link to www.lims-solutions.com Home
print window Print Page
add to favorite places Add to Favorites
tell a friend about Tell a Friend
  Articles
      

Important LIMS Software Features

Purchasing a LIMS can seem to be even more overwhelming than purchasing a new family car. There are so many options and choices! There are so many quality programs out there! How can you really decide, painlessly, which solution is a match for you? This LIMS has this feature, that LIMS has that feature, but how do you know what might be a feature that is nice to have versus something that is something that you will not be able to live without? Buying a car or a LIMS is at the very least a several year commitment, so you need to make the right choices. But it isn't just limited to the bells and whistles of the software. No, there is also tech support to consider. (Did you want a life time of free oil changes with that Cadillac ma'am?)

Here is a brief list of considerations/requirements/features that you may wish to compare when shopping for a LIMS:

Tech Support Okay, so you buy the product and then what? Be careful! Some products have tricky back end costs, and remember, you aren't just going to 'scrap' a full blown LIMS implementation after you purchase it just to save a few tens of thousands of dollars a year in tech support. So make ab-so-lute-ly sure that you read the fine print and that you understand all of the issues. If you don't, then this time the bear may just bite you.

Training Most LIMS providers are pretty good about this. Initially. When you first get a system it is shiny and new. Everyone gathers around. The training begins. But how good is it? What is meant by this is: How much of the training will be practical for your particular organization? Does it need to be customized? (I.E. was the program customized?) If the software provider is so small that they can not handle cross training on customizations or if they are so big that they either do not offer (reasonable) customizations and/or are too big to be able to fine tune training on customized software then how is your team trained? Is it "Too bad"? Ouch. Training for a LIMS implementation needs to encompass these overall areas. These areas may vary by relative degree of importance based on your specific implementation, however a serious training program should include:

  • Classroom training
  • Hands on training
  • Written documentation specific to training only. (Work books)
  • Administrative Training - Usually this is not nearly as intensive as normal LIMS training, however is it offered as aseparate entity?
  • Automatic retraining for new releases/upgrades of product
Also, what about ongoing training on a predetermined contractual agreement for new hires?

Documentation Whenever you purchase an Enterprise wide software solution, LIMS included, make sure that they offer ample documentation! Whether or not they offer it and have it ready to go may be an indication of the specific vendor's ability and/or attitude toward customer service. Everyone is your best friend before the sale, however healthy documentation is a sure sign of a healthy company. Also, even if they swear that they have excellent tech support, a lack (at any time) of ready to go and up to date documentation (of any kind) is a red flag as to the vendor's possible inability to meet timelines or a sure sign of deficient manpower and/or proper infrastructure.

  • User's Guide
  • Administrator's Guide (may be part of User's Guide)
  • Installation Guide (Even if they offer to do the install, you should really have this
  • Any of the above referenced documentation but relating specifically to enhancements. - If you need to order custom features and the firm is not willing to include documentation at a reasonable price for customized software then here is what we strongly suggest: RUN!

Price Our research has revealed that pricing for a LIMS has a very wide range. It may be worth your while to spend a little bit of time surfing the web for some quotes.