About your data
Start here, because the answers tell you how the vendor thinks about the relationship. A vendor confident in their product has nothing to lose by making your data portable.
- Can I export all of my data at any time, without asking, and in what format?
- What happens to my data if I stop paying — is it deleted, held, or made read-only?
- Will you migrate my existing data, and what does that cost?
- Where is my data stored, and who at your company can access it?
About the real cost
The quoted price and the first-year cost are frequently different numbers. Get the second one in writing.
- What is the total first-year cost including every one-off charge?
- Is pricing per user, per branch, per report, or flat — and what happens as I grow?
- What have prices done for existing customers over the last three years?
About support
Support quality is invisible during evaluation and dominates your experience afterwards. Ask for specifics rather than assurances.
- What are your actual response times, and are they contractual or aspirational?
- Who answers — do they understand laboratory work, or are they reading a script?
- Is training included when I hire new staff, or charged?
About the product
Two questions that reveal more than a demo does.
- Can I speak to two customers running a lab like mine — ones you have not selected for me?
- What does your product not do well, and which labs should not buy it?
Why that last question matters
Every product has a shape. A vendor who cannot tell you what theirs does badly either does not know their own product or is not being straight with you. Neither is a good sign.
For what it is worth, our answers: Diagnosuya is not the right choice for a research laboratory needing genuine LIMS capability, for a hospital needing deep HIS integration with an existing enterprise system, or for a lab in an area with genuinely unreliable internet where a fully offline system would serve better. We would rather say that now than have you find out in month three.