Mission: Buy an LMS
By John V. Moran

If your organization has bought into the notion of learning as a strategic initiative--and many leading companies have--your next challenge is to select and implement a learning management system. Here's how.

There are several definitions used to describe learning management systems. The basic explanation, according to IDC, is "a software application that automates the administration, tracking, and reporting of training events." Another source, e-learning Age, describes LMSs as "software systems used to collect and analyze data relating to existing and developing skills of a workforce."

While both definitions are acceptable, it's perhaps more accurate to combine them: "An LMS is a software application that automates the administration, tracking, and reporting of classroom and online training events, enabling detailed analysis of the effectiveness of your training investment." Ultimately, that’s why an organization buys an LMS--to provide information that influences decision making and optimizes training dollars.

When selecting and implementing an LMS, two success factors must be in place. First, a corporate learning blueprint needs to exist that clearly articulates the current learning environment and the desired future state. The blueprint should be aligned with organizational learning goals and have buy-in from leadership. Second, despite what you’ve been told (or sold), seamless LMS integration doesn't exist. Consequently, you need to acknowledge sizable costs associated with

• migrating databases
• constructing digital connectors to other enterprise software systems
• developing or migrating content
• customizing reports.

Plan on integration fees that are roughly the same as the LMS license.

Internal assessment

To help an organization define its future learning blueprint, we suggest a vision and planning effort that takes about four to six weeks. Some standard assessments to focus the effort include the following:

Strategic analysis that identifies the company’s business objectives as they relate to workforce development, defines high-level priority target areas for knowledge and skills transfer, and describes--in basic terms--the current and desired future learning environment.

IT infrastructure assessments that provide baseline information about the current configuration of the company’s IT backbone and detail programs that exist on desktops across the enterprise. This assessment should define connectivity that remote learners and those closer to the central IT hubs will experience. Explore internal or external hosting options. For example, if your company will host the LMS internally, the IT department needs to understand that the LMS will require continued support. That translates to bandwidth and labor costs that are not often factored into a company’s investment decision. An additional collateral benefit from conducting this sort of assessment is that it engages the IT department at the beginning of the process. Support from IT is critical to a successful LMS implementation, whether the solution is hosted internally or externally.

Cultural readiness assessments that help determine an organization’s ability to embrace new learning strategies. Often, LMS implementation projects address all of the technical aspects adequately but overlook political, cultural, and practical implications. That oversight generally results in a stalled or failed initiative. A cultural readiness assessment helps define parameters for success, such as whether you need intense internal marketing for your programs.

Administrative process analysis that maps existing administrative efforts that govern the training function and identifies procedures that will change due to an LMS implementation. Examples include how to handle overbooked classes and capturing and recording learner results and feedback. Analysis will also determine where the LMS needs to connect to existing HR software systems and databases.

Completing those assessments will help you develop a clear picture of required functionality and create LMS bid specifications that most closely align with your business needs. Most leading LMS providers offer substantially more functionality than basic administrative, tracking, and reporting options, including competency modules and tool sets for developing online course content. In addition, many companies need to add functionality that's unavailable in a standard LMS package. Bbasic LMS functionality combined with expanded utilities and other learning software applications is referred to as a learning architecture (see Figure 1).

Questions to consider when developing your e-learning architecture are

• Will you host the solution?
• Do you need content development tools?
• Do you require a competency module that helps define skills gaps for building individualized learning plans?
• Is there an e-commerce piece?
• Will you build links to additional company or external information sources?
• Does a synchronous online component enable e-mentoring and the creation of online learning communities?
• Do you need online assessment capabilities?
• Will you need to connect to external communities, such as suppliers or customers?

Procurement

Once you've assessed your internal requirements, the procurement phase begins. We recommend a three-part process that starts with asking suppliers to respond to a Request For Information (RFI). The RFI is designed to determine how closely an LMS offering meets specified requirements. Example RFI questions include Can instructors create pre- and posttests online? or Can the learner be wait-listed if the selected course is full, and how is the learner notified about wait-listing?

After you examine all RFIs, send qualified suppliers a Request For Quotation (RFQ). The RFQ is a basic breakdown of costs and estimated timelines. Based on the RFI and RFQ, ask three to five finalists to present a live LMS for review.

Some of the more obvious selection criteria include feature and function fit, cost, experience, and stability. In regard to fit, it’s really a matter of comparing the demonstrated capabilities of each LMS against your requirements. To provide a defensible, quantitative comparison, list LMS requirements by importance (see Answer Geek) and assign values that indicate the LMS's ability to meet each one.

There are four primary cost factors to evaluate: license cost, annual maintenance costs, hardware and other software costs, and maintenace costs for the operational system. Those are generally straightforward comparisons that are easily quantified.

In terms of experience and stability, look for LMS providers with multiple installations, satisfied customers, and strong financial indicators. Spend time with fellow customers, and ask them to elaborate on the supplier's service level, support response time, and overall ease of integration. However, keep in mind that LMS technology is relatively new, and all customers will experience some level of difficulty. However, many problems that seemed insurmountable a year ago have been fixed.

Financial indicators worth close attention include cash position and burn rate, quality of financial backing, and path to profitability. Almost none of the major LMS providers have positive earnings at this time, so the long-term survivors will be ones that achieve positive earnings prior to running out of cash. Clearly, you want to select a long-term player as your LMS provider.

There are also some not-so-obvious but equally important selection considerations.

Content migration. If you're interested in off-the-shelf content, it's important to identify the content providers whose courses currently run with full functionality on the LMS in question. That will eliminate content migration costs for some suppliers, as well as provide an indication about the ease of content migration in general.

Process changes. Another less obvious consideration involves how closely LMS processes map to existing administrative processes. Recognizing that some existing procedures will change is realistic. On the other hand, having to change all administration practices will have an adverse impact on the LMS implementation.

Making connections. Consider the number of fully functional connectors--the linkage between the LMS and other software applications--that need to be constructed and tested. For example, if the LMS supplier can demonstrate an installation where your existing HR software package is integrated with the LMS, then overall integration costs will be lower--all other things being equal.

Be sure to have the supplier demonstrate all capabilities on an existing live site.

Implementation

The standard implementation process begins with development of an Interface Requirements Document (IRD) that specifies all of the LMS touch points, such as where software interfaces exist or will need to be constructed. There are three primary sections of the IRD. The first component describes content requirements and, more specifically, content that will be loaded onto the LMS platform. The second segment addresses one-time data migration, which includes existing databases that need to be loaded. Examples are employee databases, learner training records, course catalogs, and so forth. The third component defines databases that must integrate with the LMS. In this case, data flows in a continuous stream between a database and the LMS. Examples might include integration with an existing accounting application, inventory system, or a synchronous learning application outside of the standard LMS offering.

Finally, you need to prepare an Implementation Design Document (IDD) that outlines the process and procedural steps necessary to load the LMS and implement its interface requirements. The IDD will contain actual screen shots, database tables, and integration methodology for each of the LMS's touch points. It will also serve as the roadmap for testing all connections, databases, and the functionality of each page; simulating full-load conditions (referred to as a stress test); and listing procedures for signing off on final acceptance of the application.

Bottom line: Developing a good blueprint and documenting each process of the implementation will help assure the success of your LMS initiative.

Published: January 2002