2025 ELN Buyer’s
Toolkit
A Quick Guide to Smarter Scientific Data Management
Welcome to your ELN buyer’s toolkit!
So, you’re in the market for an ELN. Or maybe you’ve inherited a mess and you’re finally allowed to fix it. Either way, you’re here because “the way we’ve always done it” isn’t cutting it anymore.
This toolkit is your shortcut to clarity.
No jargon. No fluff. Just what you need to make a smart, scalable decision.
Why ELNs matter (more than ever).
Today’s research is faster, more global, and more collaborative. But guess what hasn’t kept up? Your data workflows.
That spreadsheet + email + paper combo might’ve worked in 2009. In 2025? Not so much. An ELN is no longer a nice-to-have.
It’s mission critical.
Five buying traps to avoid.
1 The Pretty Face: Gorgeous UI,
but no substance.
2 The One-Trick Pony: Great for chemistry,
useless for biologics.
3 The Lock-In: Vendor makes integration
feel like a hostage situation.
4 The Frankenstein: “Customizable”...
if you have six developers on standby.
5 The Silo Machine: Doesn’t actually connect
your teams or your data. Been there? Us too.
Let’s avoid the rerun.
What great looks like. The right
ELN should:
Handle chemistry, biology, formulations, and materials
Connect your instruments, inventory, analytics, and requests
Work across teams, time zones, and partners
Speak your language (yes, even sequence search + structure search)
Scale like it actually wants you to succeed
This isn’t just a workflow.
It’s your reality. Your ELN should:
Support scientists in every phase
Be role-based and intuitive Push data forward instead of trapping it
Think of it as your lab’s operation system, not a dusty digital notebook.
Does your ELN do this?
This is your checklist:
Supports both structured &
unstructured data
Built-in visualization + analytics Works with your instruments
Handles partner data & CRO workflows
Strong IP protection
(signature, audit trails) Cloud-native, secure, and global Actually fun to use (seriously)
Got most of those? You’re on the right track. If not, keep reading...
Meet Dotmatics ELN!
Not to brag (okay, maybe a little), but Dotmatics ELN checks ALL the boxes: Designed for Make→Test→Decide workflows
Part of the Luma Platform (think: connected R&D) Handles biologics, mixed entities, and novel research
Gives your team a single source of truth Integrates with… basically everything
So, how does this help you in your role? Click to navigate: Biologics
Chemists
CROs IT & Ops
Here’s how it helps biologists.
Your world is live cells, not static spreadsheets. With Dotmatics ELN, you can analyze plate data, fit doseresponse curves, and visualize IC50s like a pro.
Dotmatics ELN is your daily canvas:
interactive, traceable, and tailor-made for
complex biology workflows.
Here’s how
it
helps chemists.
Need to sketch reactions, track limiting reagents, and explore synthetic routes? The Dotmatics ELN does it all without slowing you down.
Think of it as your virtual fume hood: clean, organized, and fully searchable.
See how we compare
Here’s how it helps CRO managers.
You deal in deadlines, data flow, and accountability. Our multi-experiment workflow maps help you visualize dependencies, monitor statuses, and maintain control across projects.
See how we compare
Here’s how it helps IT & Ops.
You like clean integrations and sleep-filled nights. Dotmatics ELN gives you both; it’s built for plugand-play configurations, easy compliance, and global deployment, without constant babysitting.
See how we compare
Here’s how we stack up against the competition.
Criteria
Cross-Discipline Workflows
Make→Test→
Decide Support
Biologics & Mixed Entity Support
Electronic Lab Notebook
Supports chemistry, biology, formulations, and materials
Designed to streamline the entire research cycle
Comprehensive support, including chemically-modified therapeutics
The Other Guys
Primarily focused on biology
Limited support across all phases of research
Limited support for chemicallymodified therapeutics
Integration Flexibility
Data Visualization & Insights
IP & Audit Compliance
Global Collaboration
Seamless integration with a suite of R&D tools at Dotmatics and third-party APIs
Advanced tools for data analysis and visualization
Robust IP protection with audit trails and electronic signatures
Relies on third-party integrations
Basic visualization capabilities
Basic compliance features
Supports cross-team, crosstime zone collaboration
Limited features for global collaboration
Ready to try it?
Book a quick demo. Bring your checklist. Grill us. We’ll show you how Dotmatics ELN fits your real-world science, without the sales-y hand-waving.
Get a Demo
Join some of the top R&D companies in the world who trust Dotmatics with their research.
