How Lifecycle Services are the Right Choice for Science and Research Industries

Until the advent of the Digital Age, scientists discovered new information through processes that were slow, painstaking, and ineffective. Only research sparked by ingenuity could yield significant results, and the storage of found information was both susceptible to loss and sometimes difficult to propagate. The initial aid of computing in research copied data to safeguard from potential damage and expedited its transfer to an unforeseeable degree. However, not every research discipline possesses the technological aptitude to optimize the use of computing power. Companies servicing the IT asset lifecycle supply the necessary acumen, from asset acquisition to eventual disposal, to enhance every stage of laboratorial research.

How do Laboratories Use Technology?

Research and Development comprise the initial link of almost every industrial supply chain. Before a product can be manufactured, technicians investigate cost-efficiency, practicality, and competitive advantage. The resultant information determines whether the process can move forward or still requires further alterations. Automation has been the most significant boon for researchers, assuming responsibility for the menial and repetitive tasks that require time, not expertise. Computer-controlled robotics streamline research by freeing up valuable time for researchers to spend on data-analysis rather than data-collection. Moreover, the precision of automated labor eliminates the risk of human error, contributing to the accuracy of experimental findings.

In addition, the implementation of computing in research has granted higher levels of data-security. Aside from the sheer value of intellectual property, it is a privilege of researchers to gather and publish knowledge of their own accord, under protection from unauthorized access. Functional hardware and reliable software prevent the compromise of sensitive data and advance the capabilities of research facilities and their personnel.

Smart Technology, the conceptual foundation of the Internet of Things (IoT), grows more common and reaches wider applications every day. The notion of the Smart home, with a litany of interconnected devices, has found modern use in research laboratories. Similar to the value of automation, Smart technology permits precision through the control of environmental variables. The difference of a single temperature degree can hamper the experimental process, but Smart technology utilizes a network of sensors to maintain the conditions of a research environment. Additionally, the fabric of Smart technology as a network works in conjunction with Cloud computing to upload, store, and subsequently share information with unprecedented ease. This in turn allows for multi-locational collaboration, in which distanced facilities can cooperate to achieve the same goal.

Smart Technology, as well as robotic automation and security measures, function through the use of computers. IT lifecycle services provide the necessary hardware to utilize these mechanisms at their full potential. These companies also oversee the disposal of hardware once it has grown defunct, undergoing the process of Data Destruction to ensure total information erasure before refurbishment and resale.

What Kinds of Research Facilities Use Technology?

Laboratories exploring and developing biotechnology constitute the largest illustration of industrial research. From pharmaceutical manufacturing to industrial chemical production, biotechnology encompasses the analysis of living cell material for use in a plethora of departmental applications. Biotechnology takes the form of Medicinal, Agricultural, Industrial, and Environmental fields, but every one of these utilizes research laboratories aided by the use of computers.

Agricultural research, for example, implements temperature and moisture sensors, aerial imaging, GPS tracking, and robotic automation for precision farming. Computing power grants the ability to minimize costs and produce significantly higher crop yields. Environmental research, on the other hand, pursues sustainable practices to safeguard the global ecosystem. Computers allow for accurate renditions of 3D models and the aggregation of data to make informed conjectures about environmental health. Furthermore, the use of technology benefits the study of renewable resource harvesting. With the assistance of advanced hardware, research into solar panels, wind and water turbines, and wave-energy converters has optimized the collection of clean, renewable energy.

As rates of waste grow increasingly high, sustainability has become one of the most essential concerns of global industries. Technology in research cultivates eco-friendly habits by reducing consumption. Technology in agriculture reduces the amount of water, fertilizer, and pesticides used, consequently diminishing chemical runoff. In modern biotechnology labs, scientists can use much smaller sample collections to accrue the same level of data readings. Lab equipment, too, has decreased substantially in size while simultaneously accumulating a wider array of functions. Multi-function integration inherently limits the amount of waste and e-waste that can potentially harm the environment. Laboratories notoriously require upwards of five times the amount of energy used in typical office spaces, but with the application of technological innovations can drastically reduce that consumption.

How can IT Lifecycle Services Contribute to Research?

From the initial stage of asset acquisition, lifecycle services commit to cost-efficiency and optimization. With IT expertise, these companies select only the most appropriate, practical hardware for use. The phases of installation and deployment arrange the network of devices to perform with exquisite and precise functionality. Extended maintenance throughout each device’s lifespan ensures continuous peak performance. When the hardware grows obsolete, lifecycle services oversee secure destruction of data and responsible recycling of material.

The information garnered through careful research deserves protection. Organizations such as the National Association of Information Destruction (NAID) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provide certifications of security to lifecycle service companies that demonstrate compliance with national regulations. Companies certified by these bodies can be trusted to completely sanitize the relevant data from any device no longer in use. With rising concerns for sustainability as well, responsible lifecycle services also display adherence to safe recycling practices, governed by such institutions as R2 and e-Steward. Only NAID or NIST verified companies can be trusted to erase the necessary sensitive data, and only those that comply with R2 or e-Steward standards guarantee ethical disposal.

Research and development marks the foremost stage of almost every industry. The implementation of technology in laboratories not only optimizes their function, it also contributes to continued sustainable practice. Cooperating with trustworthy and responsible IT lifecycle service companies proves the only guaranteed method of using technology to thrive and securing stored, sensitive information from any form of risk.