Vendor:Lab-Ally LLC
| Type | Limited liability company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Laboratory informatics |
| Founder(s) | Rob Day |
| Headquarters | 247 E. Ninth Ave., Columbus, Ohio, United States |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | |
| Website |
lab-ally.com cerf-notebook.com |
| https://www.linkedin.com/company/lab-ally-llc/ |
Lab-Ally, LLC develops and distributes enterprise laboratory informatics software solutions including CERF, RSpace, and eCAT. Lab-Ally also sells a number of other life science products and services, including the sourcing of difficult-to-find materials and samples, 21 CFR Part 11 data management, and recruitment.[1]
History
Lab-Ally was formed in August 2013[2] as a sales and marketing partner for a number of small biotech/histopathology companies. The founders were former employees of Rescentris, Inc., the company that originally developed the CERF ELN in the early 2000s.[3] Rescentris (which was also briefly known as ELN Technologies and irisnote, Inc.) ceased operations following the unfortunate death of primary owner and advisory board member Leonard Herzenberg, an internationally renowned scientist at Stanford University.[4]
In April 2014, support and development rights of CERF ELN passed back to Lab-Ally.[5] Some minor maintenance and security releases were provided to existing CERF customers in 2014 and 2015[6], and a new iPad client called "iCERF" was released in 2016.[7] In January 2017, Lab-Ally released CERF ELN version 5.0. [8] The product was then largely rebuilt using a new Lab-Ally development team and a modernized build process. Completely new apps were added for data export and automated bulk import. The current release is CERF 5.3[9] CERF 6.0 is scheduled for release in Q4 2025.
Partnerships
In 2013, Lab-Ally formed a strategic partnership with ResearchSpace, the U.K.-based makers of the RSpace ELN and eCAT sample tracking system. Lab-Ally currently serves as the North American operating arm of ResearchSpace, assisting with all aspects of product design, support, distribution, and U.S. invoicing.[10]
Technology and products
RSpace
RSpace is the successor of the older eCAT ELN product and was designed by the makers of eCAT with input from Lab-Ally. RSpace is intended mainly for large academic, government, and commercial enterprise deployments with complex FAIR data and RDM requirements. RSpace uses any HTML5 capable browser to connect to the server and can be used with any workstation or any modern mobile device. RSpace is highly integrated with other common web tools and is designed to allow users to create links to data already stored in third-party systems like Box, Dropbox, MS OneDrive, Mendeley, GitHub and others. RSpace also includes integration with ORCID and allows export directly to archives like Figshare and Dataverse. Free public cloud version and open source versions available for use by academic labs. The RSpace server can be installed anywhere, but customers with limited IT expertise can choose to package RSpace with a private Amazon Web Services host instance managed by ResearchSpace.[11]
For more about RSpace and eCAT, please see Research Innovations Limited.
CERF
CERF (Collaborative Electronic Research Framework)is an electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) with document and content management and scientific data management system (SDMS) capabilities, designed mainly for high compliance commercial labs.[9] The system includes the CERF server and dedicated desktop client applications for Mac OS and Windows and linux. CERF includes metadata extraction and indexing, file content indexing, semantic metadata tagging and semantic search technologies, as well as in-line data viewing, secure round-trip editing of any file type, versioned document control, true PKI digital signatures, and a dedicated app for the iPad platform called iCERF. CERF can be installed either on-premise or on a cloud server of the user's choice. For on-premise installs, the system is unique in that it does not depend on internet access, and can if necessary be run on a totally secure private LAN. The current release CERF 5.3[9]
Pricing
Product Details Commercial Customer
CERF Server License $3,500
Server Installation Remote Service via secured connection. $2,500
Perpetual User Licenses
Base Package Flat rate for minimum seat purchase $2,000 for up to 5 seats, $200 per seat thereafter.
Annual Support and Maintenance Contract - Required for first year; strongly recommended thereafter.
12 Month Term from $200 per user seat
Generous discounts for Academic organizations and large deployments, all inclusive annual subscription pricing also available. Contact vendor for full details.
Demonstration videos and other media
The following demonstration videos exist for CERF:
Additional information
References
- ↑ "Lab-Ally About Us". Lab-Ally LLC. https://lab-ally.com/about-us/. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
- ↑ "Corporation Details: Lab-Ally LLC". Business Filing Portal. Ohio Secretary of State. https://businesssearch.ohiosos.gov?=businessDetails/2218872. Retrieved 08 May 2025.
- ↑ Eaton, D. (15 May 2006). "With Silicon Valley cash, Rescentris hopes to organize science lab notes". Columbus Business First. American City Business Journals. http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/05/15/story7.html.
- ↑ Conger, K. (31 October 2013). "Leonard Herzenberg, geneticist who developed key cell-sorting technology, dies". Stanford Medicine News Center. http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2013/10/leonard-herzenberg-geneticist-who-developed-key-cell-sorting-technology-dies.html. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
- ↑ "CERF - Electronic Lab Notebook". Lab-Ally LLC. https://lab-ally.com/products/cerf-eln/. Retrieved 08 December 2025.
- ↑ "CERF Update 4.5.0.27 Released". Lab-Ally LLC. 6 April 2015. https://cerf-notebook.com/news/cerf-update-4-5-0-27-released/. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
- ↑ "iCERF iPad Client". Lab-Ally LLC. https://cerf-notebook.com/solutions/ipad-client/. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
- ↑ "Lab-Ally Announces Release of CERF ELN Version 5.0". PRWeb. http://www.prweb.com/releases/lab-ally/ELN/prweb14001775.htm. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
- ↑ Jump up to: 9.0 9.1 9.2 "About CERF 5.3". Lab-Ally LLC. https://cerf-notebook.com/about-cerf-eln/. Retrieved 08 May 2025.
- ↑ "Research Space". Lab-Ally LLC. https://lab-ally.com/partners/researchspace/. Retrieved 08 May 2025.
- ↑ "RSpace ELN". Lab-Ally LLC. https://lab-ally.com/products/rspace-eln/. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
