Why Strategic Planning is a Critical for Developing an Effective Laboratory Informatics RFP

Data has become ubiquitous in modern scientific laboratories. In order to turn this data into the insights that drive innovation, industry-leading enterprises are investing heavily in laboratory informatics technologies (e.g., LIMS, ELN, SDMS, CDS, advanced analytics, reporting tools, etc.). Given the many different informatics vendors to choose from, however, along with increasing vendor specialization and demands for cloud-based applications, choosing the best system for your unique laboratory is more difficult than ever.

An important part of the technology selection process is the development of a request for proposal (RFP). This document is used to solicit business proposals from a list of potential software vendors via a bidding process. In our experience, many companies make the mistake of developing an RFP without doing the strategic planning necessary to ensure that it asks the right questions.

The Astrix Team has been called upon to fix many an implementation project gone wrong where the problems can be traced back to a poorly designed RFP. In this blog, we will discuss critical best practice recommendations for creating an RFP that will help to establish a solid foundation for a successful implementation project providing maximum business value for your organization.

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