Whether standardised, flexible or customised LIMS solutions, the market for laboratory information management systems (LIMS) is as diverse as the requirements of today’s laboratories. But how do you find the right provider – one who truly understands your laboratory’s challenges while offering a reliable long-term partnership and technology that will remain viable? In our latest blog post, we take a detailed look at the key criteria that really matter when choosing a LIMS provider.
Laboratories work transparently and traceably. The same should apply to every LIMS provider: Do screenshots, videos and manuals offer an accurate view of the LIMS, or is the system hidden behind generic infographics and illustrations? Is there a transparent pricing model in which the LIMS provider communicates prices and features without requiring a lengthy initial contact process?
Can your LIMS be used securely and with full functionality from different locations, including working from home, sampling and connecting additional sites? Is full operation also supported on other operating systems (macOS, ChromeOS) and mobile devices (iOS, Android)?
Does your LIMS offer modern, well-documented, powerful interfaces, such as a REST API or HTTPS connections?
Does your LIMS have a customer portal through which customers can request orders and analyses, track their status, and receive test reports and results easily, securely and conveniently?
Does the LIMS vendor provide all quality management modules required for accreditation, or do you have to forgo automated documentation and manage your existing quality management lists in other systems such as Excel?
Are central and individual dashboards available to automatically inform laboratory staff of upcoming tasks in real time, give laboratory managers an overview of approvals and nonconformities, and provide management with key statistics and KPIs?
Did the LIMS provider develop the system for accredited laboratories from the very first line of code, already accounting for future changes and revisions to the ISO standard in its development roadmap? Or is it a pharmaceutical or production LIMS specialised in entirely different areas?
Can new instruments, interfaces and modules be connected to the LIMS easily and at no extra cost using standard features such as an import editor? Or will you enter a long-term technological dependency that requires expensive custom programming even for minor instrument updates?
Does your LIMS provider follow a regular update policy that delivers new features alongside security improvements and publishes them in a changelog? Or are innovations held back for paid releases that require a complicated version upgrade?
Is there a trial version you can use independently and demonstrate as a proof of concept to colleagues, decision-makers or the vendor?
Does the LIMS provider protect your laboratory against potential threats by implementing security policies and procedures that are independently verified, for example through ISO 27001 certification?
Laboratory software is often in use for more than ten years. Does the LIMS provider use a SaaS solution with a sustainable future for enterprise software, or an outdated client-server architecture that is already prohibited by many IT departments and may no longer be supported after server updates?
Can you save all your laboratory data locally at any time, including uploaded files and files created by the LIMS?
