New Agilent Lab Software Suite Unifies Instrument Data Systems, Electronic Lab Notebook and Data Archival

Agilent Technologies Inc. has introduced the OpenLAB software portfolio, designed as a better way for labs to capture, share, review and archive scientific data.

“Customers want solutions that reduce the time from discovery to delivery of a new chemical or biological entity,” said Nick Roelofs, Ph.D., president, Agilent Life Sciences Group. “By providing solutions that support evolution of existing systems, minimizing retraining, the OpenLAB portfolio protects a laboratory’s investment and knowledge. Customers will benefit from the productivity enhancements faster, through the integrated collaboration and data management tools.”

Agilent OpenLAB consists of three integrated solutions: OpenLAB Chromatography Data System (CDS), OpenLAB Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN), and OpenLAB Enterprise Content Manager (ECM). The system is designed to grow with customers’ needs, from a small standalone analytical lab through a global network with hundreds of locations. Agilent OpenLAB is instrument vendor-neutral and provides easy migration paths from existing systems, protecting customers’ investments in existing systems.

• OpenLAB CDS: The Agilent OpenLAB CDS is based on the ChemStation and EZChrom Elite instrument systems, which means customers don’t have to sacrifice familiar workflows to realize OpenLAB’s advantages. Now, instruments from many vendors can connect to any size network, from individual workstations and workgroups, to global enterprises. Instruments can be controlled locally or remotely from any computer. With full instrument control, centralized administration and ease-of-support, users can see lower cost of operation and better instrument utilization.

Existing ChemStation customers can expand their systems into the new distributed architecture later in 2010. Customers of EZChrom Elite Client/Server and OpenLAB Instrument Control Manager (ICM) can acquire this new functionality as a simple upgrade.

OpenLAB CDS integrates with OpenLAB ECM Intelligent Reporter, offering a new reporting approach to help customers structure and see their results. OpenLAB ECM Intelligent Reporter facilitates analyzing information faster by automating final result assembly within the system, including data from multiple sources and multiple chromatography data systems. OpenLAB ECM Intelligent Reporter also allows for the automation of result review workflow.

• OpenLAB ELN: OpenLAB ELN lets scientists capture and manage the details from each day’s experiments and collaborate with cross-discipline teams, while protecting intellectual property.

With OpenLAB ELN, Agilent is making the efficiencies and security of the electronic lab notebook accessible to a wider range of labs, including those doing routine analytical work in fields such as hydrocarbon processing, environmental analysis, pharmaceutical food safety and forensics. Tightly integrated into the Agilent OpenLAB portfolio, OpenLAB ELN is designed to streamline workflows for chemists in analytical development and research.

• OpenLAB ECM: Agilent OpenLAB ECM is a secure, central repository enabling customers to capture, manage, share, archive and re-use any data in most file formats. Its Web-based user interface is easy to learn, and the retrieval function can perform meta data extraction from analytical and Microsoft Office files.

OpenLAB ECM includes functions for compliance with all major regulatory guidelines including 21 CFR part 11, and the Business Process Manager (BPM) add-on can automate and secure mission-critical business processes such as Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.