ACCORDING to John Boother, founder and CEO of Laboratory Information Management System (Lims) provider Autoscribe, many projects to implement a Lims collapse or fail because of inadequate planning.
“Projects frequently go over budget or incur additional costs such as IT consultants”, he says, because the scope of the project is not properly defined at the outset.
In a bid to assist potential customers to plan their Lims projects more effectively, Boother has written a white paper highlighting many of the common pitfalls users experience.
The paper, Risk management for Lims projects, takes the form of a table with various ‘risk’ items listed and addressed by a series of comments and observations based on experience.
It includes examples of projects that have run into difficulties due to inadequate risk management.
“Lims projects are typically characterised by a changed specification from the orginal, leading to the configuration of the system continuing years after delivery. We believe that the key to a successful Lims project is a clear understanding of the potential risks and the implementation of a structured programme to mitigate these risks.”
Risk factors addressed include project definition, evaluation and selection of the system, implementation, rollout and support, and upgrades.