Next-Generation Laboratory Software Solutions on Microsoft Platform

Thermo Fisher Scientific (USA) announced that it established a working relationship with Microsoft aimed at developing next-generation laboratory knowledge management solutions designed to move science forward at an accelerated rate. The products will be built on Microsoft’s technology platform. Thermo Fisher’s unparalleled laboratory informatics experience, deep industry knowledge and world-class software development expertise – coupled with Microsoft’s
scalable, secure and flexible open standards technologies – will allow the development of easy-to-use software tools that increase laboratory productivity with less risk and a superior user experience.
“We’re encouraged that Thermo Fisher Scientific will build its next generation application on Microsoft’s technology platform,” said Paul Mattes, life sciences industry solutions director, Microsoft’s US Healthcare and Life Sciences Group. “Ultimately, this will benefit life
sciences customers who will be able to take advantage of Thermo Fisher’s in-depth industry expertise combined with Microsoft’s scalable, secure and easy-to-integrate software platform.”
Thermo Fisher has already developed Darwin LIMS, its purpose-built laboratory management system (LIMS) for pharmaceutical manufacturing R&D and QA/QC, on the Microsoft.NET platform. In addition, SampleManager LIMS, Thermo Fisher’s flagship product for process industries, is now supported on the SQL server, providing more
customers with a choice of databases.
The two companies are working together to continue to provide customers with end-to-end solutions for data acquisition storage and analysis. Thermo Fisher is now working on a new Electronic Laboratory Notebook (ELN) solution that will be based on the Microsft.net 3.0 framework. ELNs, as a category, are designed to replace the paper notebooks in which scientists and researchers record extensive notes resulting from their experiments and processes. In addition to collaborating with their colleagues, scientists will use the ELN to access unstructured research and reference information as well as the structured
laboratory testing information that resides in LIMS and chromatography data systems (CDS).