ABSTRACT
The purchase of a laboratory information management system (LIMS) normally involves a large investment of time and money. Statistics indicate that nearly 60% of LIMS fail. Reasons for failure include that the system does not work as advertised, the users are not comfortable with system, the vendor will not support and/or help maintain the system once it is installed, and the lab has not allocated enough resources to the project. Preparing a thorough request for proposal (RFP) can eliminate the first three reasons. The RFP should include information on the lab requesting the proposal, information on how the proposal will be evaluated, anticipated schedule, technical specifications, training, support, installation, costs, acceptance testing, and reference requirements.
