other “I’ve been having this problem, and as well as the large annual meetings, some
I understand that you’ve been having this
LIMS vendors hold smaller regional sessions
so as to be accessible to more customers.
problem too. Let’s get together and beat
Image courtesy of Thermo fisher Scientifi c.
up on the supplier”. If there’s a problem
that more than one of our customers is
having, then we need hear about it, and
so we encourage these conversations
between our customers,’ he says.
user groups
In order to gain an understanding of
how LIMS could be improved, vendors
also need to understand exactly how
their LIMS are being used currently.
David Hurt, product manager at LIMS
™ ‹ – Š – Š ‡ ™ ‹ ‹ ‰ … ‘ „ ‹ ƒ – ‹ ‘ è
vendor LabVantage Solutions, explains
that he likes to encourage presentations
from the users for this reason. ‘At the
face-to-face meetings, we’ve always
tried to have the customers presenting
as much, if not more than the vendor’s
personnel,’ he says. LabVantage’s
approach also puts networking high on 7 K H 0 R V W 3 R Z H U I X O / , 0 6 3 U R G X F W V 1 R Z & R X S O H G
the agenda: ‘[Customer presentations]
Z L W K W K H 0 R V W ( [ S H U L H Q F H G * O R E D O 7 H D P
give the end users the opportunity to
: K H W K H U \ R X V H H N W R Z L Q D S U R I H V V L R Q D O F D U U D F H R U W R T X L F N O \ E U L Q J S U R G X F W W R
network with colleagues from the same
P D U N H W W K H U L J K W Y H K L F O H Z L W K W K H O D W H V W W H F K Q R O R J \ D Q G D Q H [ S H U L H Q F H G
industry, to share information, and to
W H D P D U H F U L W L F D O W R \ R X U V X F F H V V 1 R Z W K D W / D E 9 D Q W D J H K D V D F T X L U H G
get some cross-pollination, and so we
W K H 6 4 /
/ , 0 6 Š E X V L Q H V V Z H K D Y H P H U J H G R Y H U \ H D U V R I
really try to promote the user talks at
G R P D L Q H [ S H U L H Q F H W R F U H D W H D Q X Q S D U D O O H O H G J O R E D O W H D P R I
these meetings’. Hurt says that these
G H G L F D W H G / , 0 6 S U R I H V V L R Q D O V H Q V X U L Q J W K D W \ R X F U R V V
customer presentations and discussions
‘ u S e r g r o u p
not due to anything in particular. LIMS W K H ¿ Q L V K O L Q H ¿ U V W
generate some of the best feedback for users have gained an understanding that,
LabVantage, particularly from the point
M e e T I n g S a r e
when it comes to being successful while
of view of a product manager looking to
noT goIng To
using laboratory informatics, ‘it’s about
guide the future of the product. ‘We get what you do, and not how you do it’, says
to learn a lot more about what people are
B e r e p L a c e d I n
/ D E 9
Hurt. ‘Pharmaceutical companies are not
D Q W D J H 6 R O X W L R Q V , Q F ‹
doing,’ he says. ‘We typically have “birds
T h e f o r S e e a B L e
IT companies; IT is just a tool that one
of a feather” meetings, in which we get uses, just like a stirrer or a mixer is in a
a group of people who are interested in a
fuTure’
lab. Users don’t want to have their own
particular use of LIMS in a room together, IP tied up in it, so they use whatever is
and we just talk about whatever the users out no information about what they do; cheapest and does the job.’ Increasingly,
are interested in, and about whatever If they stood up to give a talk, everything the cheapest functional solution may
we, the vendors, are interested in. It’s a would be very heavily censored. “We’d come from snippets of code exchanged $ O O 5 L J K W V 5 H V H U Y H G 6 D S S K L U H Œ L V D W U D G H P D U N R I / D E 9
facilitated discussion on a particular area, like to tell you what we do, but we can’t,” with other users via online platforms such
and that’s where we get a lot of very good for example. Approximately fi ve years ago, as the SQL*LIMS ICE.
feedback.’ [LIMS users] became far more willing to Despite the fact that LabVantage
share general information. At one of our and other vendors already augment
a changing attitude user meetings somebody even suggested their face-to-face meetings with web
When it comes to users sharing that users begin sharing code with each conferences and seminars, and despite
information at user group meetings, Hurt other, and so the SQL*LIMS Innovation the introduction of an online exchange
of LabVantage believes that attitudes have Centre Exchange (ICE) was started.’ for techniques and bit of code, user group
shifted signifi cantly over the past 10 years, LabVantage acquired the SQL*LIMS meetings are not going to be replaced
& K R R V H W K H Z L Q Q L Q J F R P E L Q D W L R Q D W
particularly where larger commercial product in August 2009, and continues by online interaction at any point in
organisations are concerned. ‘Our user to offer the SQL*LIMS ICE online code the foreseeable future. Networking and Z Z Z D Q W D J H 6 R O X W L R Q V , Q F O D E Y D Q W D J H F R P Z L Q Q L Q J V F Z
base is quite heavily biased towards the exchange, alongside its LabVantage- personal contact are vital to maintaining
pharmaceutical industry,’ explains Hurt. branded LIMS. a healthy LIMS industry, and equally
R U G L D O L Q 8 6 R U L Q ( X U R S H
‘One of the interesting things we’ve seen According to Hurt, this change of important to the maintenance of the
at the user meetings is that 10 years ago, attitude, resulting in more and more close vendor-customer relationships the
10
pharmaceutical companies would give LIMS users sharing their techniques, is industry demands.
/ D E 9 D Q W D J H 6 R O X W L R Q V , Q F ‹ $ O O 5 L J K W V 5 H V H U Y H G 6 D S S K L U H Œ D Q G 6 4 /
/ , 0 6 Š D U H W U D G H P D U N V R I / D E 9 D Q W D J H 6 R O X W L R Q V , Q F
LIG10 pp08-11 LIMS Users.indd 10 18/11/09 17:35:27
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