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GUIDE · ISO/IEC 17025

Choosing Software for an ISO/IEC 17025 Laboratory:
7 Questions to Ask First

If you have a custom-LIMS quote on your desk, or you have survived a few assessments on spreadsheets and shared drives, this guide is for the next step. It comes from six years as the quality manager of an accredited laboratory — the questions below apply to any product, ours included.

01Do document revisions record themselves?

When manual and procedure revisions live in someone's head, every assessment starts with "which file is the current one?" Check that revision and approval history accumulates in the system, automatically.

In i-KOLAS, document revisions and approvals are logged automatically, and superseded versions are locked to read-only.

02Are records structured around the standard?

Corrective actions, nonconformities, complaints, training, proficiency — if every record uses a different homemade template, you translate for the assessor every time. Look for a record system designed around ISO/IEC 17025 itself.

i-KOLAS ships with 8 quality record types and 26 specialist registers organized by the standard's clauses.

03Does the system know calibration deadlines before you do?

The moment an expiry date depends on human memory, it is a risk. The system should compute next-calibration and intermediate-check dates and warn you ahead of time.

i-KOLAS raises equipment onto the alerts board from 30 days out (D-30), automatically.

04Can reports be verified from the outside?

If clients cannot confirm a report's authenticity on their own, trust depends on phone calls. Look for tamper-evident verification built into every issued report.

Every i-KOLAS report carries a verification code and QR — anyone can check it at ikolas.com/verify.

05Is the audit trail truly immutable?

A who-when-what log that can be edited is not an audit trail. Ask whether the log is immutable — and whether you could hand it to an assessor as-is.

The i-KOLAS audit trail cannot be altered, and read-only assessor accounts can be issued that are valid only during your assessment.

06Can you take your data out, any day?

The exit matters more than the entrance. Make sure your data is never held hostage when a contract ends — check export formats and backup design.

i-KOLAS exports everything as CSV at any time, and dual backups are standard.

07How many months until you are live?

The longer the rollout, the longer your team keeps working in spreadsheets. Ask whether you can start without quotes, consulting, or setup — and whether pricing is published.

i-KOLAS has no setup fee, runs on a monthly subscription, and is live the day you sign up. All pricing is public.

An assessment should not be the day you start preparing — it should be the day you show a prepared state. If these seven are already inside the system, all that remains is the testing itself.

Audit-ready every day.

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