TF 10-22-898 - Laboratory Information Management System and Core Facility Management System

McMaster University invites qualified bidders to submit responses for the supply of a management solution in accordance with the terms of this Request for Proposals.  The system will support McMaster’s Core Research Platforms (RPs) that do not currently have a centralized system.  Our research platforms support researchers by ensuring widespread access to equipment and expertise needed to advance the University’s research mission.  They ensure the sustainability of the equipment and facilities as well as enable the potential for researchers to extend the breadth of their research programs and integrate programs across disciplines. 

Research platforms:

• provide access for all McMaster researchers to the instrumentation and technical expertise to advance new discoveries;
• foster and facilitate interdisciplinary research, providing opportunities to take research in new directions;
• ensure the development and sustainability of equipment, facilities, and entities for the future

• Schedule, track and bill usage of infrastructure and resources, including training activities
• Integrate with McMaster’s billing internally and externally
• Communicate with users on and off site regarding the facility in a centralized way.
• Provide various reports that can be run throughout the year, including user surveys
• Facilitate and execute data governance and information security policies
• Create an institutional inventory of equipment and infrastructure in the cores

1. Provide a robust and high availability software solution which can cover the functional and technical requirements described in this RFP and its Schedules;
2. Provide flawless user experience for research platform customers and RP Managers and Directors. Solution is expected to follow the best UI/UX standards and practices and comply with Ontario AODA accessibility standards;
3. Billing: Integrate seamlessly with McMaster internal and external billing needs of RPs
4. Training: Facilitate easy tracking and planning of training activities so that only trained users have access to the appropriate infrastructure; set expiry dates for new trainees; integrate with MOSAIC training records for internal users and differentiate between facility/instrument specific training and general training requirements. 
5. Tracking and reporting: all activities on infrastructure and resource defined by the Research Platform should be able to be tracked in real time and provide suitably flexible reporting at different organizational levels.
6. User-intuitive capabilities for creating customized reports, views and dashboards;
7. Security: the solution must provide single sign-on using either SAML 2.0 or OIDC for user authentication, as well as provide an alternative for external clients;
8. Scheduling: provide various scheduling flexibility – infrastructure/resource availability; setting different time slots, facilitate experimental design and integration with various pieces of infrastructure, able to synchronize with personal calendars, provide access control to various instruments/infrastructure and sample/project tracking.