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Five Tips and an RFP Template: Choosing the Right LMS
The learning management system (LMS) industry continues toexpand. With over 600 different products on the market, research from Bersin by Deloitte found that the LMS market was worth over $2.5 billionin 2014. We can expect this number to grow significantly in the next threeyears as separate research from MarketsandMarketsindicates that the market will grow to nearly $8 billion by 2018.
This rapid growth is partially explained by the tremendousvalue that an LMS brings to organizations of all shapes and sizes. Apart fromthe obvious benefits of being able to provide standardized training to multipleemployees across vast territories, my research indicatesthat organizations are reaping massive benefits by using an LMS forcompliance-related training, talent development, and educating externalstakeholders (customers, partners, and resellers). Whether you are searchingfor your first LMS, or looking to upgrade your old legacy system to somethingmore flexible, this article is for you.
Here are five tips for choosing the right LMS for yourorganization along with an RFP template that will ensure you cover all of yourbases when comparing your options.
Tip 1: Determine and define your LMS goals
This may go without saying, but it is crucial to define allthat you want to achieve with your LMS before you begin researching youroptions. Are you wanting to provide learning and talent developmentopportunities to your employees? What about compliance or health and safetytraining? Consider what organizational goals you want to achieve with your LMSand, on a more granular level, how these goals apply to the needs of your LMSusers. In defining your goals, it is in your best interest to ensure they areSMART—specific,measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound.
Here are some questions that will help you define your LMS goals:
- Who are the stakeholders of your future LMS? (Users,trainers, instructional designers, impacted departments, shareholders, others,etc.)
- What will be their primary interactions with the LMS?
- What actions will be most important to them?
- What shortcomings will frustrate them most?
- What reporting capabilities do various stakeholders need?(Training results, employees’ progress and accomplishments, etc.)
Finding an LMS with a reporting tool that meets your specific needs is awhole other topic in its own right. LMS reporting abilities have beenidentified as one of the largest gaps in the today’s LMS market.
Tip 2:Determine your LMS specifications
In an ideal world you will find an LMS that meets all of your needs andwants but it is important to clarify what your “must-haves” are whenresearching your options. This will cut down the time required when you get demonstrationsof the learning management systems you are considering—only demo those that youknow meet your “must-have” list. The RFP template attached to thisarticle goes into said “must-haves” in detail. In addition, here are somegeneral questions to consider for your first point of contact with an LMSvendor:
- What out-of-the-box features does the LMS have?
- Is the LMS configurable?
- How many organizations or users are using the existing LMSand what do they use it for? Ensure that the system serves organizations whouse the LMS in similar ways to you.
- Is the LMS interoperable—what systems does it integratewith and what is the cost?
Tip 3: Takethe LMS for a ride
Demos are key to getting a feel for the LMS and seeing first-hand how itwill help you reach your goals. This is where you will really see which LMSshines. It is also the time for you to dig deep and press vendors on specificfeatures, integrations, reporting capabilities, and workflows that will make orbreak the adoption of your LMS. I recommend that you outline a few scenariosthat your stakeholders will experience in the LMS so you can see exactly whatthis process will look like.
For example, suppose one of your goals is to provide, monitor, andreport on mandatory compliance training for your employees. You will want tosee what this process looks like for employees, trainers, managers,administrators, and even the compliance officers who receive the compliancereports.
If you have the opportunity to get a sandbox or trial of the LMS, takethe time to test out the support and training services. This is also a greatopportunity to evaluate the system’s ease of use by allowing employees toexplore the interface. A quick follow-up survey to gauge usability will proveto be invaluable. It will also give you an idea of how much training it willtake to bring your people up to speed to maximize adoption.
Tip 4: Get feedbackand check references
Treat this step as you would a product review and seek feedback not onlyfrom the references they provide you, but from user groups and communities onthe web as well. When checking references, I recommend using a questionnaire sothat you can grade answers and compare between vendors. A quick Google searchshould provide you with blogs or user forums of the LMSs you are considering,but if this is unsuccessful LinkedIn Groups is another great place to start.
Tip 5: Plan ahead—purchasefor your present & future needs
Having foresight and a solid understanding of how you plan to use yourLMS in both the next five and ten years can assist you in choosing an LMS thatwill grow as you do. Companies who hopped onto the LMS bandwagon when theyfirst appeared ten years ago are already going through costly process andsystem changes to meet new system needs. While it is impossible to completelyforesee how you may outgrow an LMS, there are a few key considerations to keepin mind when vetting your options.
The first growth factor to consider is users—how many do you expect tohave annually in the next ten years? Knowing these numbers will put you in abetter position. Be sure to ask about the flexibility of potential solutions inregard to both minor and major changes. One way to gauge the LMS firm’scapability to adapt to growth is how they have responded to past market trends.Do they release iterations of their product and how often? Can they provide youwith past examples where they have quickly implemented new ideas ortechnologies?
The second growth factor to consider is functionality. In the past ten yearsthe LMS has already drastically evolved. Locking yourself into an LMS that doesnot have a history of evolving to meet quickly changing market needs andtechnologies can be risky. Do your due diligence and check into the history ofthe company. Where do their roots lie and how far has their LMS developed sinceinception?
