Friday, February 24, 2012

The New World of ELNs

This article in Bio-IT World discusses the changing landscape of the ELN industry, major players and how the lines between an ELN and a LIMS are blurring.

ELN Excellence: The New Lab Notebooks

Friday, February 17, 2012

BioTeam MiniLIMS Available in March 2012


MARCO ISLAND, Fla., Feb 15, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- BioTeam Inc. announces the availability of BioTeam MiniLIMS for Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM). 


MiniLIMS is a powerful Web-based Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) built for scientists who want a cost-effective solution that is fast, simple and flexible. MiniLIMS will be available for direct purchase through Life Technologies WebStore after March 15, 2012.
MiniLIMS is the first independent software solution to connect directly to the Ion Torrent Server. Tight integration permits automated data transfer, speeds data processing, and eliminates many sources of error. MiniLIMS captures NGS workflow processes including sample receipt, sample prep, planned experiments, and results viewing. This agreement expands the Life Technologies-BioTeam collaboration. BioTeam provides extended service and support for the Ion Torrent Server and Suite Software.
"The BioTeam has demonstrated market-leading knowledge of the Torrent Suite Software, that drives primary analysis of semiconductor sequencing, through their extensive work on both the Ion Torrent Grand Challenges and Torrent Server support services. Their practical working knowledge of the underpinnings of the Ion Torrent software makes them a strong choice to consider when choosing a LIMS partner," said Mike Lelivelt, Director of Bioinformatics and Software Products, Ion Torrent.
"Effective data management is an ongoing challenge for NGS users with many still using spreadsheets. MiniLIMS helps PGM users quickly gain improved control of their NGS data and derive more value from their NGS-based activities," said Stan Gloss, Managing Director, BioTeam.
Among MiniLIMS' core capabilities are:
-- Simplified Data Entry. Customize data entry and display -- without programming -- to exactly match your samples, reagents, workflows, and instruments. Data stored in spreadsheets can be quickly and easily uploaded.
-- Automatic Loading of PGM Data. Data is imported from the PGM into MiniLIMS automatically, hyperlinking all the sample, run, and preparation details. Upload your own files, putting all the data you need in one place.
-- Powerful Report Generation. Create custom reports to see the state of your experiments at any time; there are pages that show the history of all data in the system.
The new MiniLIMS Ion Torrent plugin extends MiniLIMS to work with PGM data. Round trip data management allows scientists to plan experiments from MiniLIMS and see results from the PGM load automatically. MiniLIMS can alert users when data appears or pages change. Routine experiments can be configured using templates so a new run can be setup with a few keystrokes. Results can be delivered to users using the same project and sample overview pages that support Bioanalyzer, Nanodrop, or other lab processes. A graphical overview provides a snapshot of recent runs and analyses.
To see the most recent screenshots of MiniLIMS for PGM visit: http://biote.am/73
About BioTeam
BioTeam is a high performance consultancy, serving the needs of the life sciences community since 2002. Our expertise includes cluster computing, large scale data storage, cloud computing, and semantic LIMS development. For more information, please visit http://bioteam.net
SOURCE: BioTeam Inc.

LABVANTAGE 6 Released

(I am about a month late on this one)

Somerset, NJ. January 18, 2012. LABVANTAGE, which offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services for the laboratory, including LIMS, ELN, and business intelligence, announced today the release of LABVANTAGE 6, the world’s most powerful LIMS. Loaded with new features including enhancements to batch management, new event-driven flexibility, advanced instrument integration, and support for both desktop and mobile devices, LABVANTAGE 6 is the culmination of SQL*LIMS, which was acquired from Life Technologies Corporation in 2009, and the legacy LABVANTAGE product lines.
“LABVANTAGE 6 is the result of a unique development project that leveraged decades of diverse laboratory knowledge and experience across many industries,” revealed Jeff Ferguson, LABVANTAGE Chief Executive Officer. “It is not just a marriage of two of the best LIMS in the industry; it is the application of today’s technology to the accumulated requirements of the past two and a half decades.”
The new LABVANTAGE 6 enables organizations to focus on their business while minimizing complexities. Features such as the Navigator, a powerful SQL*LIMS feature now present in LABVANTAGE 6, introduces flexible and dynamic drill down on hierarchical data. For example, combining the LABVANTAGE Viewer with improved batch and genealogy management, identifying root cause and affected batches becomes easier than ever. In addition, LABVANTAGE 6 now provides dynamic field creation, which simplifies the storage of ad-hoc data that may be captured during testing.
LABVANTAGE 6 facilitates LIMS administration and management tasks. LIMS administrators can now maintain system permissions in collections that allows users to dynamically change their role assignments and data filtering. LABVANTAGE 6 streamlines workflow through event-driven alerts and actions by empowering administrators to build conditional logic without using computer code.
This new version continues the paper paradigm to the electronic laboratory notebook (ELN). Using the LABVANTAGE eForms technology, worksheets, laboratory notebook pages, printed instrumentation logs, and questionnaires are all transformed into an electronic format with a look and feel just as familiar as their paper counterparts. The intuitive interface significantly curtails the learning curve required for adopting new software, enabling easier and faster transformation of laboratory data to the paperless environment.
“We engaged customers of both LABVANTAGE and SQL*LIMS product lines since the initial stage of LABVANTAGE 6 development and conducted a thorough gap analysis,” states David Ciabattoni, Sr. Director of Global R&D. “That analysis helped us to prioritize the new features, which were then provided to customers as part of our Early Access program.”
A major research center is one such participant in the Early Access program and expects to go live with their LABVANTAGE 6 system in February 2012. This demonstrates the benefits of the Early Access program, which enables customers to both validate development efforts prior to software release and expedite the adoption of the latest features.
“I’m looking forward to the SQL*LIMS implementation community experiencing the power of the LABVANTAGE Web Page Designer, which can quickly add and modify end-user pages without requiring complex development tools like Oracle Forms,” states Ciabattoni. Ralph Goldberg, R&D Product Manager continues, “For the existing LABVANTAGE customer base, the capabilities added in LABVANTAGE 6 truly complement the features requested by our community over the years.”
Other new LABVANTAGE 6 features include the ability to integrate with Waters Empower systems for a seamless exchange of sample lists and LIMS results. The enhanced toolbar and dynamic search capability with auto-complete improve the user experience. And, with full support for convenient tablet computers and other mobile devices, LABVANTAGE 6 is simultaneously equipped for single-site laboratories, global deployments, and enterprise systems with extended partner organizations.
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Thursday, February 2, 2012

Autoscribe’s Free Guide to Managing a LIMS Project

This free guide from Autoscribe will help you through the complex process of implementing a LIMS or Sample Tracking system. Written for individuals and project teams in small laboratories through to enterprise/global operations it provides information that will help you avoid many of the potential problems and pitfalls encountered in the LIMS selection and buying process.
The guide titled “How to buy a LIMS” aims to help anyone who is considering the implementation of a LIMS or Sample Tracking solution. It covers all stages of a project, from determining the need for a solution through selection up to the final decision and implementation post –order.  It includes a section giving some of the common reasons why projects can potentially fail, so you can avoid the same mistakes.  Based on decades of practical management experience, specifying and delivering successful solutions, it provides relevant and honest information that will help you achieve the successful implementation of your specific project.
Autoscribe Limited is a leader in the development and supply of innovative configured solutions within the scientific laboratory market and our Matrix systems are supplied with a unique set of configuration tools that allow further configuration of the system if needed.
Autoscribe also offers systems for instrument calibration and maintenance, stability testing, customer complaints management, support management and resource planning.
Matrix – Future proofed solutions to protect your software investment
To request a copy of the definitive guide to buying a LIMS go to www.autoscribelims.com/contact/request-lims-selection-guide/
For more information about Autoscribe’s Matrix products go to www.autoscribelims.com