Large-scale LIMS projects may need to adopt additional measures beyond Agile project management methodologies to control scope creep. These may include centralized oversight and governance, robust change management processes, regular stakeholder communication and alignment, and a focus on managing technical debt throughout the project lifecycle. Here are few challenges I faced in LIMS project implementations in the past two decades.
Lack of central oversight: In a large-scale LIMS project, there may be multiple teams working on different aspects of the project. This can make it difficult to have centralized oversight and control over the project scope, which can lead to scope creep. I have seen PM from PMO office and Technical PMs struggle to meet timelines and continuous sprint deadline misses. This puts in lot of stress on BAs and Developers, In the end BAs finish their requirement docuements matching the developed solutions. LOL
Complexity of integration: Large-scale LIMS projects often require integration with many different systems, such as laboratory instruments, MES, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems, Printers and other instrument software applications. This can make it difficult to manage and prioritize the project backlog, which can lead to scope creep as new requirements are added or prioritized differently.
Stakeholder alignment: In a large-scale LIMS project, there may be many different stakeholders, Busines owners with different priorities and requirements. It can be challenging to align all stakeholders on the project scope, which can lead to scope creep as new requirements are added or existing requirements are changed.
Technical debt: This one tops the list. In a large-scale LIMS project, technical debt can accumulate over time, which can lead to scope creep as new features or requirements are added. This can be especially challenging in an Agile project management approach, as the focus on delivering top quality working software quickly can sometimes result in technical shortcuts that create long-term technical debt. Many teams are rolling out codes just to meet the deadline without top quality high performance code. This leads to severe performance issues. I have faced this in almost all the implementations and cleaned up several codes and reports that are poorly moved into production due to sprint deadlines. Top managers doesn’t even know this is happening under their noses.
LIMS managers must analyse and consider a hybrid approach for a long term success to avoid these pitfalls.
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