Agilent ChemStore End of Support & Transition to OpenLAB CDS Frequently Asked Questions

Importance of the Topic

The end-of-support for legacy chromatography data management systems poses significant challenges for laboratories that rely on long-term data integrity and regulatory compliance.
Understanding and planning the transition away from outdated software is critical to maintaining uninterrupted operations, safeguarding analytical results, and meeting quality standards.

Objectives and Overview of the Document

This FAQ document aims to inform users about the discontinuation timeline for Agilent ChemStore, clarify the scope of remaining support, and outline available upgrade paths to the modern OpenLAB software suite.
It provides guidance on software maintenance agreements, upgrade pricing, data migration processes, and tools for verifying data integrity.

Methodology and Transition Service

The document is structured as a series of questions and answers covering:

• Product lifecycle stages (Limited Support and End-of-Support for ChemStore).
• The ChemStore Transition Service that extracts and reformats legacy data for compatibility with OpenLAB CDS ChemStation Edition and optional OpenLAB ECM.
• Procedures for generating migration pricing based on database characteristics and executing the transition via a Statement of Work.

Main Findings and Discussion

• Support for all ChemStore components officially ends on December 31, 2015, with limited best effort assistance available until that date.
• The ChemStore Transition Service remains available until June 30, 2016, to facilitate data extraction, partitioning, and upload into OpenLAB platforms.
• Customers with active Software Maintenance Agreements receive license credits and discounted upgrade pricing for OpenLAB CDS and ECM; expired agreements require purchase of new licenses at upgrade rates.
• Transition processing time varies from a few weeks depending on database size, file quality, and data integrity; verification includes checksum validation, record counts, and audit trail preservation.
• A dedicated data viewer replicates ChemStore review functionality and supports auditor-ready reports, electronic signatures, and reprocessing within OpenLAB CDS for regulatory inspections.

Benefits and Practical Applications

• Sustained data integrity and traceability through comprehensive migration and verification workflows.
• Improved long-term support and software roadmap certainty via OpenLABs modern, scalable architecture.
• Streamlined audit readiness with integrated reporting tools and preserved metadata.
• Scalable environment for future growth in data volume and additional users.

Future Trends and Potential Applications

Emerging trends include broader adoption of centralized data repositories like OpenLAB Data Store, integration with Enterprise Content Management (ECM), and expansion toward cloud-based laboratory informatics.
Advanced analytics and electronic laboratory notebooks will further enhance data reuse, cross-laboratory collaboration, and compliance automation.

Conclusion

Proactive migration from ChemStore to the OpenLAB software suite is essential to maintain operational continuity, regulatory compliance, and access to technical support.
Agilent's transition service and upgrade programs offer structured pathways to modernize chromatography data management before support withdrawal.