Instrument makers invest in cloud computing

Abstract

Thermo Fisher Scientific has acquired Core Informatics, a fast-growing, venture-capital-backed provider of cloud-based scientific data management systems with about 100 employees. Thermo Fisher announced the purchase last week at the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry & Applied Spectroscopy (Pittcon) in Chicago. It underscored the growing importance for instrument makers of systems capable of handling, storing, and manipulating the flood of data from today’s scientific instruments. “Their cloud-based offerings are more discovery oriented, while what we already had supported quality control and quality analysis in manufacturing processes,” explained Dan Shine, analytical instruments president at Thermo Fisher. “They will integrate seamlessly into what we already have.” Also at Pittcon, Waters Corp. launched the cloud version of its Empower chromatography data management system. “The cloud has changed the way the world interacts with data,” said Steve Smith, Waters’ informatics vice president, by...