Benefits to IT Managers and System Implementers:

  Learn from other people's experiences and receive proven methodologies for the successful development and application of electronic records management and archival systems, electronic notebooks applications, component-based assembly environments and tools, and collaborative computing in R&D environments.

  Emphasize configuration (instead of customization that is still the norm today) by starting with higher-level preprogrammed system components that fit R&D and testing laboratory activities better than those available today ("coarse-grained building blocks").

  Move to higher reusability by emphasizing integration frameworks, wrappering of legacy applications, and component-based systems. Use an approach that emphasizes standardized interfaces and products that facilitate "solution assembly" rather than custom programming.

  Receive much better architected systems and integration tools for R&D and lab automation applications.  The current set of integration tools are very difficult to apply and take far too much time.  The current integration tools and solutions are simply not complete or intelligent enough.