Selecting LMS for Your Learning and Development
Steve works as an L&D administrator for ABC Corp. He was asked to propose a solution for centralizing the L&D operations, such as, role based curriculum development, content delivery, tracking, reporting and data analysis
One of the key elements of Steve’s strategy was to select the right LMS for serving 10,000+ global work force of ABC Corp. Steve started his research and soon got overwhelmed with 100s of LMS solutions available in the market. Short listing or selecting the right LMS that would fit organizational needs seemed an arduous tasks.
Selecting the Right LMS is Tough Nut to Crack
Selecting the right LMS for corporate training of 10,000+ employees spread worldwide was not an easy job for Steve. There are certain complexities due to which the job of selecting the right LMS is a tough nut to crack. During LMS selection, Steve came across following challenges:
10-Commandments to Select the Right LMS
- Evaluate and determine the feasibility of an LMS acquisition and how organizational goals can be met with it.
- With LMS vendors, IT staffs, and other stakeholders ascertain how the project plan, or formal LMS acquisition process will proceed.
- Determine high-level requirements and technical considerations for LMS purchase, such as software, host, training staffs and more.
- Prior the purchase and implementation of LMS go through the cost-benefit analysis.
- Determine the essential features and functions of LMS that an organization needs.
- Review the background and experience of the LMS vendor.
- Examine the support services offered with the LMS.
- Contemplate data tracking capabilities of the LMS.
- Get feedback from your learning and development staff.
- For future usage and LMS success, check the necessary LMS features such as scalability and maintenance cost.
Open Source Vs Off-the-shelf LMS: Opting the Best One
After going through the essential LMS selection process and understanding the organizational needs and what LMS vendors have in their basket to offer, Steve needs to understand the fundamental differences between two types of LMS options, i.e. open source and off-the-shelf LMS.
Let’s look at the key differences between both the LMS types.
Reading Between the Lines and Opting the Best LMS
After understanding the principal differences between both types of LMSs, Steve made bet on open source LMS. Primary reasons behind Steve’s decision to go for open source were:
Open source LMS holds the clear edge advantage over off-the-shelf LMS. Therefore, by selecting open source LMS for the comprehensive e-learning solution, Steve may time and again customize and scale -it up for organizational e-learning activities. Among several open source LMS options available in the market, five great options advisable to Steve are:
Last Few Words
In the end, Steve opted for Moodle, which has 80 million users worldwide. With this LMS, training 10,000+ employees spread across the world has become an easy-to-do task.. For better eLearning experience, it is also advisable to hire an experienced and reliable eLearning service provider. Hiring FCS Learning Solutions with 14+ years of experience in developing high-end eLearning contents is the safe bet.
