Summary:
Many scientific enterprises find themselves in need of a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) to replace an incumbent system, whether an existing commercial application, an amalgam of systems, or an in-house solution. Once the decision has been made, the selection and deployment of a new LIMS should move quickly and decisively. This white paper serves as a guide to selecting a commercial (LIMS).
Overview:
Safeguarding data, faster product release, and improved compliance benefit the entire company, but certain stakeholders can derive specific benefits from this document. The key stakeholders who will benefit from this document fall into the categories of quality control, lab supervision, information technology, quality assurance as well as laboratory personnel.
While many enterprises start with a call to arms of business analysts, lab managers, subject matter experts, and a plethora of related resources in an attempt to capture requirements, few companies take the time to examine the high level objectives for a new LIMS, or how they intend to measure the success of the deployment. Doing so requires that the scientific enterprise is required to step back to consider a new paradigm: an approach that demands a departure from the comfortable examination and documentation of existing system functionality in the belief that doing so establishes the underpinning of their next system.
Using an incumbent system as a frame of reference, by definition, sidesteps potential process improvements made available within the work-flow of the enterprise, the leveraging of new technology, and the functional innovations that accompany the natural evolution of software.
