The document discusses the evolution and challenges of electronic lab notebooks (ELNs), highlighting the transition from large-scale systems for major corporations to modular solutions suitable for smaller companies. It emphasizes the need for simpler and more cost-effective products that deliver quick ROI while addressing patent-related concerns and integrating existing systems. Recommendations are provided for launching smaller projects and ensuring ease of use to meet diverse organizational needs.

1. ELN perspectives
Simon Coles

2. ELN perspectives
• Copies of this presentation
• Our Journey
• Scaling from 5,000 to 5
• What we did
• The surprise
• What we learned & some solutions
• Some recommendations
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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3. Copies of this presentation
• Copies of this presentation will be on our web site
tomorrow
• Or, give me a card and I will email it to you
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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4. Our beginngings
• Started working in ELNs in 1996 as a consulting
engagement with Kodak
• Aim was global deployment (~5,000 users)
• Lotus Notes based
• Electronic Records for patents
• Kodak encouraged development/sale of a product
• We joined CENSA
• Further sales, e.g. DuPont, ICI
• Lots of general interest - publications, conferences,
sales activity
• As far as Enterprise-class ELNs go, the Notes ELN
is still one of the most successful
• Largest deployments (thousands of users)
• Electronic records for patents
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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5. Let’s build a business
• Need to sell to people other than the Fortune 100
• There are only 100 possible targets!
• Sales cycle & costs are just painful
• Exposed to the economic cycle
• So we’d like to be able to approach
• Smaller R&D divisions of larger multinationals
• Smaller R&D companies - the most obvious is Biotech
• Problems
• Notes ELN too large for smaller companies
• Overall very complex, lots of bells & whistles that aren't
needed in smaller installations
• Expensive infrastructure requirements
• Patent issue is a big problem
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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6. A second generation of products
• Modular
• Build the smallest possible “ELN”
• Add functionality as needed (from Amphora, or others)
• Technology advances over the past few years have
made integration much much easier
• Scale from 5 users to 5,000
• Works with our existing range of products
• Can use paper or electronic records for patents
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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7. Scaling from 5,000 to 5
• For smaller deployments, product needs to
• Deliver significant ROI, quickly
• Be easy to understand and sell
• Use common, cheap infrastructure
• Seamlessly integrate with existing systems
• Allow for partners and resellers
• Turns out that a “Low-end” product is harder than
the all-encompasing “Enterprise Class” system
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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8. Technical aspects of scalability
• Seems to be harder to scale down than scale up
• Once you can do enterprise class systems
• Producing a low-cost 5 user system that can grow to
5,000 is a matter of computer architecture
• Taking a product aimed at Enterprise users and
figuring out how to fit it into a startup is harder
• Generally, the startup is much more challenging
• Less infrastructure
• Less resource to install/maintain systems
• Much less money
• Commercially much more challenging
• Scaling to the Enterprise
• Some technical/commercial issues, but well understood
• Lots of people to help you
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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9. Outcome
• New range of products
• Modular, can be purchased as a system or in parts
• Based on J2EE, .Net, SQL, etc. - including a complete
Open Source stack
• Merger with PatentPad®
• Specialized (and patented) security paper
• The only loose-leaf paper alternative to the Bound Lab
Notebook
• Allows us to conveniently support Paper as well as
Electronic Records according to customer preference
• US/UK company
• Nearly global reach
• Partner for the rest
• Customers include major bluechips to Biotech
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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10. Products
• PatentSafe™
• Solves the really tricky Patent issue
• Paper or Electronic records
• Patent Evidence Creation and Preservation system
• Enough collaboration etc. to benefit a smaller/medium
company
• Search & share content
• Straightforward and robust security regime
• Can be used standalone or with another “ELN” e.g.
from Amphora, CambridgeSoft,Tripos, Klee etc.
• PatentPad®
• Security paper
• Used in conjunction with PatentSafe™ to produce
paper records
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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11. What we expected
• Smaller companies would like PatentSafe™, and
use it either on its own or with another
application
• We knew larger companies needed a solution to
that Patent problem, and PatentSafe™ was ideal
for that
• But we expected it to be used as part of a larger
ELN system, from Amphora or another supplier -
PatentSafe™
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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12. What happened
Hey guys, just wanted to show you this PatentSafe thing, just as an FYI
- it really isn’t aimed at you. It’s part of the big thing (it does the patent
stuff), but thought you might want to know that this thing can be used
on it’s own.
OK....
Here you are, it does, this, that, the other - and that’s about it
Interesting.
What do you need to run it?
How much does it cost?
How long does it take to deploy?
Not much, and not much
That’s really interesting. That might be just the thing we need.
Can we try it?
Hang on a moment! This isn’t aimed at you. This doesn’t do half of
what you said you wanted.
Yeah, but this might be just the thing.
Can we try it? Cool...
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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13. Interesting...
• This is not the reaction we expected
• These companies are the ones that approached us
with fairly comprehensive specifications
• They were meant to say “Cute, nice Patent system,
but it’s a component of this big ELN system that
we need to meet all our varied requirements”
• What’s going on?
• We we went to find out
• Interviews
• Usage metrics
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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14. What we learned
• Partly, technology has moved on
• There are significant challenges involved in
implementing ELNs in any organisation
• Difficulty in forming an ROI case
• Patent-related concerns
• Challenges involved in supporting varied workstyles -
“Broad” vs “Deep” functionality
• Pilot issues
• Once the organisation commits to a full ELN,
there’s still the challenge of deploying it
• The ravages of time
• Cultural issues (including the Toaster problem)
• Technical implications
• Still a number of places where paper is preferable
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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15. ROI issues
• Probably one of the biggest challenges the ELN
industry faces
• We can all provide a “Business Case”, but
• It is often based on faith, not real measurements
• Time savings are “Soft” dollars
• Often the investment required is significant, so you're
looking for someone to take a big bet
• Taking big bets on an ethereal ROI is not career
enhancing
• Larger companies might often have a formal ROI
process, which is painful
• But in smaller companies, the final decision maker
is often signing a personal cheque - theoretical
results don’t help
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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16. ROI issues – Solutions
• Hope
• Wait until the money is available for the big bet
• Generally, it never comes
• Phasing
• Split the ELN project into a series of smaller
investments
• Move forward as you demonstrate ROI at each stage
• Building credibility all the time
• Segmentation
• Split the ELN into component parts
• Each of which can be purchased & deployed by an
individual budget holder
• e.g. records, individual labs
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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17. Patent-related concerns
• In a lot of companies, one of the primary business
reasons for a “Lab Notebook” is to create records
which you might then rely on to defend a patent
• At some point your lawyers will need to be
consulted, at which point they could:
• Stop the project dead
• Insist on keeping the Bound Lab Notebook
• Seriously impacting any ROI that the ELN might
provide
• All you’ve done is created a load cut & paste
“opportunities”
• Put the project on hold pending investigation
• Frustration for all
• Unlikely to be a satisfactory answer anytime soon
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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18. Patent issues – Solutions
• Solve the Patent issue early and properly
• Send someone to talk with the lawyers in their
own language
• Give them a choice of paper or electronic
• Provide a solution that can be used throughout
the company, and will stand the test of time
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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19. “Broad” Vs “Deep”
• “Broad”
• Support a wide variety of work across a company
• Enables collaboration & Knowledge Management
• Best achieved by deploying a “Thin” layer over other
systems
• Budget & ROI generally found in a staff function
• “Deep”
• Support for each individual scientific discipline
• Generally involves specific datatypes
• Generally reinforce/dictate specific workstyle
• Can involve significant product & implementation costs
• But delivers significant productivity benefits
• Budget & ROI found on a departmental basis
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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20. “Broad” Vs “Deep” systems
“Broad” aspects
Security, Collaboration, Patent Protection etc.
A B C D
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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21. “Broad” Vs “Deep” systems
• Problem
• Each “Deep” ELN is only really applicable to a specific
discipline
• Other disciplines find it alien to their work
• Solution
• Single project to provide generic ELN support processes
• Cross-discipline collaboration
• Patent Evidence Creation & Preservation
• Split the discipline-specific aspects into their own sub-projects
• This will often result in a better solution for the individual
audiences
• As well as an easier time for the overall project
• Each can move according to their own timescale
• Ppurchase best-of-breed applications from specialized vendors
• Budget/ROI and functionality decisions can made on a local basis
• Often you'll already have have some or all of the tools necessary
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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22. Pilot issues
• How do you pilot an ELN?
• You still need good records
• Generally, dual entry is the only acceptable
approach
• Unfortunately, the users hate it
• Pilot participation of 30% is not uncommon
• Possible solutions
• Decide on a Patent Evidence Creation & Preservation
system first
• Use something like PatentSafe/PatentPad to minimize
the pain of producing paper
• Use PatentSafe in electronic mode, and at the end of
the pilot continue, dump to paper, or import resulting
PDFs into another system
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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23. The toaster problem
• Most ELNs are specified and designed by
committee
• Committee members tend to be those who really
care about the ELN
• Committee process creates complex systems,
reflecting the inevitable compromises
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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24. The toaster problem
• What is this?
• The Toaster Geeks Toaster!
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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25. Complexity is a two-edged sword
• Can give you lots of power, but comes at a price
• Training time
• Extra effort in use to consider all those new options
• I thought the solution was a UI that gently
“revealed” iteself
• Complexity was hidden unless needed
• 80% of cases were handled automatically
• Turns out, some people still percieved the system
as “Complicated”
• This led them to avoid using the ELN unless they
had a definate need
• Solution: Two ELNs, one very simple that does
80%, and one for the power users
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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26. Buying a toaster
• Unfortunately the people who buy toasters are
the people who are interested in toasters
• This leads them to purchase the “best” toaster
• Unfortunately there family members want to
concentrate on the eating, not on the toasting
• Solution
• Keep things simple
• Where you need complexity, make sure
• It is optional
• It brings benefit to the user
• “Market test” soon and often
• Be suspicious of ornate requirements
• A good design is when there’s noting left to take
out
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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27. Technical issues
• Generally, the more code you have to deploy onto
user machines, the more pain you'll have
• Deployment hassle (installation, training)
• Compatibility & support issues
• Most organisations have a mix of platforms
• Windows clients are the majority
• But there will be important pockets of other platforms
(Mac, Linux, etc.)
• Solution
• As much as you can, make generic ELN services
• Part of the network infrastructure
• Web based
• Platform neutral
• Deploy client-intensive, platform-specific code as
needed
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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28. Paper isn’t dead yet
• Some scientists have Bound Lab Notebooks full of
cut & stick – an ELN is the answer to their prayers
• Others have lots and lots of handwriting
• An ELN would cost them a lot of time because they
write faster than they’d type
• But the organisation wants to move to an ELN for
collaboration/KM purposes
• There really isn’t an acceptable computer replacement
for paper when taking notes
• Solution
• User computers where best
• Print out on PatentPad®
• Write on it, sign/witness as usual
• Scan it back in
• Everyone happy
http://www.amphora-research.com/
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