Digital-First Life Sciences Innovator Tackles Data Visibility and Control with Forcepoint DSPM and DLP.

With thousands of employees across multiple regions, the life sciences commercialization organization relies heavily on cloud platforms to power digital transformation and customer outcomes.

But with scale comes complexity and risk.

As cloud adoption accelerated, so did data risk. The organization’s infrastructure spans on-premises data centers, AWS, Azure, GCP and SaaS platforms including Microsoft 365, Box and GitHub. With sensitive data moving freely across these environments just understanding where data lived and how it was being used became increasingly difficult, but the ultimate goal was real-time control of sensitive data everywhere.

Visibility gaps were the first major issue. “We started off with the challenge of data visibility and knowing your risk across our expanding cloud infrastructure,” said a Senior Director for Enterprise IT.

Traditional tools could not provide the granularity required to track sensitive data movement across cloud layers or enforce consistent policies to control that data movement and prevent the accidental exposure of regulated data. At the same time, emerging threats added urgency. Employees were adopting GenAI tools such as ChatGPT, increasing the risk of accidental data leakage. Insider risk, API exposures and cloud misconfigurations compounded the problem.

“This is one of the nightmares for my team… an employee unknowingly being the reason for a data leakage.”
— SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR ENTERPRISE IT

Regulatory pressure further raised the stakes. The organization was required to comply with GDPR and HIPAA, while also preparing for India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act.

With Forcepoint: A Strategic Shift to Unified Data Protection

To address these challenges, the team partnered with Forcepoint and deployed its Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions. The goal was to gain unified visibility and control of sensitive data, understand contextual risk and enforce consistent protection policies across cloud, SaaS and endpoints.

“Forcepoint DSPM stood out as a platform that could address these gaps for us.”
— SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR ENTERPRISE IT

Key Capabilities That Made the Difference:

AI-Powered Contextual Risk Scoring

Forcepoint’s AI Mesh linked data across systems and scored it based on sensitivity, exposure and business context.

“One of the most influential features… is your AI engine for contextual risk scoring.”
— SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR ENTERPRISE IT

Dynamic Policy Enforcement Across Platforms

With nearly 90 percent of documents stored in Microsoft 365, integration was critical.

“Almost 90 percent of my organization’s documents reside in M365… DSPM integrates beautifully.”
— SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR ENTERPRISE IT

Endpoint DLP and Classification

Forcepoint agents were deployed across more than 6,500 devices, preventing data loss through USB devices and enabling file classification.

“We started off the endpoint to address the data loss prevention… and classify documents as internal, public, confidential or restricted.”
— SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR ENTERPRISE IT

Support for LLM Development

DSPM insights also enabled the organization to identify appropriate datasets for internal large language model development.

“We’re using it for identifying data to build LLMs for specific use cases and topics.”
— SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR ENTERPRISE IT

Real-World Impact Across the Organization

One of the most immediate benefits was a dramatic improvement in data posture and risk awareness.

With Forcepoint DSPM, the IT team gained deep visibility into sensitive files, particularly those shared externally and left untouched for years. This insight enabled targeted cleanup efforts and significantly reduced unnecessary exposure. As the Senior Director of IT explained, “If a file hasn’t been edited for three years and is shared externally, DSPM helps us revisit and minimize exposure.” This shift marked a new era of proactive data governance for the organization.

Compliance readiness also saw a major boost. With global regulations tightening and India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act on the horizon, the organization knew they needed a solution that could help it align confidently with evolving standards. Forcepoint DSPM delivered the tools and visibility required to meet these challenges head-on. The Senior Director for Enterprise IT emphasized the strategic importance of this capability, stating, “Forcepoint has become indispensable for us… to get the right postures done.” This confidence in regulatory alignment has positioned them to navigate future compliance landscapes with agility and assurance.

Beyond immediate gains, the partnership supported longer-term planning. Forcepoint’s professional services and roadmap alignment gave the IT leadership the visibility needed to plan adoption of new capabilities without disruption. “They give me enough time to plan… be it from a roadmap or onboarding new features,” the Senior Director said.

A Journey, Not a Destination

For the organization, data security is not a one-time initiative. With Forcepoint DSPM, they have established a scalable foundation that adapts to cloud growth, evolving threats and increased use of AI.

“We really look forward to a strong partnership with Forcepoint in our future journey.”
— SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR ENTERPRISE IT