LIMS for life!

Autoscribe provides a unique ‘future proofing’ product support service for its Matrix family of Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS). The Matrix product line has been developed to specifically ensure backwards compatibility and easy upgrades for existing customers, meaning that if customers take out a support and maintenance contract they are getting a ‘LIMS for life’ – there are no hidden additional costs for major upgrades.

Many Matrix users have migrated successfully through successive generations of the software and enjoy all the benefits of the latest version, yet can still access information that was entered in earlier versions. Some customers have migrated through 5 generations of Matrix over a period of 20 years.

The benefits of this approach are perfectly illustrated through the transition from Matrix V4 to Matrix V5. Although V5 is completely rewritten using C# and is designed to take advantage of the benefits offered by the Microsoft .NET tools, all screens developed using V4 can be seamlessly ported across to V5 and immediately acquire the enhanced functionality offered by V5. For example, all screens are immediately web-enabled and become accessible through the web browser user interface that is provided as standard in V5.

Autoscribe’s policy of continually improving its software, and supporting customers with these developments, means that existing customers with a support and maintenance contract would not need to buy a completely new system ever again. This built-in future proofing leads to longer operational life, lower cost of ownership and excellent return on investment. Most importantly, it gives customers peace of mind that their LIMS software will always be maintained to the very latest functionality.