Comment Aims & objectives come first (Score 1) 172
Identify the core aims and objectives for the lab. What do you hope to achieve? How do you hope to achieve it? Your stakeholders will need to be cool with this, not least your funders and users. Everything follows on from this.
Identify the resources available. This is not just the hardware. You're going to need a room to house that lab. Electricity. Network? Internet access? Appropriately skilled staffing (likely volunteers). If you are not going to be regularly involved and on-site you may need a local to manage and champion the project. Are there going to be costs and how will you fund them?
Your choice in software might be largely dictated by the above. The relative merits of the software itself might not even be a relevant issue.