MONTREAL, Oct. 14, 2011 /ATR-Newswire/  ELECTRONICS.CA PUBLICATIONS, the electronics industry market research and knowledge network, announces the release of a comprehensive global report on Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs) markets.

The global market for Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs) is forecast to reach $284 million by the year 2017. Key factors driving market growth include increasing drive towards enhancing R&D efficiencies, rising demand for transfer of knowledge among scientists, and growing emphasis on intellectual property protection. Additional factors, such as the advancement of the ELN technology, large untapped market potential, increasing adoption of ELNs in non-traditional end-use sectors, availability of new and advanced products in the market, are also expected to fuel market growth.

Paper notebooks, for decades, have proved beneficial for scientists in the form of records for drafting research papers, regulation compliance, and for defending patents. However, despite their advantages, the use of paper notebooks in laboratories has certain vital drawbacks, including the potential of unremitting repetition of failed research work as well as the inability to share positive experiences with other researchers. R&D labs in the present environment are battling various issues, and there is an increasing emphasis on improving efficiencies of laboratories as well as sharing information. Increasingly, laboratories are tuning into Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs) in a bid to address their efficiency and productivity issues.

From a stage where only a few large visionary companies adopted the technology, ELN has spread its wings into a broader market within a short span of time. Besides, the technology has also witnessed an evolution from general-purpose solutions to more specific solutions. Today, the ELN market provides users with a wide array of solutions, adoption of which depends solely on the requirements of end-users. New generation products are increasingly blurring the boundaries between Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), Scientific Data Management System (SDMS) and the ELNs, providing novel solutions to address issues of laboratory data management.

ELNs or Electronic Laboratory Notebooks market has been witnessing significant growth in recent years. Much of this growth is emanating from the commercial life sciences sector. ELNs are increasingly penetrating new domains, such as quality assurance, analytical chemistry and biology in addition to their traditional strongholds, such as process and medicinal chemistry, providing substantial momentum to the ELN market. Currently, ELNs represent one of the fastest growing segments in the scientific informatics market, even outshining LIMS (Laboratory Information Management Systems). With increased number of suppliers and end-users, and vendor solutions addressing user needs, ranging from discovery to quality, the market for ELNs is expected to witness substantial growth in the foreseeable future.

Going forwards, increasing demand for further fusion of features would create tough times for the vendors of ELNs, which in turn would pressurize players to embark on the off-the-shelf product assimilations and alliances with other players. Vendors would increasingly focus on creating solutions to bridge information flow between departments, as use of specific ELN solutions would create silos of information across various departments. Vendors are expected to strive to create more thinner and holistic solutions for widening the role of ELNs in the enterprise information architecture, as well as to reduce barriers between internal departments and external collaborators.

The US represents the largest regional market for Electronic Laboratory Notebooks worldwide, as stated by a new market research report on Electronic Laboratory Notebooks. However, growth in the market would be led by Rest of World, which is forecast to be the fastest growing regional market during the analysis period. Segment-wise, ELN Software Licensing represents the largest market segment, while ELN Software Support Services represents the fastest growing market segment.

The global ELN market is dotted with the presence of several vendors, with more new players entering into the market. Although the industry has witnessed some consolidation in recent years, the market is yet to witness one clear market leader. The ELN companies vary in the size from small, upstart companies to those earning over $1.0 billion in annual revenues. Major players profiled in the report include Accelrys Inc., Agilent Technologies Inc., Amphora Research Systems, CambridgeSoft Corp., Contur Software, ID Business Solutions Ltd., LABTrack LLC, Labtronics Inc., VelQuest Corp., Waters Corporation, among others.

The research report titled "Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs): A Global Strategic Business Report" announced by Global Industry Analysts Inc., provides a comprehensive review of the Electronic Laboratory Notebooks markets, current market trends, key growth drivers, recent product approvals, recent industry activity, and profiles of major/niche global as well as regional market participants. The report provides annual sales estimates and projections for Electronic Laboratory Notebooks market for the years 2009 through 2017 for the following geographic markets - US, Canada, Japan, Europe, and Rest of World. The report also analyzes the market by the following segments – ELN Software Licensing, and ELN Software Support Services. Also, a six-year (2003-2008) historic analysis is provided for an additional perspective.

Details of the new report, table of contents and ordering information can be found on Electronics.ca Publications' web site. View the report: "Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs): A Global Strategic Business Report".