Do not migrate “the spreadsheet”
Teams often ask to import every tab they have ever used. That is how a new LIMS becomes a slower copy of the old mess. Migrate objects and decisions: active samples, current methods and specification versions, open investigations, user identities, and the identifiers that already appear on labels and client reports.
Historical archives can be read-only. Not every 2014 column needs a future in the operational system.
Inventory the real system of record
Your current system of record may be a LIMS, a set of shared workbooks, an ELN, instrument software, and email. Write down, for each object, where the truth lives today.
- Sample identity and labels
- Storage locations
- Method and spec versions actually in use
- Reported results and issued CoAs
- Open OOS / deviations / CAPA
- User accounts and training evidence
Preserve identifiers or you will regret it
If the bench already scans an ID, that ID should survive. Creating a “cleaner” numbering scheme during go-live is how you orphan freezer contents. Map old IDs to new records if you must change format — and print a period where both appear.
A phased cutover beats a heroic weekend
Typical phases: discovery and data mapping; configure core sample-test-result; validate; pilot one method or one customer stream; then expand. Parallel run is expensive but sometimes required for regulated reporting. Big-bang cutover is only cheaper when the lab is small and the archive is clean — which is rare.
Implementation at Aureon follows that motion: discovery, configure, validate, go-live. Module expansion (stability, inventory, analytics, mobile, multi-site) is scheduled after the core record is trusted.
Legacy LIMS modernization
Older LIMS products often still hold good identity. The problem is usability, validation burden, missing audit export, or a vendor roadmap that ended. Modernization is not aesthetically new screens. It is whether custody, signatures, and CoA can be operated by the people you have now.
Ask whether you need a full replacement or a bounded replacement of the operational record with archive access to the old system. Honesty here saves a year.
Validation is on the critical path
Treat CSV as part of the project, not a sequel. IQ/OQ materials from a vendor can help. They do not replace your traceability to intended use. The first process you validate should be the one you will use on Monday — accession to result — not a rarely used enterprise module.
What “done” looks like
You are done with migration when a working analyst can accession, test, and report without a shadow spreadsheet, QA can export history for a sample, and IT can explain backup and access. Dashboards can wait. A second site can wait. The record cannot.
