Why Organizations Choose ATEK Over Sensirion: Build vs. Buy for Environmental Monitoring
Sensirion’s CMOSens MEMS sensor technology is exceptional—the company’s SHT, STS, SGP, SCD, and SPS sensor families power climate control systems, medical devices, and industrial equipment worldwide. Founded in 1998 as an ETH Zurich spinoff and now publicly traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange with ~CHF 250M annual revenue, Sensirion has built a strong reputation as a component supplier to OEMs who want to differentiate their products through superior sensing.
But there’s a critical distinction between having excellent sensors and having a complete environmental monitoring solution. For organizations in regulated industries—pharmaceutical manufacturing, biotech R&D, hospital pharmacies, clinical research labs—choosing Sensirion sensors raises a fundamental question: Are you equipped to build a monitoring platform around sensor components, or do you need a ready-to-use system?
This is not a technology comparison. It’s a build vs. buy decision. Sensirion wins on sensor precision. ATEK wins by handling everything else.
Understanding Sensirion
Sensirion began as a sensor research initiative at ETH Zurich’s microsystems laboratory. The company went independent in 1998, commercialized the CMOSens MEMS process, and grew into a dominant sensor supplier for OEM manufacturers who embed Sensirion components into their own products.
Today, Sensirion’s product portfolio includes:
- SHT series — Humidity and temperature sensors (±1.5% RH, ±0.1°C accuracy)
- STS — Temperature-only sensors (±0.2°C accuracy, compact form factor)
- SGP — Multi-gas and volatile organic compound (VOC) sensors
- SDP — Differential pressure sensors (used in medical ventilators, HVAC systems)
- SCD — CO2 sensors (increasingly common in indoor air quality monitoring)
- SPS — Particulate matter sensors (PM2.5, PM10 detection)
Sensirion’s recognized strengths include:
- MEMS Sensor Precision — CMOSens integrated circuits deliver high-accuracy environmental sensing with tight calibration tolerances. SHT humidity sensors achieve ±1.5% relative humidity accuracy; STS temperature sensors reach ±0.2°C—both figures far exceed general industrial requirements and suit precision applications like pharmaceutical environmental monitoring
- Deep OEM Relationships — Established partnerships with global equipment manufacturers in automotive (climate control modules), medical devices (patient monitors, ventilators), consumer electronics (smart thermostats, air quality monitors), and industrial sectors (HVAC, factory automation). OEM customers value Sensirion’s consistent quality and willingness to customize sensor configurations
- Sustained Innovation Trajectory — Continuous R&D investment has expanded Sensirion’s portfolio from temperature and humidity sensing into gas detection (VOCs, CO2) and particulate matter—areas where the market demands ever-more-sophisticated environmental data
Common Challenges with Sensirion
Organizations evaluating Sensirion sensors for regulated monitoring frequently encounter these considerations:
- No monitoring platform to deploy directly — A Sensirion SHT sensor is a component, not a monitoring system. Purchasing sensors means committing to hardware design, embedded software development, cloud platform selection or development, and compliance architecture—months or years of engineering before the first regulated facility can deploy the system
- Custom software development required — Sensirion provides raw sensor data via serial communication or I2C/SPI interfaces. Converting that data into real-time dashboards, alerting logic, compliance-grade logging, and mobile access requires full-stack software development. Organizations without in-house firmware and cloud engineering teams face outsourced development costs and ongoing maintenance responsibility
- Compliance infrastructure is your responsibility — Sensirion sensors have component-level calibration certificates but do not provide FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliance, electronic signatures, audit trails, or ALCOA+ data integrity features. Building a compliant monitoring system with Sensirion components requires establishing calibration procedures, maintaining audit trails at the application level, implementing access controls, and creating validation protocols—expertise that sensor suppliers do not provide
- Calibration and recalibration logistics — Without an established calibration infrastructure, organizations must either contract with external calibration labs (adding cost and coordination overhead) or establish in-house calibration capability (requiring equipment investment and personnel training). Sensirion provides component certification; ongoing monitoring point recalibration is not part of the sensor purchase
- Integration complexity at scale — Small deployments with a few Sensirion sensors remain manageable; larger facilities with dozens or hundreds of monitoring points require robust data acquisition hardware, network infrastructure, and cloud scaling—increasing complexity and total cost of ownership
How ATEK Addresses These Needs
Complete Turn-Key Solution Without Integration Engineering: Where Sensirion offers sensors requiring custom system development, ATEK provides an integrated monitoring platform. Sensors, wireless communication, cloud infrastructure, dashboards, alerting, compliance features, and calibration are all included. Organizations deploy environmental monitoring in days or weeks—not months of engineering and validation.
FDA 21 CFR Part 11 Compliance from Day One: Sensirion sensor components have no regulatory compliance capability. ATEK’s platform delivers native compliance with electronic signatures, complete audit trails, ALCOA+ data integrity, and automated qualification documentation. For regulated facilities, this means compliance risk is eliminated from day one. Learn more about ATEK’s pharmaceutical monitoring platform and how it serves facilities operating under FDA, Health Canada, and EMA requirements.
Real-Time Cloud Monitoring Without Software Development: Sensirion sensors require custom cloud development to become useful. ATEK’s fully managed cloud platform includes real-time dashboards, configurable alerts (SMS, phone, email, audible escalations), automated compliance reporting, mobile app access, and multi-site management. No software development, no cloud infrastructure scaling, no ongoing platform maintenance—the platform is ready immediately.
Inclusive A2LA-Accredited Calibration: Organizations using Sensirion sensors must establish their own calibration procedure or contract with third-party calibration labs. ATEK includes A2LA-accredited calibration in Canada, eliminating cross-border shipping delays and separate calibration service contracts. Recalibration is scheduled automatically and included in the per-monitoring-point rate—no surprise lab fees or coordination overhead.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Factor | Sensirion | ATEK | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sensor component quality | Excellent (±1.5% RH, ±0.2°C) | Good (±1.5% RH, ±0.3°C) | Sensirion |
| Ready-to-deploy monitoring | Not included | Full platform | ATEK |
| Cloud platform | Customer builds | Included, managed | ATEK |
| Real-time dashboards | Not provided | Included | ATEK |
| FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliance | Not addressed | Native compliance | ATEK |
| Electronic signatures & audit trail | Not provided | Included | ATEK |
| Mobile application | Not provided | Included | ATEK |
| Calibration service | Customer responsibility | A2LA in-house | ATEK |
| Validation documentation (IQ/OQ/PQ) | Not provided | Included | ATEK |
| 24/7 support | Not applicable (components) | 5-minute guarantee | ATEK |
Who Benefits Most from Switching
- Organizations with Sensirion sensors in existing systems that need cloud monitoring and compliance infrastructure built around those sensors. If you’ve already committed to Sensirion components but lack a platform to manage them, ATEK can provide the monitoring layer and compliance infrastructure without requiring sensor replacement
- Biotech and pharmaceutical R&D facilities currently evaluating component-based sensor solutions who recognize that building a compliant monitoring system from components requires months of engineering and validation. ATEK’s turn-key approach eliminates the development burden
- Clinical research organizations operating under 21 CFR Part 11 requirements who need rapid deployment of compliant environmental monitoring without undertaking custom software development
Making the Transition
If your organization is currently planning to build a monitoring system around Sensirion sensors, switching to ATEK changes the approach:
- Assessment of current architecture — We review your planned monitoring requirements: sensor types, locations, accuracy needs, data frequency, and compliance requirements. If you have prototypes or pilot deployments with Sensirion sensors, we evaluate those as well
- Platform deployment — ATEK deploys a complete monitoring solution designed for your specific facility and regulatory requirements. If you’re replacing planned Sensirion-based development, ATEK can integrate Sensirion sensors directly into our platform, or we provide equivalent sensors as part of the turn-key system
- Validation and commissioning — Complete IQ/OQ/PQ validation is included. For pharmaceutical facilities, we provide qualification protocols demonstrating that ATEK’s monitoring meets or exceeds the specifications of any Sensirion component-based system you were planning to build
- Handoff to operations — ATEK’s 24/7 support team takes over monitoring operations. Your organization gains continuous environmental compliance oversight without maintaining custom software or calibration infrastructure
When Sensirion May Be the Right Fit
Sensirion is the right choice for organizations that are equipment manufacturers (OEMs) needing to embed sensors into your own products—HVAC systems, medical devices, consumer appliances, or industrial equipment. If you’re building products that customers will eventually use, Sensirion’s component approach and OEM relationship model are ideal. Sensirion is also appropriate for research organizations with dedicated embedded systems and software engineering teams who want to build custom monitoring solutions and benefit from Sensirion’s sensor precision and development support.
When ATEK Is the Better Choice
Choose ATEK when you need:
- A ready-to-deploy monitoring system without months of custom software development
- FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliance from day one, not compliance built incrementally around Sensirion components
- Cloud platform, dashboards, alerting, and reporting included—not additional costs to be engineered separately
- A2LA-accredited calibration and ongoing recalibration included in pricing
- 24/7 environmental monitoring specialists available for support, not component supplier technical support
- Rapid deployment into regulated facilities without validation delays
Start with a free assessment to understand how ATEK’s turn-key approach compares to the timeline and cost of building a monitoring system from Sensirion components.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can ATEK use Sensirion sensors in its monitoring systems?
Yes. While ATEK uses proprietary sensor integrations optimized for our platform, we can incorporate Sensirion sensors if your organization has existing equipment or preferences for CMOSens components. However, ATEK’s integrated sensor stack is designed for seamless cloud connectivity, compliance certification, and calibration—advantages that standalone Sensirion components cannot provide without additional development. Request a demo to discuss your specific sensor requirements.
Does ATEK provide the same sensor accuracy as Sensirion?
ATEK’s sensors are calibrated to ±1.5% relative humidity and ±0.3°C temperature accuracy—meeting or exceeding pharmaceutical monitoring requirements per USP <1075>. Sensirion’s CMOSens components achieve slightly tighter component-level tolerance (±0.2°C), but component precision is only one factor in end-to-end monitoring accuracy. ATEK’s complete system includes calibration verification, environmental compensation, and compliance documentation that ensure accuracy throughout the monitoring point’s lifecycle—advantages that component-level tolerances alone do not guarantee.
How much longer does it take to build a monitoring system with Sensirion components vs. deploying ATEK?
Building a regulated monitoring system from Sensirion sensors typically requires 3–6 months of development for firmware, cloud platform, compliance architecture, and validation—assuming you have internal embedded systems and cloud engineering expertise. ATEK deploys in weeks. For organizations without in-house development teams, outsourced development of a Sensirion-based system can add 6–12 months to timeline and $50K–$200K+ in engineering costs. ATEK eliminates this entirely.
Is ATEK FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliant like Sensirion will be when built into my system?
Sensirion sensors themselves are not FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliant—compliance is an attribute of the complete monitoring system you build. ATEK provides native FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliance including electronic signatures, complete audit trails, ALCOA+ data integrity, and automated qualification documentation. For regulated facilities, ATEK eliminates the need to architect and validate compliance features yourself.
What if we’ve already started development with Sensirion sensors?
If you have prototype deployments or ongoing development with Sensirion sensors, ATEK can accommodate them within our platform ecosystem. We conduct an assessment of your current architecture, integrate Sensirion sensors if beneficial, or provide equivalent sensors as part of a complete solution. This approach salvages your existing sensor investments while eliminating further software development burden.
How does ATEK’s pricing compare to building a system with Sensirion components?
Sensirion sensor components cost $10–$100+ per unit depending on sensor type and order volume. Building a complete monitoring system requires adding enclosure design ($5K–$20K), electronics development ($10K–$30K), firmware development ($20K–$50K), cloud platform ($30K–$100K+), calibration setup ($5K–$15K), validation ($10K–$30K), and ongoing support staffing. Total first-system cost typically ranges from $100K–$300K+ for a small facility. ATEK’s all-inclusive per-monitoring-point pricing for comparable capability eliminates these engineering and validation costs entirely. Request a demo for a detailed cost comparison specific to your facility size and requirements.