Agilent Technologies and Waters formalise instrument control exchange

Lab equipment providers Agilent Technologies and Waters have announced a formal agreement to exchange instrument controls to improve the productivity of customers who own software and instruments from both companies.

Waters and Agilent first agreed to exchange instrument control codes in 1999. The new agreement replaces earlier provisions under which Agilent implemented control of Waters instruments in the Agilent OpenLAB chromatography data system and Waters implemented control of Agilent liquid chromatography instruments in Waters Empower Software.

It defines terms and conditions on how the companies will exchange instrument control documentation and driver software; how they will provide developer and technical support to one another; and the escalation mechanisms for resolving technical issues for their mutual customers.

“Agilent’s open-systems approach to laboratory informatics allows our customers to select the best hardware and software for their needs,” said John Sadler, Agilent vice president and general manager of software and informatics. “We are integrating a full complement of third-party gas and liquid chromatography instruments into our OpenLAB software suite in collaboration with other analytical instrument manufacturers. Our aim is to provide the best-working and best-tested software for our mutual customers.”

“The trend toward standardisation by laboratories for the adoption of a single chromatography data management and instrument control software platform, like Waters Empower Software, is bringing significant value to science-driven organisations at the enterprise level,” said Dr Rohit Khanna, vice president of marketing, Waters. “Renewing this agreement demonstrates Waters’ continued commitment to ensure the success of our mutual customers.”