A Laboratory Information Management System(LIMS) is computer software that is used in the laboratory for the management of samples, laboratory users, instruments, standards and other laboratory functions such as invoicing, plate management, and work flow automation. A LIMS, a Laboratory Information System (LIS) or Process Development Execution System (PDES) perform similar functions. The primary difference is that LIMS are generally targeted toward environmental, research or commercial analysis, such as pharmaceutical or petrochemical, and LIS are targeted toward the clinical market (hospitals and other clinical labs). PDES normally cover a wider scope of functionalities including, for example, virtual manufacturing techniques, while they usually don't integrated with the laboratory equipment.

Today's trend is to move the whole process of information gathering, decision making, calculation, review and release out into the workplace and away from the office. The goal is to create a seamless organization where:

Instruments used are integrated in the lab network; receive instructions and worklists from the LIMS and return finished results including raw data back to a central repository where the LIMS can update relevant information to external systems such as a Manufacturing Execution System or Enterprise Resource Planning application.
Lab personnel will perform calculations, documentation and review results using online information from connected instruments, reference databases and other resources using electronic lab notebooks (ELN's) connected to the Laboratory Information System
Management can supervise the lab process, react to bottlenecks in workflow and ensure regulatory demands are met.
External participants (department, company) can place work requests and follow up on progress, review results and print out analysis certificates and other documentation (perhaps even historically).
In fact, with the advent of SOA and other Web 2.0 technologies, today's (as of 2007) LIMS is being defined as a complete ERP for the laboratory, no longer restricted to sample monitoring and results entry. Although it can be client-server or PC-based, it is increasingly web browser-based and provides a large assortment of functionality.

LIMS are frequently used in industry, whereas academic labs have been slower to adapt LIMS due to the large overhead involved in installing and maintaining such systems. Several minimal LIMS or ELN systems for small research groups are starting to appear, and with the advance of high throughput technologies and systems biology it is likely that more academic labs and small research groups will adopt LIMS or ELNs.