One year ago, DECTRIS CLOUD officially went online. What started as an idea to simplify scientific data processing has become a reliable platform used by labs and facilities around the world.
One Year. One Platform. Worldwide Use.
Since its release, DECTRIS CLOUD has had an accelerating first year. In numbers, this meant:
- Support for 10 beamlines at 7 synchrotron facilities in Europe and North America
- Integration with 5 electron microscopes (including SEM, CryoEM, and 4DSTEM) on three continents
- 100% uptime for an entire year (see our public status page)
- Use of both AWS and Google Cloud to provide flexible, scalable computing options
- Processing on NVIDIA A100 GPUs, for both automated and interactive jobs
- More than 400 registered users, with 100+ active users every month
- More than 360 custom software environments that are used for data processing and analysis
- More than 500 interactive data analysis sessions that ran on >150,000 CPUh and >1,000 GPUh
In short: A year after we flipped the switch, researchers are using DECTRIS CLOUD daily to access unique tools and capabilities, process experimental data and collaborate more effectively.
A System That for Reproducible Science
Modern science hinges on more than just reliable tools - it requires infrastructure that adapts, scales, and enables reproducible results without friction. DECTRIS CLOUD was designed with these principles in mind.
Today, the platform automates complex processes: managing jobs across shared resources, ensuring consistent and versioned software environments, maintaining secure access controls, and providing instant data availability across continents. Researchers can launch interactive sessions with pre-configured tools with the performance they need at any given moment- removing the overhead of traditional HPC scripting and removing all the related portability challenges.
To ensure data protection and system integrity, the platform also completed a full third-party security audit by Cobalt to ensure the platform meets industry standards when it comes to protecting scientific data.
Additional achievements include:
- A multi-region setup in Europe, Asia, and North America, with high bandwidth for fast uploads
- Version-controlled storage, so users can track changes and recover earlier results if needed
- Automated workflows and integrations with other systems used at research facilities
- Interactive sessions with pre-configured environments tailored to scientific workflows
- Custom software environments that can now be created by snapshots from interactive sessions
Learning Through Use
Not everything worked perfectly from the beginning. Early users pointed out challenges, like delays in processing, file visibility, and rigid software environments. We listened - and improved. Regular updates and user feedback helped us fix issues quickly. Now, over 75% of users say the platform works as well or better than they expected.
One of the most telling signs of success: once users join, they tend to stay. And they recommend it to others.
If you are curious to hear what our users do in DECTRIS CLOUD, just join one of our biweekly Power User meetings or our Discord channel.
Changing the Way People Work
The most important shift that happened this year isn’t technical - it’s in how people think.
DECTRIS CLOUD is no longer seen as a backup option or a workaround. For many labs, it’s becoming the standard way to work across data sources, especially when compute resources are limited or users are working remotely.
Beamlines use it to ease pressure on local infrastructure. Scientists use it to access their data, run analysis, and collaborate from anywhere. The question is no longer “Should we try this?” but “When can we start?”
What’s Next
In our second year, we’ll keep focusing on:
- Simplicity, to help scientists stay focused on their research
- Scalability, to support more users and growing data needs
- Speed, to deliver fast feedback during experiments
Coming soon:
- Publishing of data, software environments and workflows as one
- Scientific project and team management compatible with funding schemes
- Better and faster availability of high end compute capabilities
- Stronger support for FAIR data practices and long-term storage
- More user-friendly services tailored to real scientific workflows
DECTRIS CLOUD is no longer just an idea. It’s a working system, built and improved through real-world use. If it’s not yet part of your workflow, chances are it will be soon.
Not because we’re promoting it - but because researchers like you are already making the switch.
Happy Birthday DECTRIS CLOUD - we can’t wait to see what the second year brings.
