7 Questions You Must Ask When Buying an LMS Gavin Woods

The right Learning Management System can be a powerful tool that empowers your learners and your learning team, and brings real tangible benefits to your organisation. But it’s essential you purchase the right tool for your organisation. This presentation highlights key questions you must ask your potential vendor before buying an LMS.

1. Is It Easy to Implement? Why? You want a system that can be up and running relatively quickly and in line with your roll-out plan. This will reduce to overall cost of ownership and avoid you getting bogged down in a drawn- out implementation phase. Key Questions: How long does the LMS typically take to deploy?(weeks vs. months) Does the system offer a configurable structure that cuts down on implementation time? Is there a realistic and detailed project plan available from the vendor? Does the vendor team have proven experience of similar implementations?

2. Is It Easy to Customise & Configure? Why? Every organisation is different, so it is important that the LMS you select can match the way you work and not the other way around. Key Questions: Can the system reflect the job roles and permissions that you require? Can the text and icons be customised to meet your preferences? Can the look and feel of the system be customised to reflect organisation or department branding? Are their options to configure system areas like course approvals, catalogues and learner accounts etc.?

3. Is It Secure? Why? You want to be completely sure that the selected LMS is secure and that the learner personal and financial data is safe. Key Questions: Does the LMS offer built-in security features as standard? Do the features meet your own data protection and information security policies? Is this security reflected in the organisations currently using the technology? Does the system use risky scripted page templates?

4. Is In-Depth Reporting Available? Why? You want to be sure that your selected LMS is working for your organisation as well as identifying how learners are using it. As usage builds over time, colleagues and management will want access to useful data such as compliance levels or performance appraisals. Key Questions: Does the LMS offer a range of in-depth reporting as standard? Are they ways to create and schedule custom reports easily? (i.e. some sort of report wizard). Can management have access to tailored reporting data and information dashboards?

5. Does It Have Strong Functionality? Why? This is a key area many organisations get caught out on and become locked in to using a particular LMS due to the amount of additional development time they have paid for. Key Questions: Do you know the functionality that you require as an organisation? Does the LMS offer a suite of standard features that can be turned on or off as required? Can the system meet support your courseware, compliance, performance requirements etc? What custom functionality do you require and what priority level does it have for your organisation?

6. Is it Scalable? Why? You want to select an LMS that can grow in line with your organisation and your learning & development strategy. Key Questions: Is the system proven to be used by large numbers of users? Are there out-of-the box features that are available that we can use when we are ready? (i.e. can we move to include management of classroom activities if required). Will the LMS be able to integrate with current/future IT systems as required? Does the vendor offer other related services that are applicable to your organisation (e.g. custom content development).

7. Do I Want to Work With This Vendor? Why? You’re going to working closely with your LMS provider, so it’s important to select a partner you will enjoy working with. Key Questions: Is the vendor experienced in the use of the technology they are proposing? Does the vendor have the required project management and quality processes in place? Are they approved or certified with regards to the proposed solution? Can you envisage them being flexible and easy to work with? Can they provide case-studies of similar implementations? Which internal stakeholders need to be involved in requirements specification and implementation?

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