Data Management Experiences and Best Practices from the Perspective of a Plant Research Institute

Research in life sciences faces increasing amounts of cross-domain data, also kown as "big data". This has notable effects on IT-departments and the dry lab desk alike. In this paper, we report on experiences from a decade of data management in a plant research institute. We explain the switch from personally managed files and heterogeneous information systems towards a centrally organised storage management. In particular, we discuss lessons that were learned within the last decade of productive research, data generation and software development from the perspective of a modern plant research institute and present the results of a strategic realignment of the data management infrastructure. Finally, we summarise the challenges which were solved and the questions which are still open.