The Learning Management system (LMS) has been a support for organizations and institutions for over fifteen years. Initially, the LMS was an enterprise technology emerging directly from the e-learning industry. AS classroom training began to migrate online, the LMS served as a simple tool to track user data and support delivery. Since this time, the LMS has evolved from a means of accomplishing administrative tasks associated with e-learning and content support, to a reflection of the many ways we are now comfortable accessing digital content and just-in-time learning.

 

“Educational institutions are starting to invest heavily in online learning, governments are rapidly expanding the offering of online learning for their employees, and businesses are starting to rapidly move their current training library into the digital world of online training. Therefore, a large number of e-training companies will emerge in the coming years.

The company that has the best material and digital media and the most seamless, integrated system will lead the online revolution. The challenge for large organizations will be navigating through the various online companies to find the one that delivers custom digital media courses that focus on the retention of information and the comprehension of the material. The world of online learning is quickly moving from the early adaptors phase to the mainstream, and the time to begin investigating how e-training and an LMS can help your organization meet training and development needs is now.”

Payne, Tony. “Crucial Considerations in Selecting an LMS.” Full article available online at clomedia.com.

 

While many organizations initially sought to create their own learning management systems and host them internally, solutions available today offer more options. Companies can choose to purchase and configure software to host internally or externally. Software as a service (saaS) has led to a decline in the “home-grown” LMS. Externally-hosted solutions are less costly than internal systems in terms of the support needed to maintain them. As a result, most companies are now seeking third party software.

As the economy continues to recover from the recent recession, we will see additional mergers and acquisitions in the LMS marketplace. Smaller vendors continue to be purchased by their larger competitors, and the number of players in the marketplace continues to decline due to consolidation. This will be an important factor to consider when selecting vendors for the foreseeable future.

Although the LMS has been a fixture in institutions for over a decade, there are still many lessons to be learned in selecting and implementing the solution that is best-suited for your organization's needs. This Infoline examines the benefits of an LMS, as well as the best strategies for a well-planned selection and implementation process.

THE BENEFITS OF AN LMS

It is no longer feasible for most organizations to manage their training efforts with manual record keeping. Many organizations now have less administrative support staff to support the training function. Increased regulatory scrutiny has resulted in a tightening of internal processes related to learning and development, and heightened compliance requirements have led to an increased need for streamlined access to just-in-time e-learning and virtual delivery.

Fortunately, the latest developments and trends in LMSs can help learning and development professionals stay on top of these changing trends and heightening expectations. Although the purchase of an LMS may be costly, proper selection and implementation can improve processes and allow your department to operate more efficiently.

The primary functionality offered by most LMS providers is to automate tasks associated with the learning function for organizations and academic institutions. These may include

• registering participants for learning events (both instructor-led and online)
• reporting results of training activities
• creating online assessments
• tracking system usage
• assigning training based on job role
• automating onboarding
• managing compliance and regulatory training
• tracking certifications and continuing education credits
• housing e-learning content
• providing a platform for social learning.

According to the eLearning Guild's 2010 report Getting Started With Learning Management Systems, “…reasons for purchasing a LMS vary, but the most common reasons respondents use a LMS are to implement e-Learning (89.9%), automate reporting and tracking (63.2%), and measure and report on training (63.3%).” See the sidebar Common Reasons for Implementing an LMS for a more comprehensive Listing.

SELECTING THE RIGHT LMS

Improper LMS selection and implementation can drain resources and create headaches for many areas of the organization, resulting in end-user frustration, additional spending, and insufficient reporting. Underestimating the time and resources needed for LMS selection and implementation can even result in a failed Launch of the new system.

LMS providers vary widely in their product features, pricing, and niche offerings. Not all systems will fit your needs, but several may. Identifying the “must-haves” of your organization will help you select the right solution provider. Whether you are selecting an LMS for the first time or considering switching to a new provider, initial questions you will want to explore include:

• What are the strategic goals of your organization? How could an LMS support those goals?
• What functionalities and features of an LMS are most critical to your organization?
• Are mergers and acquisitions possible in the next several years? To what extent?
• What changes in your industry (such as increased regulatory scrutiny or compliance reporting) will impact the training function of your organization?

ALL of these factors should weigh in to your selection process. It is your role to engage your internal stakeholders early in the process and demonstrate to them how this technology aligns with the organization's business needs. Making these communications early and often throughout the process will help you avoid a common setback to successful implementation: Lack of support from senior management. If stakeholders and department heads are not involved in the selection process, your Likelihood of internal commitment to the Long-term success of your solution will decrease dramatically.

It is important to enlist the appropriate executive Leaders and business unit heads in the selection of a new LMS. They will be aware of any Larger scale initiatives that could impede or conflict with an enterprise-wide rollout. Who are these key players? This will depend on the size of your organization or institution, but representatives from areas such as human resources, information technology, internal help desks, marketing, finance, and corporate projects should be included. Also remember to include those closest to the day-to-day use of the software: end users. Are there members of your organization who you believe would be an early adopter of the system? Enlist them early. They will help to give feedback and Lead the charge in system adoption. You will also want to partner with your Finance department in order to become familiar with your budget processes as well as cost and system overlap with old and new vendors. Consider that some costs associated with system implementation ay depreciate over time.

Consider the business needs.

One of your first steps in the process of selecting an LMS should be to consider your organization's business needs. Here are specific concerns you will want to address:

Are you in an industry that has to track compliance training?

If compliance courses are required for your organization, consider the number of courses required on average per year, and the costs associated with delivering, tracking, and reporting on the training. If these courses are tracked manually, how many hours, on average, are required to track them? Consider the average salary of the individual(s) tracking the courses, and multiply the number of hours by average hourly rate. Ask yourself what other tasks and support these individuals could offer the organization if they were freed from manual tracking. You may use this information as part of proving the return on investment (ROI) of purchasing an LMS.

If you have an existing LMS, consider how well the technology is supporting your compliance training. Are there limits to its reporting capabilities? How efficient is the process of delivering and tracking completion? Who is able to pull reports on completion rates, and how simple is it to manage? it isn't enough for an LMS to simply automate compliance training. If pulling reports is time consuming, and if there are frequent inaccuracies in those reports, it may be worth considering what efficiencies would be gained from a new system. Also, if the reporting features of the current LMS are limited, consider the risks to the organization of not improving the process. In some industries, regulatory agencies will take into consideration the reporting accuracy and completion rates when determining the amount of fines to levy on a particular business. If internal or external audits have uncovered areas of concern in compliance tracking, make note of their remarks. This will be helpful in the process of proving the ROI of investing in a new (or different) LMS.

Involving your compliance department in your LMS selection process early and often can help you. Spend time learning their processes, frustrations, and opportunities for better supporting them. Learn if your organization can anticipate increased regulatory scrutiny in the coming months or years, and what the impact will be on the compliance department, in terms of manpower as well as risk.

Do you need to deliver and track online courses to cut classroom training costs?

With many companies still recovering from the economic downturn, training department budgets and staffing must continue to improve the delivery mechanisms and efficiency of their training efforts. In some cases, it may be helpful to utilize an LMS to create blended learning solutions that maximize instructor-led training time in the classroom, while increasing the validity of pre- and post-classroom work. For example, if your company trains certain associates in your sales process, consider the possibility of using an LMS to deliver a pre-training assessment, and modules or information to review prior to coming to class. Classroom training time is then maximized because participants are better prepared and able to absorb more material. In addition, the LMS may offer options to automatically notify managers of attendees' training expectations and desired outcomes, as well as to clarify how they can help to reinforce training afterwards.

You may be able to work with stakeholders to establish which knowledge, skills, and behaviors could be gained from instructor-led training, and which could be gained using online options. Remember, you are the subject matter expert in these discussions. Research best practices and examples from other organizations, and be prepared to explain which material is best suited to online environments. In addition, consider your company's comfort level with online training. To get a feel for how this type of learning would be received in your organization, it could be helpful to conduct surveys, interviews, and focus groups to discuss your suggestions and gather feedback.

Also consider the benefits of selecting an LMS that supports social learning within the organization. Informal social communities, if implemented properly, can enable employees to more quickly access needed information, learn from subject matter experts, and increase overall engagement within the organization.

Is talent development and succession planning a key part of your organization?

Some LMS providers offer performance management and succession planning support as additional functionalities within their systems. The benefits of utilizing your LMS to support these efforts include reduced time tracking and managing paper-based processes, increased efficiency in recruiting, and more consistency and completion of performance reviews.

Define the pain points of your existing LMS.

Define your “pain points” that a new LMS would address, as well as the impact that a new solution would have on stakeholders. Who is impacted? How? In order to best articulate to senior management the importance of system selection, it may be helpful to divide pain points into two categories: internal frustrations and organization-wide frustrations.

Internal Frustrations

These are felt by your department, but may not be recognized by the rest of your organization, and as a result may not be perceived as critical problems. Common complaints include

• poor system support times (you report a problem to the vendor, and their response times are slow)
• difficult interface (navigation is counterintuitive)
• inadequate reporting (generating reports is time consuming or reports are inaccurate)
• lack of enhanced functionality (additional features such as performance management)
• difficult to integrate with existing systems
  (HR payroll/benefits system, corporate intranet, and so forth).

Critical to Organization

These are issues that may be important to others outside of your department. Consider issues with reporting (particularly compliance), functionality, automating processes, filling skill gaps, bridging geographic areas, and supporting strategic goals. You will also need to consider any technological and cultural limitations of your existing LMS.

NARROWING THE VENDOR SELECTION

Two valuable features of an LMS that you may want to make part of your selection criteria right off the bat include (1) single sign-on, which allows users to access the LMS from a secure employee portal without creating new user names and passwords, and (2) historical training data integration, which involves integrating past training records into the new system. You will also want to take the following steps to narrow your pool of possible solutions and proceed with the selection process.

Determine if you want a hosted or internal solution.

Creating an internal solution allows you to contain sensitive information, and may result in less issues dealing with firewalls and security. It is important to consider, however, that this also makes it your responsibility to manage updates and issues internally. A hosted solution is maintained by the provider, and can be Less costly. There are numerous sources for researching these two options, including publications by ASTD, the eLearning Guild, the Brandon Hall Group, and Bersin & Associates. A List of references and additional reading is Listed in the back of this Infoline.

Decide which features and functionality are most important to your organization.

For example, many systems now are capable of supporting processes such as

• onboarding
• competency mapping
• succession planning
• social Learning forums
• deep-Linking to internal websites
• performance management
• career development.

Consider what you truly need from your LMS. What functionality is critical to your department or organization? Be aware of the difference between “nice-to-haves” and “must-haves.” The sidebar on the following page, Trends and Demands Facing LMS Vendors, shows some of the new features LMS vendors are incorporating into their solutions.

Look at providers' customer base in your industry.

They are more likely to know about challenges often faced by others in your field. They can offer best practices from peers, and may have user groups that enable you to network with others in your industry. For these reasons, you will want to reach out to current clients of the vendors you are considering. Vendors typically will provide contact information for references that include their happiest customers. Another best practice is to reach out to companies that are not on this list, and schedule time to talk with them about their experience in working with the vendor. Some questions that may be beneficial to ask a vendor's current clients include:

• What lessons did you learn during the implementation process?
• What worked well?
• What would you do differently?
• Were there any unanticipated issues that you have had to deal with?
• If you could change one thing about your system, what would it be?
• Were there benefits of the system that you didn't anticipate?
• How long did you allow for implementation, and was that time sufficient?
• What tasks during implementation did you underestimate?
• Why did you select this vendor?

Customize a checklist to include with your RFP.

When you have identified potential vendors, you will want to customize a system requirements checklist (see the job aid LMS Requirements Checklist at the back of this issue) in order to include it with your request for proposal (RFP). This checklist allows you to include features that are important to you, and to determine at a glance whether these features are part of a standard implementation or are offered at additional cost.

Your RFP should be simple and straightforward. You will want to include a description of what you are interested in purchasing, as well as a timeframe in which vendors must respond to the request in order to be considered. Make note of each vendor's responsiveness. A delayed response may be an early indicator that the vendor doesn't have the capacity to manage additional customers, or simply that their response times are poor. Also make note of the vendor's approach to your request. Are they simply responding to it, or are they reaching out to you in order to better understand the needs of your organization?

In addition, remember to discuss with the vendor which functionalities are configurable (tailored in the interface to meet your needs) versus customizable (often more expensive and requiring changes in coding).

 

Set up stakeholder demos.

Your next step will be to set up demos with stakeholders. It may be helpful to schedule a time over the course of one day to have vendors make their demonstrations and allow stakeholders to discuss feedback and first impressions. Although this may not be possible for a global company, in-person demos typically offer the chance to capture greater feedback and allow stakeholders to collaborate in identifying the preferred solution.

Whether your demo is offered via webinar or in person, you can allow time before the demo to remind everyone of the critical features you identified in the assessment phase, and make time after for discussion. It is helpful if a member of your department takes detailed notes throughout in order to capture all feedback.

If you currently have another LMS solution, it can also be helpful to take some time with the group prior to the demos to show the current LMS, and remind the group of any system limitations that you are hoping to address with a new solution. Remember that a large part of your stakeholder group may not be a daily (or even monthly) user of your LMS. They should be made aware of the issues you face with your current provider. You can also meet with key stakeholders ahead of time to determine any questions you'd Like to pose to the vendor.

Vendors may have a “canned” demo that they use, but is helpful to identify the asks you would most Like to see demonstrated, and those that will be relevant to your audience. Let the vendor know ahead of time which specific features you would Like to have included in the demo.

Again, if you already have an LMS and are Looking to switch providers, what are your pain points that impact the organization? Are there tasks or processes with the current system that are cumbersome for the end user? Make sure you have an opportunity to see how these processes work with the other vendors.

Following the demos, the vendors should provide you with access to a “sandbox” site, where you can experiment with system functionality and test out the Look, feel, and overall usability of the system. It may be useful to include a sample of end users in this process, also.

After the demos are complete, plan to communicate back to the stakeholder group with next steps and to acknowledge their part in the process. Frequent communication during each step in the selection process will help to engage senior Leaders.

Evaluate costs and pricing.

When considering costs of an LMS, be aware of the “true cost” of ownership. Elements to consider include:

• implementation
• maintenance
• configuration
• customization
• Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
• user Licenses
• data storage

• training modules
• staff training and support
• integration with web conferencing, CRM, and other software
• mobile applications
• various assessments and measurement tools.

When you have come this far in the process of selecting an LMS, you will want to prepare a business case for your preferred solution. See the sidebar Making a Business Case for an LMS for more information on drafting this document. An executive summary, which provides an at-a-glance summary of your business case, can also make a great handout for stakeholders and other decision makers involved in the process. You may use the template found in the sidebar Creating an Executive Summary to help you draft this document.

Review vendor contract.

When you receive your contract from the vendor, it could easily be more than twenty pages. At this point, involving an internal contract manager is critical. Their experience and expertise in mitigating risks for your organization can save time and money throughout your relationship with the vendor.

When you have finalized your vendor selection, you will want to determine which factors you may be interested in negotiating. It is helpful to take a partnering approach with the vendor, rather than an adversarial approach. For example, it may be important to you to be able to spread out the payments over a period of time, or to have additional user licenses in anticipation of company expansion. Many contract terms and prices are negotiable, and vendors often expect this to be the case.

If your organization has a dedicated project management team, request that a seasoned project manager be assigned as your guide, particularly one that has experience in other projects involving IT support and technology infrastructure. Their experience with other departments' vendor selection, as well as contract negotiation, can be valuable. In addition, if the expense Level of the item requires that you have to present this project to an approval committee, they have seen successful (and unsuccessful) presentations and will be able to offer advice and best practices to support you.

 

 

“Entering into an LMS contract is tricky, and the emphasis should be on the long term. Don't make the typical one-year contract mistakes, such as negotiating the price down or getting them to throw in an extra day of training. You can be sure the difference will be made up in subsequent years. Why? The real investment your company makes is not in the LMS, but in the number of courses created and the integration into your company's systems.”

Schechter, Howard B. “Negotiating an LMS Contract: Traps and Pitfalls.” Full article available online at clomedia.com.

 

IMPLEMENTING AND MIGRATING THE NEW LMS

In implementing (or migrating) your LMS, use your “go Live” date and work backward to ensure you are allowing yourself enough time (ask project managers for guidance). Plan to build in additional time, more than what the vendor estimated, to allow for any hiccups or unforeseen issues. Vendor timelines and task Lists may be generic in nature, and not include time needed for marketing and more thorough testing. Consider what isn't included in the implementation task List and allow for those additions.

Also consider what else is happening in your organization and what resources you will need. The support of IT, as well as HR, is vital to the success of the project. Make sure the timeline fits within other strategic goals for the organization.

Be aware that many factors influence the time and complexity of an implementation. Some things to consider are:

• migrating historical data
• rebuilding assessments and items created within another LMS
• technical requirements
• training for administrative staff and end users
• implementing additional functionality (recruiting, performance management, social learning).

Request that a seasoned implementation specialist be assigned to you on the vendor side. This may help to cut down on time and cost spent fixing problems during implementation and migration. Migrating data and classes from one LMS to another will usually be Less time consuming than starting from scratch. While not an entirely turnkey process, it will eliminate some of the obstacles you may face with rolling out an LMS for the first time.

When implementing an LMS for the first time, your team members, as well as other internal partners (Human Resources, Information Technology, Compliance, and so forth) can anticipate a Learning curve. Each of these departments will likely play a key role in the implementation process, and it is likely that not all of them will have past experience with LMSs.

System Rollout

Consider rolling out the system, once you believe it is complete, to a beta group of users before opening it up to the entire organization. This will give you another opportunity to test the system before an enterprise-wide rollout. Allow at least thirty days to the beta group to thoroughly test all functionality with system end users and administrators.

Because you will have involved senior stakeholders throughout the process, you have a greater likelihood of system adoption. But to ensure that you are able to engage the majority of users, have a clearly defined marketing plan in place from the beginning. Utilize both conventional company messaging mediums (newsletters, company intranet, and so forth), but add additional components to get users' attention and create a buzz around the system launch. Here are some suggestions for creatively marketing the new system:

• naming contests—award prizes to those who submit the best names
• “teaser” ads and messaging leading up to system launch
• testimonials from early adopters
• scavenger hunts throughout the site, encouraging users to explore the new system
• ask users to submit feedback, photos of “learning in action” and other messages that can be rotated on the home page of the system.

According to the “innovations and Best Practices in E-Learning” article by Lorri Friefeld in Training magazine, “A great LMS is no good if the learners don't use it because the content isn't compelling.”

Here are five tips for creating compelling content that will engage end users during the system adoption phase:

• Find your company's Subject Matter Experts (SMEs): These are the people who always have the answers to your questions. Put that knowledge to work! They can help write FAQs and create training materials and resources.
• Create course templates: instead of continually creating new courses, create a generic template to simplify future course development. By providing a template with a few questions to fill in, it will be a snap for others throughout the company, like SMEs, to help you create a course.
• Draw on newbies: After developing training materials during the testing and Q&A process, use new employees or customers to help review them. They will bring a fresh set of eyes to the material and be able to call out topics that are confusing for someone going through the training for the first time.
• Assign administrators: Allow department heads, managers, and training department staff administrative access to the appropriate parts of the system. They can run reports, enroll students in classes, and much more. This gives administrators more ownership of the training program, while reducing your administrative overhead.
• Reward feedback: No matter how hard you try, you will always miss something. Encourage your learners to find mistakes and provide feedback on your training. When they do, make sure to thank them—either through a simple email or a $5 coffee gift card. You want extra eyes watching for mistakes, and your students will feel pride in improving the quality of your training program.

A GOOD LMS EASES THE LEARNING PROCESS

Online learning is constantly changing and improving. The best LMS platforms stay up to date with current technologies, make adding your e-learning courses easy, and most importantly, give your users a reason to keep learning.

Selecting a new LMS is a daunting, time-consuming task, regardless of the size of your organization. If you and your team create a realistic timetable for considering vendors, engage stakeholders in the process throughout, and allow ample time for testing and rollout, you are more likely to experience successful implementation and adoption of your solution. Proper planning can save time, money, and frustration, and ultimately enable you to function more as a business partner in your organization.