Does a LIMS Come Out of the Box? An Honest Guide to LIMS Implementation

Have you ever sat through a demo that featured a suspiciously clean, short implementation timeline, only to end up with a monthslong uphill slog?

Three months in, you're still configuring sample workflows. Six months in, you're arguing about instrument integration specs. At month nine, you’re left wondering if the nightmare will ever end. Is every LIMS this way?

It feels like almost every software platform under the sun can be purchased and implemented within an hour, or less. When labs come to us, more often than not, they are looking to hit the ground running and get set up with their LIMS right away. 

That’s not always a realistic expectation, though. But that doesn’t mean that buying and implementing a LIMS has to be a nightmarish endeavor. No, a LIMS doesn’t come out of the box, but in this article, we’ll share why, why that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and how best to select the right LIMS for your lab and prepare for implementation.

What Does Out of the Box Really Mean?

Out-of-the-box means you can sign up for your software and use it right away to fit your workflows without any extra customization, coding, or complex setup.

For simple point solutions, such as self-service marketing or sales software, this is becoming standard. There are only so many things you can or need to do with an email campaign tool or website design platform. 

But with more complex software, it’s not always the case. While LIMS have broad applications across many types of labs, they also need to support an incredibly wide variety of needs and use cases. You may think that your lab’s use cases are “standard,” but you may be surprised to hear that they’re quite unique. 

Why a Complete Zero-Configuration LIMS is Unrealistic

Every lab believes its workflows are standard. "We're just a food testing lab running microbiology samples. How different can we be?"

Very different.

Consider two food testing labs, both running Salmonella and Listeria testing:

“Lab A” receives samples from retail grocery chains. They batch samples by client, run tests in accordance with FDA BAM methods, and generate certificates of analysis within 48 hours. Results go directly to each grocery chain's vendor portal. Billing happens monthly based on test volume, with different pricing for standard vs. rush samples.

“Lab B” receives samples from food manufacturers during production. Samples arrive throughout the day and get processed immediately without batching. They run the same microbiology tests but also do allergen screening and nutritional analysis. Results are pushed to the manufacturer's ERP system via an API to support lot-release decisions. Billing integrates with NetSuite and invoices per-project, not per-sample.

Both labs need "sample management" and "microbiology workflows." But the actual data structures, approval processes, integrations, and reporting requirements share almost nothing in common.

Now multiply this across industries. In our experience, the most common drivers of uniqueness among labs are:

• Workflow diversity: The specific workflows you follow and the steps you take in them will vary across and within industries. Clinical labs prioritize turnaround time and regulatory compliance (CLIA, CAP), while research labs need flexibility and data analysis integration
• Regulatory requirements: Different labs must adhere to distinct sets of compliance standards. For example, Pharma QC labs must validate against 21 CFR Part 11 and GxP, environmental labs follow ISO 17025, and clinical labs adhere to HIPAA
• Instrument ecosystems: Your lab likely has unique combinations of analyzers, spectrometers, sequencers, and other equipment requiring specific integrations. 
• Data structures: Though the materials you store may be the same or similar to those of other labs, chances are that sample nomenclature, test panels, and result formats vary significantly from those of other labs.

So you can see that while some labs believe that their workflows are “standard,” in reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Even labs that work in the same industry, process the same materials, and aim to meet the same regulatory standards end up with very different processes and workflows.

The idea that a LIMS could come fully out of the box to fit your workflows is a bit disingenuous, but that doesn’t mean that implementing a LIMS has to be a years-long slog. The key is to start your search early, prepare, and choose the right vendor.

Why an “Out-of-the-Box” LIMS Isn’t Such a Great Thing

So a LIMS cannot come “out-of-the-box.” Is that such a bad thing?

There are labs that end up with a LIMS that is perfectly suited to their exact needs, specifications, and workflows. These labs take it upon themselves to build a custom LIMS. While intensive development resources are required if you go this route, at least no further implementation is needed to get a platform perfectly tailored to your needs.

There’s one minor problem: beyond the time and expertise needed to build and maintain your LIMS, what happens when workflows change?

When labs add new tests, expand operations, undergo management changes, or need to meet new regulatory requirements, they must adapt their workflows and processes. A LIMS that fits your exact needs and workflows today will not support you in the same way tomorrow, and certainly not next year.

Workflow issues aside, building your own LIMS is inadvisable purely for the resources it takes to manage it. One lab we spoke with built its LIMS 30+ years ago and had an engineer still with the company who maintained the platform. It worked fine until that engineer decided to retire and put a stop to all updates. This lab ended up having to backtrack to manually document inventory and samples in notebooks as a workaround!

Rather than seek a LIMS that perfectly fits your needs now, we recommend seeking a LIMS that is flexible enough to adapt to your needs – and scale as they change.

Look for A Configurable LIMS Rather Than Customizable

The key is to select a LIMS that can be configured to your needs rather than one that requires custom code to fit your lab, and to take a few steps to prepare for implementation, which we will detail later.

With legacy customizable LIMS, you're writing requirements documents and submitting them to the vendor's professional services team (also called a PSO). They quote the work, put you in their development queue, write custom code, and deliver a configured system weeks later. You test it, find issues, and submit change requests that restart the cycle. 

We call this the “complexity tax” of legacy customizable LIMS. While the idea of a LIMS being modified to suit your needs and workflows may seem appealing, the reality is that ongoing maintenance and custom-coded adjustments inflate costs and leave your staff waiting on your vendor for updates.

‍Make sure to properly evaluate your vendor to understand how customizations are made and what you can change yourself. With configurable LIMS, you're building directly in the software. Need to add a field to your COA? You add it. Need to change an approval workflow because testing revealed a gap? You changed it that afternoon. Want to set up an alert when reagent inventory hits reorder levels? You configure it yourself.

For example, a configurable LIMS like QBench lets you set up and modify processes as needed. Our labs can use QBench to do the following and more:

• Generate COAs and worksheets
• Configure dashboards to monitor tests
• Build a customer-facing portal
• Manage billing and invoicing

All without custom code. With legacy LIMS, you often run into hidden costs from the complexity tax, but with QBench LIMS, modern labs can get more done and prioritize more important work 

The Best Way to Speed up Your LIMS Implementation

To be clear: even a configurable LIMS like QBench will take time to implement. Configurable settings are easier to adjust to your needs than hard-coded customizations, but they still require configuration, and your lab will need to be trained to use your LIMS properly.

From experience, the following are the best things you can do to shorten your go-live timeline:

• Start your search early
• Show up prepared
• Allocate enough resources and time
• Take a phased approach

Start Your Search Early

The biggest lever you can pull to make implementation easier is the time you allow yourself.

Too often, we find labs looking for a LIMS they can purchase and implement right away. In reality, it can take weeks to months before you are ready to go live, all depending on the complexity of your workflows and the size of your staff. Far too often, implementing a LIMS doesn’t feel urgent until it’s absolutely necessary, and by that point, you’re behind.

Labs that start their LIMS search 6-9 months before they need the system live have time to document existing workflows, identify pain points, and build internal consensus on requirements. This preparation phase lets you evaluate vendors thoroughly, understand what's realistic, and avoid the panic-driven decisions that lead to buyer's remorse. 

Early starters also have time to clean up their data, standardize naming conventions, and prepare sample datasets for testing; work that will happen eventually, but slows everything down when done during implementation.

One thing QBench does differently from other vendors is offer a consultation with labs to help them understand how long an implementation would take before signing. This type of upfront information is critical to ensuring the success of your lab, and we’re happy to provide this service free of charge.

Show up Prepared

We don’t expect you to be experts on all things LIMS. But it does help make things easier if you arrive with your homework done. 

This means sample data ready for import, key stakeholders identified and available, and realistic priorities defined. Your vendor will also likely need access to subject-matter experts who can answer questions about approval workflows, instrument integration requirements, and reporting needs. 

Before you start your search: document your current processes, even if they're messy. A flowchart of how samples actually move through your lab today is worth ten meetings spent trying to reconstruct it from memory. No vendor can configure what you can't explain.

Allocate Proper Resources and Time

Hand in hand with showing up prepared is showing up with the proper resources and time for your implementation. 

Our data across all customer implementations shows that having a dedicated project manager on your team can significantly speed up your implementation. It won’t turn a six-month implementation into a four-week implementation, but it will be one of the biggest difference-makers in wrapping things up on-time or even early.

Take a Phased Approach to Implementation

Implementation may take a while, but that doesn’t mean you need to wait months to see value.

After working with hundreds of labs, we've found that there can be a temptation to get everything configured perfectly before going live (you may have heard this referred to as a “Big Bang” approach). 

We understand that mindset when working in regulated industries. However, we've seen that mindset work against getting value quickly over and over again. Completing a subset of test methods and getting them into live production quickly creates a virtuous cycle for the remaining test methods. Getting a subset of methods live quickly also builds confidence and positive momentum, fueling excitement among the team.

We refer to this as “Phased Implementation” and strongly encourage all customers to adopt it. A phased approach prevents project teams from biting off more than they can chew and from experiencing “implementation fatigue”. A phased approach also helps with change management, which typically begins after implementation. By starting change management earlier in the process, you can increase staff adoption, making for a smoother transition post-implementation.

You can learn more about this approach to implementing a LIMS in our guide.

Note: A phased implementation does not mean “get some stuff down now, and get the rest done later with pro services.” Some vendors promote a “speedy implementation” that defers the work to ongoing customization services.

Questions to Ask Your Vendor About Implementation

Beyond the above measures, you can take care to properly evaluate a vendor before signing on with them. 

Before you sign a contract, ask the questions below to gauge the platform’s approach to configuration vs customization and how the vendor approaches implementation.

• Configuration
• Timeline

Configuration vs Customization Questions

When it comes to configuration, we recommend asking the following:

• "Show me how I'd modify a COA template myself." 
  
  • If they say you need to go through Pro services, then you're looking at a customizable system. Every future change will require vendor involvement and fees.
• "What can I change without involving professional services?" 
  
  • The answer should be "almost everything except core system architecture." If its "basic settings, but anything substantive requires custom code," budget accordingly.
• "How long does the average change request take from submission to deployment?" 
  
  • For customizable LIMS, the honest answer is usually "2-6 weeks, depending on our services queue." For configurable LIMS, it's "you make the change yourself immediately."

Timeline Questions

The implementation timeline will depend on your lab’s complexity and needs, but you can weed out bad-fit partners by asking the following:

• "What's your median time from contract signing to go-live? Not your fastest, your median?" 
  
  • If they say "30 days," they're being disingenuous, or you're buying a product that won't actually fit your workflows.
• "How many resources from my team will be needed during implementation, and how much time?" 
  
  • Look for specifics. Things like, "We need a project lead at 50% time and subject matter experts at 20% for their areas." Not vague promises that "it won't take much time."
• "What's typically the longest phase in your implementations and why?" 
  
  • The answer reveals where their process bottlenecks. If it's "custom development," that's a red flag. If it's "validation for regulated environments," that's expected.

Find more questions like these in our LIMS evaluation guide and checklist. Armed with the above, you have the information you’ll need to find, evaluate, and compare vendors as you prepare for your implementation.

Looking for a LIMS? Download the LIMS Buyer’s Guide

If you’re set on a LIMS for your lab, then the next step is to evaluate vendors and select which one(s) you want to demo. 

There’s one small problem: which vendor(s) will you review?

With so many vendors to pick from and features to consider, we created a LIMS buyer’s guide to help you make the right choice for your lab. In this guide, you will learn the following:

• The different types of LIMS available
• Key features to look out for
• A vendor comparison

And more!

Fill out the form below to get your free guide and take the first step toward automating your lab today.