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About
History
Ecobima AB started in 1985 based on a product for the the fiber industry
(at that time, it was called BRK-tjänst AB). We have since then changed
profile towards consulting, mainly focusing on the needs of academia and public sector.
Our skills range from biology to software engineering, mechanical engineering and mathematics.
This is reflected in our name (Engineering COmputers BIology MAthematics).
Our mission
We create the future infrastructure and technology used in research, in particular the life-sciences.
We believe that these must be open and available to as many as possible, for research to be reproducible, fast and cost-efficient.
Design philosophy
We strongly believe in creating lasting new methods and infrastructure. Many of the solutions
provided by others today are short-sighted. For example, we always ensure that the software
we provide works on both Windows, Mac OSX and Linux - that way the software will not force you
into strategic decisions but you can count on it to still be around as your organisation evolves.
For every line of code we write, we think total cost. The cost of the solution is not only the
work to create it, but also to maintain it, to finally phase it out, and indirect alternative
costs caused by the organisation having to adapt to it (there is always adaption but sometimes
less is needed). When you ask us to deliver a solution you can rest assured that we think further
about your needs than your contract with us extends.
Open Source
We think that for research to be open, reproducible and the used method to be widely available,
the involved software must be open source. Open source is both a political/ethical movement, and a
different way of licensing software. Either way, it gives tremendous power to the end-user.
Contrary to common belief, Open Source software is among the most mature software in existence.
The way it is developed, components are forced to be modular and shared by many projects, and
the code is open for public scrutiny. This means large parts have been massively tested and
can be customized as much as needed. Companies such as IBM and Google, develop and use open source
for their mission critical systems.
For you as a customer, open source has three strong points:
- The software is not locked to a particular vendor. If you no longer like the vendor, you can choose another one, without changing the software.
- The license agreement is simple - you can do almost anything you want with the software.
- It is possible to migrate away from the software, with or without the cooperation of the vendor.
Thus we encourage you to choose a solution which is open source to safe-guard your investment.
We regularly use GPL or BSD.
Open standards
We consider a standard to be open if it is royalty-free, clearly documented and not unnecessarily complicated.
Open standards are your second life line - by using them, you will be able to read your archived files far into the future,
you will be able to communicate with others using other software, and the total cost of the solution usually decreases.
Legal
Ecobima AB is a joint-stock company registered in Sweden ("Innehar F-skattesedel").
Swedish organization number: 556394-7232.