The Next Generation, Laboratory, Informatics, Medical & Scientific Platform
Redefining LiMS as the Next Generation informatics (NGi) Platform
The next revolution is afoot. The last one began with the advent of the computer age. In a few decades we went from the transistor being the biggest technology in our lives to computers we could play ping pong on, to the personal computer in every office, to laptops, tablets and smaller and smaller and more and more powerful phones. And of course now the original function of a telephone is just one small part of the many functions today’s “phones” perform. They’re cameras, texting tools, GPS navigation tools, and computers with as many and diverse functions as the hundreds of apps available can provide.
So what’s next? The Cloud, of course. We are in the process of migrating from individuals having their own computing power and seeking more hard drive storage space and speedier chips, to needing just enough to access the internet. All the heavy lifting is beginning to take place there, on “cloud” servers. For us, the end users, all we care about is accomplishing the work our jobs and business require, or communicating with friends, watching videos or streaming entertainment and the like. We really don’t like having to pay a lot of money for high-powered equipment. And what’s more, we want to be able to do it from anywhere, any time — and using what’s convenient at the time: laptop, phone, tablet, smartwatch…it doesn’t matter. We just need to get online. If you doubt how much we need that, just think back to the last time your wifi or router went down. At my workplace they sent us home — where most of us were able to continue working. So the Cloud has come into its own. It’s like a big electric grid, you just need to plug into a socket somewhere, anywhere, and get busy.
Ironically, for some reason many in the laboratory, scientific and medical fields, where new discoveries and the cutting edge of progress live, have tended to lag behind technology in their own workplaces. As a 14-year veteran of laboratory software sales spanning all disciplines, I can’t tell you how often I talked to labs still using spreadsheets and paper. And they still do!
LabLynx, Inc. took the lead, introducing what was essentially cloud-based software for laboratories 20 years ago. Their ELab LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) was the world’s first true web browser-based LIMS, originally introduced by its developer, John H. Jones (who then founded LabLynx) at Pittcon (Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy) in 1997. It’s taken a while for the world to catch up…
Fast-forward to 2020, and as we now are seeing almost all labs seeking to adopt a cloud-based LIMS — or LIS (Laboratory Information System) as it’s referred to in the medical world — Mr. Jones and company have moved on to the next generation of laboratory informatics…literally. He is redefining LIMS as an NGi (Next Generation informatics) cloud platform that goes far beyond the traditional scope of LIMS/LIS.
Jones’ NGi platform is called sciCloud.net, and it is changing the paradigm. LIMS/LIS have always been apps to manage laboratory data, especially things like tracking samples and test results. For many years LabLynx has been in the forefront of expanding the capabilities of its cloud-based app, so that it has become essentially an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning system), or multi-function business management app for all of a laboratory’s activities. It includes things like inventory management, instrument calibration and maintenance management, API interfacing, document and file management, messaging, reporting, alerts, invoicing and more — all in a regulatory compliant, highly user-configurable, adaptable design.
And that’s great, right? Well, yes, it is. And sales and customer retention testify to its quality, usefulness and reliability. But now Jones and LabLynx are taking it to the next level with NGi, a level that sets LabLynx up to be a pre-eminent player not just in lab informatics, but informatics for the entire laboratory, scientific and medical industries for the 21st century on.
The biggest shift is moving from a single app-based solution to a platform, which is a technological base or matrix upon which any number and types of apps can be developed and employed to address basically anything. And being cloud-based, it is essentially limitless in scale and scalability.
The LabLynx sciCloud.net platform already includes a wide range of apps and resources. And moreover, they can be mixed and matched into packaged solutions for specific types of labs or other enterprise or organizations. And as if that weren’t enough, the platform supports open source app development, so anyone can use it to custom-build any tools or apps they want. And LabLynx even supplies development tools and accounts to help them as needed.
The sciCloud.net NGi platform integrates with any existing informatics platform, or replaces it. Either way, it ultimately provides a complete and comprehensive information management solution for the present that is infinitely modifiable and expandable for decades into the future.
The apps and resources included and/or supported by sciCloud.net include:
- SSO authentication
- LIMS/LIS/ELN/EHR/SDMS solutions
- Apps library
- Marketplace
- Development platform and apps
- Social media/communities
- Publications
- Training/education
- Career management
- Services/project management and more
