Choosing a Learning Management System (LMS) in a market of over 600 can be a daunting task. So, where do you start? To help you choose the best LMS, we have prepared a recipe with everything you should keep in the mix.

Ingredients

• Goals, expectations and needs

• A list of ‘must-have’ features

• Request For Proposal (RFP)

• Demo / Free trial

• A shortlist of LMSs

• Budget

Preparation

• Have a clear sense of what are you trying to achieve.

• Ensure you get feedback from a good cross section of business stakeholders.

• Consider the skills and feedback of your L&D team when building your RFP.

• Compile a list of ‘must-have’ features you want your LMS to have.

Method

• Choose a system that is flexible, quick to deploy and user friendly. Try a system that offers a free trial or demo site to avoid making a costly error.

• Bear in mind the technical limitations of your audience. Are you learners tech savvy?

• Check that the new LMS offers the essential features and functions you really need. Does it have to be mobile friendly? Is it secure? Are gamification and social learning a ‘must’ for you? Is in-depth reporting available?

• Check your new system is future-proof.  Is it scalable to grow with your organisation’s needs? Will it be easy to upgrade and maintain?

• Evaluate how the new LMS will be integrated with your current software.

• Review a variety of vendors and negotiate your preferred terms of contract. Ask them about their experience, skill sets and qualifications. Look at online reviews to give you a better idea of how they dealt with customers in the past.

Serve and enjoy!

• There will be times when you are going to need 24/7 support from your LMS vendor. Will the vendor be able to guide you through the setup and training process? Can you call them when you face a technical problem?

• The best LMS will allow you to create an ideal e-learning experience for your audience.

Still need help with selecting the best LMS? As a Totara Platinum Partner, we know how to get the most from Totara Learn, a scalable and flexible open source learning management system.

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Make sure your goals are clear

It’s impossible to choose the right LMS if you are not fully clear about what your organization’s short- and long-term learning goals are. Once you have determined these goals and a clear organization-wide learning strategy has been developed, you can start looking for an LMS that will help you achieve your goals.

Talk to your learning and development team

Your learning and development team will have to work with your new LMS day in and day out, so make sure that you involve them in the selection process. Ask them about their needs and goals. If they are very technical, they may want an LMS that allows them a lot of flexibility in customising courses and learning portals. If they are non-technical, a simple user interface and good documentation will be important aspects to look for in the new LMS.

Talk to the users

The implementation of a new LMS can become a massive failure if your employees hate using it. Talk to your employees about their learning and development needs. Let them try demos of the platforms you are considering and take surveys about what they liked and disliked about them.

A user-friendly LMS that helps create an enjoyable learning experience is crucial for the success of your learning strategy.

Consider the vendor’s specific experience

A new LMS vendor may offer a range of unique functionalities that sound very exciting, but if they have no experience in your industry and/or do not have any clients that are a similar size to your organization, you may want to steer clear for now.

Practical experience in setting up an LMS at a similarly sized organization in your industry can be invaluable when encountering specific issues.

You should also do some research about how satisfied past clients of the vendor are. You can search for reviews of the proposed learning platform online or ask the vendor cor customer case studies and testimonials.

Consider the support that is offered by the LMS vendor

You will need ample support during and after your LMS implementation, especially if you are rolling out a new LMS in a large organization. Research the support that is included and additional support options that the LMS vendor provides and how much they cost.

Consider freedom and flexibility

You may think that you have identified the best LMS provider and the perfect learning management system (LMS) based on your checklist. However, what about if you’re not satisfied 1 year, 3 years or more down the line? A proprietary LMS means that you are buying into both the provider AND the learning management system, so if you want to change one, you need to change BOTH. This is where an open source LMS, such as Totara, can be a great choice, because with this comes a multitude of providers who can work with and further develop the system. The move to a new LMS provider should be quite seamless.

Finally – don’t compromise

Ideally, at the end of your internal consultation and needs analysis process, you will have come up with an LMS checklist, with features and requirements that you can then tick off as you talk with a shortlist of elearning companies.

Make sure that all of your current, future and possible needs are able to be met by your choice of both learning management system and provider.

Related Pages and Posts

Open source elearning with Totara LMS.

Webanywhere Named as a Top LMS Provider for Corporate Training

Please contact us at Webanywhere if you would like to discuss your current and future learning needs.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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