Laboratory information management systems (LIMS) capabilities have expanded dramatically in recent years in order to better serve scientific laboratories. As LIMS technology has changed, so has the number of factors that need to be considered when choosing the best LIMS for your laboratory.
A variety of different architectures are now available for modern LIMS, and these different architectures determine the way LIMS are installed, managed and utilized. Key factors to consider when selecting a LIMS is the type of architecture that is best aligned with your business goals, as well as the standards your organization’s IT group has established for IT architecture.
Until fairly recently, most LIMS software was licensed from the vendor and installed directly in the lab server/computers in what is known as an on-premise deployment. In recent years, several vendors have begun to offer LIMS deployment compatible with external hosting, offering full application functionality accessed through a device’s web browser and hosted at a third-party data center. In addition, there are now fully external “LIMS-as-a-service” offerings.
Each of the different architectures supported by commercial LIMS today has its own benefits and drawbacks. In this blog, we will present a few of the most common LIMS architectures that are utilized and discuss some of the benefits and drawbacks of each.
On-premise Deployment
Traditionally, LIMS software has been purchased from a vendor and the server and database installed (either with a physical CD/DVD or downloading through a web link) directly on internally owned and deployed computers with a fixed licensing fee. An annual maintenance fee is usually included in the initial purchase as well. This on-premise deployment architecture can be used with a thick client, where the user interface is also installed directly on an internally owned computer. Many modern LIMS leverage web services to render the user interface in a web browser, requiring no installation of LIMS software directly on user computers. This architecture is called a thin client.
Once installed, on-premise LIMS software, including database, server, and client installations, requires ongoing monitoring and maintenance from the company’s IT department. This type of architecture is useful for large companies or government agencies that require strict internal control of the systems because of high data security or other reasons and hence prefer to keep data behind the company firewall. With this architecture, however, skilled IT teams are necessary to operate, administer, maintain, and upgrade the system and infrastructure over its full lifetime.
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Managed Hosting Deployment
In this deployment architecture, the customer generally purchases the software from the LIMS vendor in the same manner as with an on-premise deployment (license, annual maintenance fee, etc.), but the system is installed at a third-party hosting/data center. The customer stills owns and configures, and can customize, the software. The hosting vendor generally treats each customer separately and provides system-level support of the machines necessary for the database and application servers.
This deployment architecture can be used with either thick or thin clients, although successful use with thick client installations on the customer systems is very dependent on the network connectivity between the customer and the external data center. A variation of this is to use a remote desktop solution such as Citrix to support the installation of the thick client on servers managed by the external data center. In this variation, all the systems required to run the system are managed by the external data center.
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Cloud Hosted Fully Managed Deployment (SaaS)
While in an on-premise and managed hosting system the customer owns the software, a SaaS (software as a service) LIMS is typically licensed based on the demand (e.g., the number of users) on a monthly or annual basis. Typically, the SaaS model allows customers to flex the licensing based on only the use of software they require, as opposed to the more fixed traditional set license fees, although discounts are also generally offered based on customer commitments to users and/or time.
With a SaaS LIMS, the management of the software application and infrastructure is the responsibility of the SaaS vendor. Typically, many different users (customers) run on a single instance of the software and database in what is called a multi-tenant mode. Some SaaS vendors make their systems licensable in a single-tenant mode, where the customer has dedicated infrastructure for the application and/or the database. The single-tenant SaaS model offers additional data security, but usually at a substantially increased cost. In either SaaS model, the user does not have to maintain either the physical servers used or the cloud-based application, and the customer accesses the software application via a web browser.
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Conclusion
A key factor to consider when choosing a LIMS is the deployment architecture. There are three fundamental options supported by commercial LIMS today: on-premise, managed hosting, and SaaS. Each has benefits and drawbacks, and in order to achieve an integrated laboratory environment providing a high level of business value for your organization, it is important to consider how these advantages and disadvantages align with your business goals and requirements.
Astrix is a laboratory informatics consulting firm that has been serving the scientific community since 1995. Our experienced professionals help implement innovative solutions that allow organizations to turn data into knowledge, increase organizational efficiency, improve quality and facilitate regulatory compliance. If you would like to have a free, no obligations consultation with an Astrix informatics expert to explore how to optimize your informatics architecture and/or strategy, don’t hesitate to contact us.
About The Author
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Dave Dorsett has more than three decades of experience in R&D informatics throughout the global pharmaceutical, chemical, and consumer goods industries. He has an extensive track record architecting, designing, and delivering commercial and in-house informatics solutions across the R&D spectrum, from early research through late-stage development. |
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