LIMS Project Pitfall #4
“We have a reasonable LIMS budget. We expect everything on the wish list within this budget.”
Before beginning a LIMS project, it is crucial for the Laboratory’s LIMS team to provide a clear set of requirements to vendors to ensure the systems demonstrated, quoted, and ultimately implemented fit the laboratory's unique needs, goals, and budget.
Your Lab’s LIMS Team may be just as bright-eyed and dreamy as a kid making out their Christmas toy wish list! And while it is important to capture all of these requirements, it’s a good idea to work with an experienced LIMS professional who can help your team determine the “have to have” requirements versus the “nice to have” requirements and prepare those for submission to LIMS vendors or partners who will be able to take your requirements and determine what the cost and timeline is to implement these in their specific software.
Every requirement has a cost and level of effort/time associated with it. The more time and level of effort it takes to implement, the more the total cost of the project goes up and the longer the timeline before go-live. Even if your budget is healthy enough to afford everything on your Lab’s wish list how many more months does your team want to wait before they can start using the LIMS and benefiting from the efficiencies and realizing their return on the investment? An experienced LIMS professional can also help you evaluate the costs and timeline of the project based on your requirements and help determine what should be included in phase 1 and what requirements might be better to implement in later phases after the LIMS is live and in use by the Lab.
To Avoid this LIMS Project Pitfall Remember:
- It is crucial for the Lab to create a complete and accurate set of requirements.
- The more complete and accurate the requirements, the more complete and accurate the project quote and project timeline will be.
- Determine what are your “have to have” requirements vs. “nice to have” requirements.
- Evaluate your “nice to have” requirements against not only the cost associated to implement the requirement but also the amount of time the requirement will add to the overall project timeline.