Veeva continues to deliver enhancements to its platform through three structured releases each year. It is critical for the administrators of Veeva solutions to review each new update to assess new capabilities, align priorities, and prepare their environments for any technical or functional changes.

fme’s specialists review each release in detail to identify changes that may impact our clients’ environments, and highlight new capabilities that can improve efficiency, compliance, and overall system performance. Here are summaries from past releases:

• • Veeva 26R1 Highlights
  • Veeva 2025 Update Summary
  • fme’s Veeva Capabilities

In this installment, we describe key highlights from the 26R2 Update that our experts feel are notable. Keep in mind, this is not a comprehensive list of changes; please visit Veeva’s site for the complete release details and descriptions.

For a deeper analysis or to discuss how fme can support ongoing optimization of your Veeva environment, we invite you to download our service datasheets below and schedule a time to connect with our team.

Key Feature #1: Improved Document Viewer

The document viewing experience has been completely redesigned with an improved user interface. A simplified toolbar surfaces the most common actions such as full screen, zoom, and Find in Document, along with consistent panel management. Plus, users can now easily view multiple documents at once using a side-by-side document view through Fast Search, Relationships, Attachments, and Doc Versions.

For customers with Vault AI enabled, clicking the new Version Comparison button includes a generated AI summary of changes in Vault AI Chat that shows whether there were material changes since the last major version and summarizes important changes to review. These changes are also reflected in the external viewer used with Send as Link to Non-Vault Users and other application-specific areas. If Lifecycle Stages are configured, they will now only be shown on non-steady state versions.

Why This Matters to our Clients

Most Vault users spend a large portion of their day reviewing documents. Even small usability improvements can save time across hundreds or thousands of document reviews. Previous versions often required users to manually switch between document versions or hunt through menus to find common actions. The updated interface streamlines these everyday tasks.

Benefits include:

• • Faster and easier document reviews.
  • Reduced training for new users because the interface is more intuitive.
  • Quickly identify changes with side-by-side comparisons.
  • AI summaries help reviewers understand what changed before diving into the document, especially for lengthy SOPs or regulatory documents.

Key Feature #2: Improved Fast Search

One of the major Platform highlights for 26R2 is Veeva improved Fast Search, the list of suggested documents users see when they click into the search bar on a document tab. Before 26R2, suggested documents were primarily based on the documents a user had most recently viewed. With this update, Veeva expects users to see documents they are likely to need without having to perform a full search. Veeva has also improved the speed at which these suggestions appear, with suggestions loading faster when a user initially clicks into the search box and results updating faster as the user begins typing.

Fast Search also works with the new Improved Document Viewer experience in 26R2, allowing users to quickly reference another document without having to navigate away from the document they are currently working with.

Why This Matters to our Clients

Vaults can contain extremely large document libraries, and users may interact with many documents throughout their day. Finding the right document quickly can become an everyday productivity issue. Fast Search reduces some of that effort by making the documents Vault suggests more relevant to what the user has actually been working on, while also improving how quickly those suggestions appear.

Benefits Include:

• • Faster access to frequently needed content: Users can access relevant documents directly from the search dropdown without always performing a complete search.
  • More relevant document suggestions: Suggestions consider broader document interactions, rather than relying only on which documents were most recently viewed.
  • Less time navigating through Vault: Faster suggestions can reduce the number of steps required to return to documents users are actively working with.
  • Improved multitasking: Users can open a document from Fast Search in a mini-browser or side-by-side view without leaving the document they’re currently reviewing.
  • Better support for document-heavy workflows: Users who regularly review, edit, annotate, or reference many documents can more easily return to relevant content.

Key Feature #3: AI Powered Change Summaries

Customers can now enable and configure Vault AI to automatically generate a summary of the differences between document versions. AI highlights meaningful content updates rather than requiring users to inspect every page themselves.

Why This Matters to our Clients

In regulated industries, documents frequently undergo many revisions before approval (I’ve seen a document with minor versions in the hundreds). Reviewers often spend considerable time simply determining what changed. This feature helps reviewers focus their attention on the changes that actually matter.

Benefits Includes:

• • Quicker document review cycles.
  • Reviewers can focus on business or regulatory impacts rather than formatting changes.
  • More efficient collaboration between authors and reviewers.
  • Particularly valuable for lengthy SOPs, validation documents, quality procedures, and regulatory submissions.

Key Feature #4: Bulk Export Improvements for Submission Archive

Users can now initiate bulk exports from the “All Submissions” object grid or the “All Applications” object grid. This new action replaces the Vault report-based “Export Submissions Archive Applications” action, which will be deprecated in 26R3, so be sure to check if you rely on that action in any processes before the next update.

Veeva has also rebuilt the framework used for exporting large volumes of regulatory submission data, with bulk exports designed to perform more consistently when exporting many submissions at once. 26R2 also has new options that allow companies to automate bulk exports and more easily connect the export process with other systems.

Why This Matters to our Clients

Many regulatory organizations regularly export submission packages for archival purposes, downstream systems, or health authority interactions. As submission volumes grow, export performance and reliability become increasingly important.

Benefits Includes:

• • Faster and more reliable exports.
  • Better support for automated processes.
  • Improved scalability for large regulatory organizations.
  • Reduced manual effort when exporting submission data.

Key Feature #5: Query Profiler

Veeva introduced a new Query Profiler that gives Vault Admins and Developers a way to monitor and investigate how VQL queries are performing. A VQL query is a request for information from Vault. Previously, understanding the performance of these queries could be difficult. Query Profiler gives technical teams a dedicated tool for collecting information about queries running in Vault and identifying ones that may need attention or optimization.

Functionally, Admins or Developers start a profiling session, and Vault collects information about queries that meet specified criteria. This allows teams to narrow the session to the types of queries they are interested in troubleshooting rather than investigating every query running in Vault. Available filters include Origin, which identifies where the VQL query originated from (API, SDK, or ALL); Targets, which filters specific Query Targets, such as queries on user__sys; Result Count and Query Time, which filter queries based on minimum or maximum ranges; and Response Status, which filters queries based on SUCCESS, FAILURE, or WARNING.

Why This Matters to our Clients

Integrations, custom development, and automated processes can generate large numbers of queries against Vault. If one of those queries is inefficient (i.e., it retrieves far more information than necessary) then it can be difficult to determine where the problem is occurring. Query Profiler provides more visibility into what’s happening behind the scenes, giving technical teams information they can use to investigate slow or problematic queries.

This is particularly useful for organizations with complex integrations or significant custom development, where identifying the source of a performance issue can otherwise involve substantial troubleshooting.

Benefits Include:

• • Faster troubleshooting
  • Improved visibility
  • Reduced guess-work
  • Better support for complex vaults

An Example: A company has an integration that regularly retrieves data from Vault. The integration suddenly starts taking much longer to complete. Using Query Profiler, the technical team could investigate the queries coming from that integration and determine:

• • Which queries are taking the longest?
  • How many records are they returning?
  • What Vault data are they querying?
  • Are the queries completing successfully or generating warnings/errors?

The team can then use that information to identify where further investigation or optimization is needed.

Key Feature #6: Improved Localization for Number Fields

Different countries use different conventions for displaying numbers. Before 26R2, Vault could display numbers according to a user’s locale, but data entry did not fully follow those same regional conventions.

As of 26R2, Vault now displays and accepts numbers according to the user’s regional settings, including number, currency, and percentage fields. For example, a U.S. user may write a decimal using a period (1.5), while a French user may write the same value using a comma (1,5). Similarly, the U.S. commonly displays one million as 1,000,000, while Germany commonly displays the same number as 1.000.000.

Why This Matters to our Clients

Vault is used by global organizations, so users in different countries may have very different expectations for how numbers should be entered. Previously, there could be a mismatch between what a user saw and what Vault expected them to type. That creates unnecessary confusion and increases the possibility of data-entry mistakes, particularly for users who don’t regularly work with U.S.-style number formatting.

 Benefits Include:

• • More intuitive data entry for global users
  • Reduced potential for data-entry errors
  • Better experience for multinational organizations: The same Vault can provide appropriate numeric experience to users working in different countries.
  • More consistent localization across Vault: The enhancement applies broadly across documents, objects, workflows, reports, and Process Monitor rather than being limited to one specific feature.

How fme Can Support Your Veeva Updates

Veeva’s innovation-driven release cycles provide continual improvements but also require ongoing operational responsibility. Releases occur on a fixed schedule, regardless of internal IT bandwidth or competing priorities, and certain changes are deployed automatically. Configuration shifts, deprecated settings, and legacy customizations can all affect how new functionality performs within a given environment.

fme provides tailored services to help clients evaluate, manage, and operationalize Veeva’s recurring release cycles. Below are two core offerings our clients rely on to keep their Veeva environments optimized and aligned with evolving business needs.

HealthCheckAssist: Gain Visibility and Control

HealthCheckAssist is a structured, low-burden assessment designed to provide actionable insights into your Veeva RIM environment. We evaluate how the system is configured and used, identify active risks and inefficiencies, and highlight opportunities for optimization.

Beyond diagnostics, we deliver a prioritization remediation roadmap clearly outlining the steps required to stabilize, streamline, and future-proof your environment. This enables your team to proactively prepare for upcoming releases, fully leverage new platform capabilities, and maintain a consistently release-ready experience.

Learn more about HealthCheckAssist now!

TechOps Support Services: Cost-effective Platform Management

Efficient and effective IT operations are vital for any company but are notoriously difficult to accurately predict and budget for, especially in multi-platform systems. Our TechOps Support Services provide the experience and resources needed to augment and support the needs of complex IT environments, balancing out the ebb and flow of support tasks, and adding extra knowledge and skill for integrated application management.

Our flexible, customizable model can incorporate administrative support and release management components to allow your organization to focus on your core business activities without the distractions of technical issues and system maintenance.

Our trained experts support many legacy and modern applications to ensure your critical systems remain stable and secure, giving them the attention they need while you focus on accomplishing your business goals.

Learn how fme can simplify your platform management with TechOps Support Services now!

About the Author

Matthew Peterson

Matthew Peterson is a highly skilled Veeva business analyst and migration specialist at fme, focused on helping clients understand how each Veeva update will impact their environments. With deep expertise in the intersection of technology, data, and regulated life sciences processes, Matthew ensures that clients not only stay current with platform changes but also align those changes with their strategic goals and operational priorities. His commitment to clarity and practical impact helps organizations maintain optimized, resilient Veeva implementations that support long-term success.

Related Posts

• Veeva 26R1 Highlights
• Veeva 2025 Update Summary
• Veeva 23R3 Updates
• Veeva 23R2 Updates
• fme’s Veeva Capabilities

Veeva continues to deliver enhancements to its platform through three structured releases each year. It is critical for the administrators of Veeva solutions to review each new update to assess new capabilities, align priorities, and prepare their environments for any technical or functional changes.

fme’s specialists review each release in detail to identify changes that may impact our clients’ environments, and highlight new capabilities that can improve efficiency, compliance, and overall system performance. Here are summaries from past releases:

• • Veeva 2025 Update Summary
  • Veeva 23R3 Updates
  • Veeva 23R2 Updates
  • fme’s Veeva Capabilities

In this installment, we describe key highlights from the 26R1 Update to help you quickly understand the most relevant changes. Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of changes; please visit Veeva’s site for the complete details and descriptions.

For a deeper analysis or to discuss how fme can support ongoing optimization of your Veeva environment, we invite you to download our service datasheets below and schedule a time to connect with our team.

Key Feature 1: Milestone Object Model

Staring in 26R1, milestones are no longer stored as a single field (milestone__v) but are managed as object records. The new object model is more scalable and aligns with Veeva’s overall data structure approach.

Each milestone (Approved, Effective, Submitted, etc.) is now tracked as its own entry instead of being grouped in one place, allowing users to view all milestones in a dedicated Milestones panel on the document. In addition, the 1,000-record limit within the milestone__v field has been removed.

This change can affect existing reports, integrations, or configurations that reference the milestone field, and administrators may need to make adjustments to reflect the new object.

How this can benefit customers

There are several benefits to these changes:

• • Multiple milestones can be stored and managed more clearly for each document and version within the version tree.
  • The new structure makes it easier to understand the full lifecycle history of a document.
  • Each milestone is now its own record that can be queried and analyzed significantly improving reporting on milestones.
  • Admins can now filter, group, and report on milestones across documents more easily than before.
  • This change also supports more complex use cases, such as tracking multiple milestone types or repeated events over time.

Key Feature 2: Doctype Triggers (Automation)

Prior to 26R1, actions required when a document was created, updated, or deleted were mostly a manual process with minimal automation available. The 26R1 release allows users to attach triggers with logic directly to documents so that when the trigger is fired, Vault instantly runs custom actions behind the scenes.

This feature can significantly reduce the amount of manual work users have to perform, reduce human error, make processes faster, and allow admins more opportunities to customize document behavior.

How this can benefit customers

One possible application of this new feature is to auto-populate specific fields when creating documents. For example, when a user is creating an SOP, triggers can auto-populate the product, region, and department within each unique SOP template ensuring accuracy and consistency.

In Veeva PromoMats (Promotional Materials), a newly created promotional piece can automatically link required objects, like products or specific campaigns, greatly accelerating content creation while also reducing compliance risk. A trigger can also be created to automatically assign a document for training when it becomes approved/effective.

Key Feature 3: Excel Copy/Paste

The reality of modern business ensures we will almost always work with spreadsheets, and prior to 26R1, users had to add each value manually. With the 26R1 release you will be able to copy a list of values from Excel and paste them directly into Vault instead of entering them one by one.

How this can benefit customers

This update eliminates repetitive, manual data entry saving time, minimizing copy/paste errors, and greatly accelerating the input of large lists of values. It is especially useful when working with multi-value fields, such as users, products, or countries. Instead of manually searching and selecting each value, you can paste an entire list in a single action. Vault automatically recognizes and matches the pasted values to existing records or picklist values.

Veeva Vault will automatically ignore duplicate values, preventing accidental double entries. If any values don’t match, Vault provides a summary so you can quickly identify and fix issues.

This makes bulk updates much faster without needing loaders or external scripts, and brings a more familiar, Excel-like experience into Vault to improve usability for everyday users. With this update, expect a significant reduction in manual errors and user frustration caused by repetitive manual data entry.

Key Feature 4: API Endpoint Deprecation

Not all changes are adding features. With the 26R1 update the “Retrieve All Documents” and “Retrieve all Binders” APIs are no longer supported. In the past, this was used to pull large sets of documents in one go causing heavy system load and slowing down Vault performance. Instead, users are now expected to use VQL (Vault Query Language) to retrieve only the data they need.

To prepare for this change, administrators should replace existing “Retrieve All Documents” and “Retrieve All Binders” API endpoints with VQL queries.

How this can benefit customers

Basing their decision on industry best practices for data access, Veeva made this shift to improve system performance and scalability, and to encourage more efficient, targeted data requests based on document type, specific dates, statuses, etc. rather than full data extracts.

fme’s dqMan has a Veeva Vault Edition that can be a great help in this change. It is a professional administration tool based on VQL and MDL, providing users with exclusive capabilities and a broad feature set to help manage Veeva Vault applications efficiently. Contact us to learn more.

How fme Can Support Your Veeva Updates

Veeva’s innovation-driven release cycles provide continual improvements, but also require ongoing operational responsibility. Releases occur on a fixed schedule, regardless of internal IT bandwidth or competing priorities, and certain changes are deployed automatically. Configuration shifts, deprecated settings, and legacy customizations can all affect how new functionality performs within a given environment.

fme provides tailored services to help clients evaluate, manage, and operationalize Veeva’s recurring release cycles. Below are two core offerings our clients rely on to keep their Veeva environments optimized and aligned with evolving business needs.

HealthCheckAssist: Gain Visibility and Control

HealthCheckAssist is a structured, low-burden assessment designed to provide actionable insights into your Veeva RIM environment. We evaluate how the system is configured and used, identify active risks and inefficiencies, and highlight opportunities for optimization.

Beyond diagnostics, we deliver a prioritization remediation roadmap clearly outlining the steps required to stabilize, streamline, and future-proof your environment. This enables your team to proactively prepare for upcoming releases, fully leverage new platform capabilities, and maintain a consistently release-ready experience.

Learn more about HealthCheckAssist now!

TechOps Support Services: Cost-effective Platform Management

Efficient and effective IT operations are vital for any company but are notoriously difficult to accurately predict and budget for, especially in multi-platform systems. Our TechOps Support Services provide the experience and resources needed to augment and support the needs of complex IT environments, balancing out the ebb and flow of support tasks, and adding extra knowledge and skill for integrated application management.

Our flexible, customizable model can incorporate administrative support and release management components to allow your organization to focus on your core business activities without the distractions of technical issues and system maintenance.

Our trained experts support many legacy and modern applications to ensure your critical systems remain stable and secure, giving them the attention they need while you focus on accomplishing your business goals.

Learn how fme can simplify your platform management with TechOps Support Services now!

About the Author

Matthew Peterson

Matthew Peterson is a highly skilled Veeva business analyst and migration specialist at fme, focused on helping clients understand how each Veeva update will impact their environments. With deep expertise in the intersection of technology, data, and regulated life sciences processes, Matthew ensures that clients not only stay current with platform changes but also align those changes with their strategic goals and operational priorities. His commitment to clarity and practical impact helps organizations maintain optimized, resilient Veeva implementations that support long-term success.

Related Posts

• Veeva 2025 Update Summary
• Veeva 23R3 Updates
• Veeva 23R2 Updates
• fme’s Veeva Capabilities

Each year, Veeva updates their platform in three scheduled releases: April, July, and December. Approximately one month before each release, upcoming changes are announced to ensure administrators have adequate time to review, plan, and prepare for the coming improvements and modifications. Some changes are technical fixes with limited visible impact, while others introduce new features and functionality that clients have requested or they have developed in support of ever-evolving regulations as well as innovation. There can also be under-the-hood technical changes that require configuration adjustments or administrator preparation to allow for a seamless update.

For each release, fme’s experts receive the official announcements and distill the updates into a clear, client-focused summary. This includes outlining the changes that will impact their environments while highlighting new capabilities that could enhance their internal workflows and business processes.

Below we’ve summarized selected highlights from Veeva’s 2025 updates, and how these changes can benefit Veeva Vault users. This overview is not exhaustive. If you would like a deeper dive into the updates, or to explore how fme can help you analyze, monitor, and optimize your Veeva environment to keep it as performant as possible, download the data sheets below and contact us to discuss your current challenges.

Veeva Update 25R1 – April 2025

25R1 Key Feature

One of the more interesting elements in this release is how Veeva updated their functionality for collaborative authoring. Previously, you only could @mention users who clicked “Edit in Microsoft Office” in Vault. With this release, users are now allowed to automatically add workflow participants to the document being edited in SharePoint upon checkout in Vault, so they can be @mentioned immediately.

How this can benefit customers

Collaborative Authoring makes it much easier for teams to work on the same document at the same time without juggling emailed copies or tracking down the “latest version.” This change will speed up authoring and review cycles, reduce potential version confusion, and help teams keep content consistent when multiple stakeholders need to contribute.

Veeva Update 25R2 – July 2025

25R2 Key Feature

In this release Veeva introduced “Action Triggers”, a simple way for admins to automate actions when object records change (create/update/delete). Action Triggers reduce the need for custom SDK trigger development and can be managed through the configuration.

Action Triggers are simple “IF/THEN/ELSE” statements that can be created both before and after events for the “Create/Update/Delete” operations. They can also automatically enforce rules and populate standardized values. For example:

• Auto populate fields based on metadata
• Automatically set record status (Draft to In Review) when specific required fields are completed

How this can benefit customers

Action Triggers can be helpful during migrations because it can automatically handle key next steps, like updating fields, starting workflows, or creating related records as soon as the migrated data hits certain conditions. This means less manual cleanup after the load and more consistent processing, so clients can go live faster with fewer surprises later on.

Veeva Update 25R3 – December 2025

25R3 Key Feature

In this release Veeva introduced an improved multi-Vault user experience, allowing users to login and work across multiple Vaults at the same time. Prior to 25R3, the user would be logged out from one of the sessions, but now they can stay logged in when switching between the two.

How this can benefit customers

This feature is particularly useful since it allows users to be logged into both source and target vaults at the same time in one browser. This makes it much faster to compare records, confirm mappings, and validate migrated content during migrations between Vaults. It also reduces constant logouts and re-authentication, helping migrations run more efficiently with fewer user errors and quicker issue resolution.

Get the Full Release Details

For complete details on all Veeva updates, visit their site here, or contact fme below to schedule a discussion focused on your unique platform and requirements.

How fme Can Support Your Veeva Updates

Veeva’s SaaS delivery model has long provided clients with predictable, innovation-driven release cycles. However, that same continuous update cadence introduces an ongoing operational responsibility. Releases occur on a fixed schedule, regardless of internal IT bandwidth or competing priorities, and certain changes are deployed automatically. Configuration shifts, deprecated settings, and legacy customizations can all affect how new functionality performs within a given environment.

Even incremental updates can have downstream effects: missed capabilities, user friction, reporting inconsistencies, or reduced process efficiency. Sustaining ROI in a mature SaaS platform requires structured review, impact analysis, and proactive configuration management throughout the year, not just at go-live.

fme provides tailored services to help clients evaluate, manage, and operationalize Veeva’s recurring release cycles. Below are two core offerings our clients rely on to keep their Veeva environments optimized and aligned with evolving business needs.

HealthCheckAssist: Gain Visibility and Control

HealthCheckAssist is a structured, low-burden assessment designed to provide actionable insights into your Veeva RIM environment. We evaluate how the system is configured and used, identify active risks and inefficiencies, and highlight opportunities for optimization.

Beyond diagnostics, we deliver a prioritization remediation roadmap clearly outlining the steps required to stabilize, streamline, and future-proof your environment. This enables your team to proactively prepare for upcoming releases, fully leverage new platform capabilities, and maintain a consistently release-ready experience.

Learn more about HealthCheckAssist now!

TechOps Support Services: Cost-effective Platform Management

Efficient and effective IT operations are vital for any company but are notoriously difficult to accurately predict and budget for, especially in multi-platform systems. Our TechOps Support Services provide the experience and resources needed to augment and support the needs of complex IT environments, balancing out the ebb and flow of support tasks, and adding extra knowledge and skill for integrated application management.

Our flexible, customizable model can incorporate administrative support and release management components to allow your organization to focus on your core business activities without the distractions of technical issues and system maintenance.

Our trained experts support many legacy and modern applications to ensure your critical systems remain stable and secure, giving them the attention they need while you focus on accomplishing your business goals.

Learn how fme can simplify your platform management with TechOps Support Services now!

About the Author

Matthew Peterson

Matthew Peterson is a highly skilled Veeva business analyst and migration specialist at fme, focused on helping clients understand how each Veeva update will impact their environments. With deep expertise in the intersection of technology, data, and regulated life sciences processes, Matthew ensures that clients not only stay current with platform changes but also align those changes with their strategic goals and operational priorities. His commitment to clarity and practical impact helps organizations maintain optimized, resilient Veeva implementations that support long-term success.

Related Posts

• Veeva 23R3 Updates
• Veeva 23R2 Updates
• fme’s Veeva Capabilities