Based on our experience with various projects, there are common LIMS laboratory software implementation scenarios for which we can provide more precise time estimates. The scenarios that are most likely to occur to you are listed below.
A FIRST LIMS IMPLEMENTATION FOR A GROWING LAB
When switching from Excel workbooks or paper processes to your first LIMS, you can anticipate spending at least a few months and possibly a year on the process. Inadequate change management and user training, as well as inadequate documentation of user requirements, are two common obstacles that can have a negative impact on the implementation timeline in these kinds of projects. Your LIMS implementation may be delayed by several months if users do not adopt it.
CHANGING FROM A HOME-GROWN LIMS PRODUCT TO A COMMERCIAL PRODUCT
In this case, your company is already familiar with LIMS functionality, so the challenges are different but not any less time-consuming. This kind of LIMS implementation can take anywhere from six months to a year and a half for a global organization with multiple sites, depending on how much master data needs to be created or gathered and how much configuration or customization is needed to meet your lab’s needs and workflows.
UPGRADE TO THE NEXT VERSION OF YOUR EXISTING LIMS
This kind of LIMS work can be relatively painless. When upgrading to a new version of an existing LIMS, you may not need to perform a great deal of master data work, if any at all. This is only true if there have been multiple new versions between versions.
If that is the case, you might need to transform the data. The new LIMS will need to be validated if you work in a regulated industry, and new functionalities may need to be set up for your lab’s workflows. Depending on the amount of configuration and customization that needs to be done in the current LIMS version, this kind of work could take anywhere from a few months to a year.
As you might expect, harmonizing LIMS technologies following a merger or acquisition can be the most difficult and costly of all LIMS implementations. You will need to choose which LIMS instance to keep in the event of a merger or acquisition (M&A), as well as whether to keep one instance for one type of lab and another for another. After that, you’ll need to figure out how to get there. Harmonizing disparate LIMS instances can take as long as two years, according to our experience. Before beginning any informatics work, it may be worthwhile to consider the new company’s approach to data and analytics holistically in an M&A situation.
There are a number of factors that influence the length of a sample tracking software LIMS implementation, including the kind of implementation that is being carried out. Regardless of your organization’s level of familiarity with a LIMS, ensuring that you are as prepared as possible will save you time during implementation. By ensuring that your staff and procedures are as prepared as possible for the new implementation, your lab and organization, as previously mentioned, can significantly shorten the timeline.
