflows, and users will be able to start and complete them as usual.

2253 Form Generation Support

The 2253 Form Generation feature in RIM will no longer be available to be enabled in Admin Settings. This is no longer part of our best practice, where we now recommend the form to be generated in PromoMats and cross-linked to RIM by the RIM-PromoMats Vault connection. This feature will still work where currently enabled for existing customers, but changes will not be allowed to the configured document type, and the form template will no longer be maintained.

Office Online Support

After the 21R3 release, any documents that are checked out to Office Online™ will no longer be accessible. Documents that are checked out to Office Online can be checked back into Vault only until 21R3.

The Collaborative Authoring with Microsoft Office™ feature replaces this functionality. Collaborative Authoring is more flexible and includes all the functionality of the legacy Check Out to Office Online feature and more. For example, Collaborative Authoring allows users to edit files in native desktop applications, and still allows editing in a browser tab if they work on a machine without Microsoft Office installed.

For customers using the legacy Office Online feature, Veeva is ready to guide you through transitioning to Collaborative Authoring. Learn more about Collaborative Authoring and visit our Resource Hub, which includes demos, setup instructions, FAQs, and more.

The ability for users to check out using the legacy Office Online feature was removed with the 21R2 release.

Deprecating Vault-Wide Document Migration Mode

After the 21R3 release, Vault-wide Document Migration Mode will be deprecated completely.

Instead, use the X-VaultAPI-MigrationMode API header with the Vault REST API’s Create Multiple Documents, Create Multiple Document Versions, Update Multiple Documents, and Add Multiple Document Renditions endpoints, or use Vault Loader with the Document Migration Mode checkbox selected. These methods minimize risk and end-user impact by ensuring that only the documents being created and updated in the API request are subject to migration mode limitations, allowing the rest of the Vault to remain fully operational.

TMF Bot is Auto-on for All Vault eTMF Customers

All Production eTMF Vaults that have more than 1,500 steady state (Approved/Final) documents after 21R3 will have a Trained Model created, trained and deployed. The process of training and deploying this model will take up to 72 hours in some Vaults. Once this Trained Model is deployed, all documents uploaded to the Document Inbox will be evaluated and potentially auto-classified by the TMF Bot.

Click here for more information about the TMF Bot including our Feature Enablement Kit, Overview Webinar, Datasheet and informational videos.

21R2

Internet Explorer (IE 11)

In the upcoming 22R1 release in April 2022, Vault will no longer support the Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 browser application. Microsoft has announced IE 11 will be retired on June 15, 2022. Vault customers should explore transitioning to other browser applications in advance of this date. Refer to Vault’s list of supported browsers for Vault.

Action User Interface (UI)

In 21R2, Vault introduces Action User Interface (UI), a set of UI enhancements that give end-users an enhanced and more productive user experience by helping them perform frequently used actions in fewer clicks. The design is easy to learn, modern, and intuitive.

The Action UI includes several features that users will find familiar and will not require any training:

  • The Action Bar will let users access their frequently used actions with less clicking and scrolling. Vault will continuously learn how each user works and adapt to the user’s individual experience by displaying their most-used actions at the top of the screen, where they will be easily accessible.
  • The Doc Info page will be updated to provide a cleaner and simpler user interface, supporting a more action-oriented experience. Some visual enhancements include:
    • A more organized panel with easier access to common views, such as document properties, related documents, files and attachments, and sharing settings
    • A collapsable and resizable Doc Info fields panel
    • A simpler and more intuitive annotation toolbar
    • Create, edit, reply and resolve comments directly in Info Cards
  • A Notification Badge will provide a familiar notification delivery and display experience to let users see incoming notifications immediately from anywhere in Vault. Users will be able to view messages in fewer clicks, without needing to navigate away from their current task.
  • An update to the Actions menu will replace the gear icon with an ellipsis icon. The ellipsis icon has become a standard symbol for a menu of actions in modern web applications.
  • An updated UI style will give Vault a more modern and clean visual presence while maintaining a familiar Vault user experience, so users will still be able to work in Vault without additional training.
  • Updated comment annotations use new, more distinct colors. The number of available colors is reduced from 12 to 6 to ensure more obvious differentiation between each color. All existing annotations will also display the new colors. Each old color is mapped to one of the new colors by the system, and the new color is applied to the annotation when the page is loaded.

The Action UI is enabled automatically. Customers will have the option to turn off Action UI in advance, directly in their 21R1 production vault starting on June 16, 2021. During 21R2, Admins may use this setting to enable or disable Action UI. From 21R3 onward, Action UI will become part of standard Vault UI. There will be no option to disable it.

Visit the Action UI site for regular updates, webinar recordings, and more information on this collection of enhancements: https://go.veeva.com/21R2-ActionUI

One Workflow

Over the last few releases, we have done work to unify workflow for all documents and objects. Multi-document workflows will become the default document workflow for both single and multiple documents from this release onwards. Existing multi-document workflows and object workflows will not be changed. Both multi-document and object workflows have similar configuration and functionalities, and users will be able to interact with them in similar ways.

As we introduce this unified workflow, we will deprecate single document workflows, found in the Admin > Document Lifecycles > Workflows tab. These will be renamed to Legacy Workflows. We will continue to support existing legacy workflows. Admins will still be able to edit or update these, and users will be able to start and complete them as usual.

In recent releases, we have been enhancing and moving toward multi-document workflows to address any functionality gaps with legacy workflows. We will complete this process by the 21R2 release. After the 21R2 release, legacy workflows will not be available in new vaults. In 2022, Admins will no longer be able to create or copy legacy workflows even in existing vaults. We will only introduce new functionalities for multi-document workflows and object workflows in the future.

Office Online Support

Beginning in the 21R2 release, users will no longer be able to check out using the legacy Office Online™ feature. The Collaborative Authoring with Microsoft Office™ feature replaces this functionality. Collaborative Authoring is more flexible and includes all the functionality of the legacy Check Out to Office Online feature and more. For example, Collaborative Authoring allows users to edit files in native desktop applications, and still allows editing in a browser tab if they work on a machine without Microsoft Office installed.

For customers using the legacy Office Online feature, Veeva is ready to guide you through transitioning to Collaborative Authoring. Learn more about Collaborative Authoring and visit our Resource Hub, which includes demos, setup instructions, FAQs, and more.

Note that documents that are checked out to Office Online after 21R2 can be checked back into Vault only until 21R3. Any Office Online documents not checked in before 21R3 is released will no longer be accessible.

Vault IP Address Changes

Customers should be aware that Vault IP addresses are subject to change. Starting in 21R2, Vault IP addresses will change as part of the upgrade. We recommend all Veeva customers update their DNS caching now so that integrations don’t cache the DNS forever. We also recommend that you configure the DNS TTL value to no more than 60 seconds. This ensures that when a Vault resource IP address changes, your integration will be able to receive and use the new IP address by re-querying the DNS.

Learn more about integration DNS caching changes in the Developer Portal.

Deprecating Vault-Wide Document Migration Mode

In 20R2, we released the X-VaultAPI-MigrationMode API header to replace Vault-wide Document Migration Mode, which was never intended for use in live customer Vaults. In accordance with this, we’ve updated Vault Loader and Vault Certified Migration Partner tools to use the API header. In 21R2, Veeva Support will no longer enable Document Migration Mode for customers. In 21R3, we will deprecate Vault-wide Document Migration Mode completely, meaning that Vaults where Document Migration Mode is currently enabled will revert to normal behavior.

Enabling Document Migration Mode for an entire Vault has an effect on all users and prevents many Vault processes from operating. Instead, use the X-VaultAPI-MigrationMode API header with the Vault REST API’s Create Multiple Documents, Create Multiple Document Versions, Update Multiple Documents, and Add Multiple Document Renditions endpoints, or use Vault Loader with the Document Migration Mode checkbox. This minimizes risk and impact by ensuring that only the documents being created and updated in the API request are subject to migration mode limitations, and allows the rest of the Vault to be fully operational.

Study Startup Country Intelligence Updates

Coinciding with the 21R2 release, Vault Study Startup has reviewed and updated country intelligence (startup requirements) for the following countries:

Argentina Finland Norway
Australia* France Poland
Austria Germany Portugal
Belgium Greece Romania
Bulgaria Hungary Slovakia
China* Ireland Slovenia
Croatia Italy Spain
Czech Republic Latvia Sweden
Denmark Lithuania
Estonia Netherlands

The intelligence has been updated for EEA countries specifically requirements for new trial applications under the EU/CTR Regulation, which is expected to go into effect early next year.

SSU customers interested in more information can log in to the SSU Customer Community Vault, where they can review outputs summarizing each country’s requirements. Customers should then contact their Customer Success Manager and/or Managed Services Consultant if they are interested in updating their milestone and EDL templates to reflect Veeva’s updated intelligence.

21R1

Action User Interface (UI)

The upcoming 21R2 release will include improvements to the Vault user experience. The Action User Interface (UI) will make end users more productive by helping them perform frequently used actions in fewer clicks. The design is easy to learn, modern, and intuitive.

The Action UI includes several features that users will find familiar and will not require any training:

  • The Action Bar will let users access their frequently used actions with less clicking and scrolling. Vault will continuously learn how each user works and adapt to the user’s individual experience by displaying their most-used actions at the top of the screen, where they will be easily accessible.
  • The Doc Info page will be updated to provide a cleaner and simpler user interface, supporting a more action-oriented experience. Some visual enhancements include:
    • A toolbar to quickly access common views, such as metadata, related documents, files and attachments, and sharing settings
    • A collapsable and resizable Doc Info fields panel
    • A simpler and more intuitive annotation toolbar
  • A Notification Badge will provide a familiar notification delivery and display experience to let users see incoming notifications immediately from anywhere in Vault. Users will be able to view messages in fewer clicks, without needing to navigate away from their current task.
  • An update to the Actions menu will replace the gear icon with an ellipsis icon. The ellipsis icon has become a standard symbol for a menu of actions in modern web applications.
  • An updated UI Style will give Vault a more modern and clean visual presence while maintaining a familiar Vault user experience, so users will still be able to work in Vault without additional training.

The Action UI will be released in 21R2 and will be enabled automatically. Customers will have the option to turn off the Action UI for one release, until the 21R3 release.

Atomic Security for Documents

In the 21R1 release, Atomic Security for Documents will be enabled for all customers. This feature allows Admins to have more granular control, based on lifecycle state and role, over who can perform a lifecycle user action or an action on an active workflow. Enabling Atomic Security for Documents will move user actions such as Start Workflow and Change State from the Security Settings tab to the Atomic Security tab in the lifecycle state configuration. Workflow Initiators and Coordinators will continue to have access to all active workflows actions such as Cancel Workflow or Reassign Task. Learn more about Atomic Security for Documents.

One Workflow

Over the next several releases, we will introduce a unified workflow for all documents and objects called One Workflow. Multi-document workflows will become the default workflow for both single and multiple documents. Existing multi-document workflows and object workflows will not be changed. Both multi-document and object workflows have similar configuration and functionalities, and users will be able to interact with them in similar ways.

As we introduce One Workflow, we will deprecate single document workflows, found in the Admin > Document Lifecycles > Workflows tab. These will be renamed to Legacy Workflows. We will continue to support existing legacy workflows. Admins will still be able to edit or update these, and users will be able to start and complete them as usual.

In recent releases, we have been enhancing and moving toward multi-document workflows to address any functionality gaps with legacy workflows. We will complete this process by the 21R2 release. After the 21R2 release, legacy workflows will not be available in new Vaults. In 2022, Admins will no longer be able to create or copy legacy workflows in existing Vaults. We will only introduce new functionalities for multi-document workflows, object workflows, or One Workflow in the future.

Office Online Support

Beginning in the 21R2 release, users will no longer be able to check out to Office Online™. The Collaborative Authoring with Microsoft Office™ feature replaces this functionality. Collaborative Authoring is more flexible and includes all the functionality of the legacy Check Out to Office Online feature and more. For example, Collaborative Authoring allows users to edit files in native desktop applications or in a browser tab if they work on a machine without Microsoft Office installed.

For customers using Office Online, Veeva is ready to guide you through transitioning to Collaborative Authoring. Learn more about Collaborative Authoring and visit our Resource Hub, which includes demos, setup instructions, FAQs, and more.

Note that documents that are checked out to Office Online after 21R2 can be checked back into Vault until 21R3, when legacy functionality will be deprecated completely.

Content Plan Hierarchy Viewer

In the 21R1 release, the legacy Hierarchy Viewer for content plans will be deprecated. We will only introduce new functionality and fix defects for the Content Plan Hierarchy Viewer, which is the newest iteration. In addition, the Enable tree grid setting on the Admin > Settings > Application Settings page will be one-way, meaning that an Admin cannot revert to the legacy Hierarchy Viewer once they enable the updated Content Plan Hierarchy Viewer. We recommend that all customers who are actively using content planning enable the Content Plan Hierarchy Viewer if they have not done so already.

Video Annotations

In the 21R1 release, users will be able to bring forward video annotations. There is a known issue with video annotations created prior to the 21R1 release using Internet Explorer™ 11 and placed at the end of a video. These annotations may, when brought forward, be placed at the first second of the video with an alert icon advising that the original time signature does not exist in the new version. We recommend moving the annotation to the correct time signature in the new version. Note that this issue does not occur on annotations created in other browsers.

Vault IP Address Changes

Customers should be aware that Vault IP addresses are subject to change. Starting in 21R2, Vault IP addresses will change as part of the upgrade. We recommend all Veeva customers update their DNS caching now so that integrations don’t cache the DNS forever. We also recommend that you configure the DNS TTL value to no more than 60 seconds. This ensures that when a Vault resource IP address changes, your integration will be able to receive and use the new IP address by re-querying the DNS.

Learn more about integration DNS caching changes in the Developer Portal.

Veeva Vault TLS Cipher Suite Changes

With the 21R1 general release, Vault will no longer support the following cipher:

  • TLSv1.2/DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384

All customers with affected integrations have been contacted directly by Veeva Services so that they can test their integrations. As of the 20R3.2 release on December 11, 2020, testing can be performed on Limited Release sandboxes.

Learn more about Veeva Vault cipher suite changes in the Developer Portal.

20R3

Internet Explorer 11 Support

As of January 2020, we no longer support Internet Explorer™ 11 on Windows 7. We encourage all Veeva customers to upgrade to a newer browser. Learn more about supported browsers for Vault.

PromoMats Standard Metrics

Prior to September 10, 2020, Vault incorrectly calculated the Days to Enter Review and Days to Approval PromoMats Standard Metrics values based on minor versions rather than the lowest minor version within a major version of a document. While this has been corrected, some documents created prior to September 10, 2020 may contain inaccurate values in these fields. Vault does not calculate values for these fields for documents that have not reached a major version.

As part of efforts to reduce release window downtime, we recommend all Veeva customers update their DNS caching so that integrations don’t cache the DNS forever. We recommend that you configure the DNS TTL value to no more than 60 seconds. This ensures that when a Vault resource IP address changes, your integration will be able to receive and use the new IP address by re-querying the DNS.

Learn more about integration DNS caching changes in the Developer Portal.

Veeva Vault TLS Cipher Suite Changes

Beginning with the 20R3 release, we will be modifying the set of TLS cipher suites supported by Vault servers, removing weak ciphers and changing the priority order to utilize stronger ciphers. These changes may affect some custom integrations, but not users accessing Vault with a supported browser.

All customers with affected integrations will be contacted directly by Veeva Services prior to any changes so that they can test their integrations. As of the 20R2.2 release on August 21, 2020, testing can be performed on Limited Release sandboxes.

Learn more about Veeva Vault cipher suite changes in the Developer Portal.

SAML/Spark Certificate Rollover

Vault is scheduled to roll over the signing certificate used to sign SAML Single Sign-on requests and Spark Messaging connections. There is no expected downtime. The new certificate has been published and can be downloaded here. Your IT organization needs to ensure that the new certificate is configured on your Enterprise Identity Provider system prior to the Initial Certificate Rollover event. You also need to ensure that your Spark Messaging integrations don’t cache the certificate and are able to pick up the new certificate immediately after the rollover.

Learn more about the SAML/Spark certificate rollover on Veeva Trust.

Atomic Security for Documents

In the 21R1 release, Atomic Security for Documents will be enabled for all customers. This feature allows Admins to have more granular control, based on lifecycle state and role, over who can perform a lifecycle user action or an action on an active workflow. Enabling Atomic Security for Documents will move user actions such as Start Workflow and Change State from the Security Settings tab to the Atomic Security tab in the lifecycle state configuration. Workflow Initiators will continue to have automatic access to actions for active workflows such as Cancel Workflow or Reassign Task. Learn more about Atomic Security for Documents.

Content Plan Hierarchy Viewer

In the 21R1 release, the Enable tree grid setting on the Admin > Settings > Application Settings page will be deprecated in RIM Submissions Vaults. When this setting is deprecated, the new Content Plan Hierarchy Viewer, introduced in 20R1, will be automatically enabled in all RIM Submissions Vaults. Users will no longer be able to view Content Plan or Content Plan Item records in the legacy Hierarchy Viewer, but the legacy Hierarchy Viewer will still be used to view Content Plan Templates. Learn more about using the Content Plan Hierarchy Viewer.

Office Online Support

Beginning in the 21R2 release, we will no longer support the Check Out to Office Online™ feature. The Collaborative Authoring with Microsoft Office™ feature replaces this functionality. Collaborative Authoring is more flexible and includes all the functionality of the legacy Check Out to Office Online feature and more. For example, Collaborative Authoring allows users to edit files in native desktop applications or in a browser tab if they work on a machine without Microsoft Office installed.

For customers using Office Online, Veeva is ready to guide you through transitioning to Collaborative Authoring. Learn more about Collaborative Authoring and visit our Resource Hub, which includes demos, setup instructions, FAQs, and more.

Study Startup Country Intelligence Updates

Coinciding with the 20R3 release, Vault Study Startup has reviewed and updated country intelligence (startup requirements) for the following countries:

Argentina Greece Philippines
Bulgaria Hong Kong Portugal
Chile Hungary Romania
Columbia India Serbia
Croatia Latvia Singapore
Czech Republic Lithuania Slovakia
Egypt Malaysia Slovenia
Estonia New Zealand South Africa
Finland Norway Thailand

Log into the Study Startup Customer Community Vault to review outputs summarizing each country’s requirements. Contact your Customer Success Manager or Managed Services Consultant if you want to update your milestone and EDL templates to reflect Veeva’s updated intelligence.

20R2

Permission Set Update Required for Join Objects

When selecting values in document fields controlled by dynamic reference constraints, users are now required to have at least Read access to the join object. For example, if the values in the Product field depend on the values selected in the Country field, users must have access to the Country Products join object, otherwise, they will not see any values in the Product field. This rule wasn’t enforced before 20R2 in document fields, but this has always been the case for object record fields. This change came as part of a necessary performance fix for dynamic reference constraints. To ensure your users aren’t affected when creating or editing documents, it is recommended that all users have at least Read access to all join objects.

20R2 Pre-Release

In 20R2, Admins will create their own pre-release Vaults. The Self-Serve Pre-Release Vaults feature uses existing sandbox administration options. See the Pre-Release FAQ for details.

Internet Explorer 11 Support

We no longer support Internet Explorer™ 11 on Windows 7. We encourage all Veeva customers to upgrade to a newer browser. Learn more about supported browsers for Vault.

Study Startup Country Intelligence Updates

Coinciding with the 20R2 release, Vault Study Startup has reviewed and updated country intelligence (startup requirements) for the following countries:

  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • China
  • Denmark
  • France
  • Germany
  • Ireland
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Mexico
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Russia
  • South Korea
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Taiwan
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom
  • United States

Log into the Study Startup Customer Community Vault to review outputs summarizing each country’s requirements. Contact your Customer Success Manager or Managed Services Consultant if you want to update your milestone and EDL templates to reflect Veeva’s updated intelligence.

Veeva Vault TLS Cipher Suite Changes

Beginning with the 20R3 release, we will be modifying the set of TLS cipher suites supported by Vault servers, removing weak ciphers and changing the priority order to utilize stronger ciphers. These changes may affect some custom integrations, but not users accessing Vault with a supported browser.

All customers with affected integrations will be contacted directly by Veeva Services prior to any changes so that they can test their integrations. Testing can be performed on a limited release sandbox beginning with the 20R2.2 release (August 21, 2020).

Learn more about Veeva Vault cipher suite changes in the Developer Portal.

20R1

Internet Explorer 11 Support

We no longer support Internet Explorer™ 11 on Windows 7. We encourage all Veeva customers to upgrade to a newer browser. Learn more about supported browsers for Vault.

20R1 Pre-Release

In 20R1, Admins will create their own pre-release Vaults. The Self-Serve Pre-Release Vaults feature uses existing sandbox administration options. See Pre-Release FAQ.

ADFS 5.0 Authorization Server Support

Vault products have been tested with and can now support both ADFS 4.0 and ADFS 5.0 authorization server. In previous releases, Vault only supported ADFS 4.0.