Agilent Technologies has introduced the Openlab software portfolio, designed as a way for laboratories to capture, share, review, and archive scientific data.
Openlab consists of three integrated solutions: Chromatography Data System (CDS); Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN); and Enterprise Content Management (ECM).
The system is designed to grow with customers' needs, from a small standalone analytical laboratory through to a global network.
Openlab is instrument-vendor-neutral and is said to provide easy migration paths from existing systems.
Agilent Openlab CDS is based on the Chemstation and Ezchrom Elite instrument systems.
Instruments can be controlled locally or remotely from any computer.
With full instrument control, centralised administration and ease-of-support, users can see lower cost of operation and better instrument utilisation.
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 quickly structure and see their results.
Openlab ECM Intelligent Reporter facilitates analysing 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, increasing lab productivity and quality.
Openlab ELN allows scientists to 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.
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 metadata 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.
Agilent Openlab is based on an open-systems architecture that integrates disparate software systems.