Blog Summary
Traditional, off-the-shelf LIMS products often create a "technical debt" for labs. This is because they are built to appeal to a broad market and force labs to adapt their unique, fine-grained processes to the software's rigid, pre-defined workflows. This leads to frustration, inefficiency, and a lack of the precise automation labs need to succeed in a rapidly changing environment. The solution is low-code software with a service. This approach provides the core functionality of a standard LIMS but offers the flexibility and extensibility to create custom features and integrations. It allows labs to prioritize and deploy the specific automations they need, when they need them, ensuring the software fits the lab's operations "like a glove."
Key Questions Answered by the Article
What is the primary problem with traditional, off-the-shelf LIMS for the cannabis industry?
Traditional LIMS are built with a one-size-fits-all approach that doesn't match a cannabis lab's actual processes. This forces labs to change their established workflows to fit the software, which is inefficient and can overwhelm staff, slowing down or even halting modernization efforts.
What is the main drawback of traditional, off-the-shelf LIMS products?
The primary drawback is that they are built with a one-size-fits-all model that creates "technical debt." Because they are designed for a broad audience, they lack the fine-grained automation and flexibility required for specific lab processes. This forces labs to change their efficient workflows to fit the rigid software, leading to frustration and inefficiency.
How is a "low-code software with a service" model different from traditional LIMS?
Unlike a traditional LIMS that is a rigid product, a low-code model is a foundation for customization. It provides the core functionality of a LIMS but is extended by a dedicated technical team that can develop and deploy new features, integrations, and reports specifically for the lab. This allows the lab to drive its own priorities and timelines, rather than waiting for a vendor's product roadmap.
What key benefits does a lab gain from using a low-code LIMS with a service?
A lab gains several key benefits, including personalized customer portals with granular access control, affordable and flexible integrations, and the ability to get the features they need on their own timeline. The service model provides a team of low-code experts to build and deploy these custom solutions, ensuring the system is a perfect fit for the lab's specific workflows and business needs.
You run a lab, not a software company. Meet software WITH a service.
One of the biggest problems is the reliance on manual processes and outdated laboratory information management systems (LIMS). Traditional LIMS are built on rigid platforms with configuration options designed to appeal to the masses. They have out-of-the-box data models and workflows that often fly in the face of a lab’s actual processes. Labs that choose out-of-the-box solutions must adapt their workflows to the design of their software. The need to train workers on software AND new business processes can be overwhelming enough to kill a lab’s modernization ambitions.
The financial model of the off-the-shelf software is simple: build a product with a broad market appeal by offering a robust set of features with configuration options that provide the standard features. After that, collect feedback to create a roadmap, introducing new feature releases that deliver what most labs feel is essential to their success. Often, the outcome of this model for the vendor is a mountain of technical debt. At the same time, labs grow increasingly inconvenienced by the lack of precision automation they know they need.
This exercise in frustration is typical of off-the-shelf software in many industries, particularly in rapidly changing sectors that require fine-grained automation to do the job correctly.
The antidote is low-code software with a service, offering the core functionality of out-of-the-box LIMS with extensibility to create workflows, features, integrations, and test reports that drive ongoing efficiencies for the lab.
Slingr low-code LIMS gives you the following:
- Personalized customer portals with granular, role-based access control that enables you to give clients the details that are important to them.
- A technical team of low-code experts that can develop and deploy the features that are important to your lab and your clients
- Affordable integrations
- Your features delivered in your timeframe: No more waiting for the vendor to decide that your feature request is important enough to deploy. You drive your priorities.
Slingr LIMS fits your lab like a glove.
Slingr works with cannabis, diagnostic, genetic, and research labs to create extensible low-code LIMS solutions.
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