Big Blue partners thermo on LIMS

Thermo Electron has teamed up with IBM to launch an offensive on the LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) marketplace. The collaboration will focus on developing new LIMS systems based on IBM's eServer system hardware.

They recently completed a series of tests in which Thermo's Nautilus and SampleManager LIMS was run on IBM eServer xSeries 235. Over 19,000 individual tests were performed using a combination of automated and manual scripts between April and June 2003.

Thermo said that the processing power and capacity of the IBM server provided a smooth and highly efficient testing result, and that the IBM hardware is now an integral part of Thermo's LIMS testing environment.

Over 1,100 SampleManager systems have been installed around the world and it has around 45,000 daily users, making it one of the most established and industrially robust LIMS on the market. It is designed to support laboratory operations and integrate those operations into the corporate enterprise.

Nautilus is Thermo's latest LIMS product, focused on improving laboratory productivity and reducing the total cost of ownership of LIMS to customers. It is designed to provide reduced implementation times and a workflow capability that minimises the need for customisation.

The new collaboration builds on Thermo and IBM's existing collaborations in areas such as data archiving, as well as in the processing of proteomic data.