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Out on a LIMSThe Blog for People Who Risk Life and LIMS on a Daily Basis

An Unfair Advantage in Laboratory Informatics

Volume IEntry 44 of 62 in 20121 min read2 comments ↓

Written by Gloria Metrick on . Published as written. It may not reflect how these systems work today.

Yesterday, I mentioned that I have direct access to Thermo Scientific product information. Someone out there is saying, right now, that this is an unfair advantage. Well, of course it is.

Those of us who consult in the industry to do product selections and other tasks have the unfair advantage that we know more people, to begin with. Even without online access to information on Thermo Scientific’s products, I know enough people over there that I could still easily get that information. Or from many other vendors, as well. Not only do I know enough people to get that kind of information more easily than someone doing their first product selection but also know how to find information that no person doing their first implementation would know.

Thus, to those out there who complain that the consultants who have been in the industry have all the information, well, that’s why people pay us to come work with them. That’s our advantage. It’s like anything worthwhile – it takes time and effort to get.

Gloria Metrick
GeoMetrick Enterprises
http://www.GeoMetrick.com/

The conversation

2 comments from 2 people, August 9 to August 10, 2012.

  1. John H. Jones

    Gloria, I completely agree with your commentary. I see that LIMS consultants and LIMS software companies are all simply LIMS vendors. They are selling and servicing LIMS products. ALL LIMS vendors help their customers select products and services that will meet the customer needs. The main complaint I always hear (not from any potential customers mind you but typically consultants) is that a LIMS "Vendor" (software vendor & consultant vendor) is biased. Well, yes, they are biased towards a solution that works for the customer. I have found most every seasoned LIMS venord (software company and consultant) wants to provide a solution that fits and if it does not fit they do not want to propose a misfit.

    So the more you know about a product the better your chances of determining its fit and the more you know a product, the more biased you are toward what you know. You can hardly be biased towards something you know nothing about.

    In the end it is the customer's choice and they can tell what works best for them.

  2. John Lawrence

    Gloria - this is too true. The reason a customer picks a consultant or company isn't for anything other than our expertise. Regardless of how you have that expertise, they need to accept that if they take your services, your expertise and knowledge comes with you, and that will mean your project will proceed in a certain way based upon this.

    It's no different for stockbrokers than it is for us....

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