An LMS means Learning Management System. Learning Management Systems or LMS have been around for a couple of decades but they have really exploded over the last 5 or 6 years.

What is an LMS?

An LMS is the actual system designed to enable organizations manage the creation, delivery and tracking of their learning assets. Initially organizations had to set up elaborate and often complicated legacy systems to enable them create and deliver e-training. Some of these legacy LMS systems costs them hundreds of thousands of dollars and required a dedicated crew of IT specialist, programmers, Network Administrators and more just to keep them running. And if they had the misfortune of breaking down, it cost a whole bunch just to upgrade or update them.

Then of there is the issue of upgrading or updating the software and hardware infrastructure. With legacy LMS systems, it was not uncommon for companies to be locked into long term contracts with no way to get out. Any changes or new updates needed to be purchased and installed. Adding in modules or additional features also required a lot of financial and physical assets.

Where is the LMS now?

LMS’s have come a long way since the days of legacy systems. Today many LMS’s are designed and delivered online. An LMS which is deployed online has some obvious advantages. These web-based LMS’s enable quicker and easier setup and implementation. Secondly they can be accessed from just about any device and from any location on the planet which makes them more useful for actual end users who tend to like the flexibility of on-demand e-learning and training. So many software companies are wrestling with challenges from the customers regarding support and general use of their software tools. We believe software customer training is key to solving this and empowering customers to maximize their use of these powerful software tools.

Another benefit of the software-as-a-service model of newer LMS’s is the ease of scalability. Imagine you have to increase your usage of the LMS because your company is growing rapidly. Will it be be easier to simply upload and go or instead call IT and have a second server provisioned and installed and then configured for your additional users. You can see how the flip side of this equation can also cause trouble for companies. The last recession hit many companies pretty hard and they had to let a lot of employees go. If you had legacy learning management systems, you were stuck with all the excess capacity and IT resources even though your actual usage changed dramatically.

So is an LMS right for everyone?

Personally, I would say yes but to each their own. Here are some simple questions to ask to see if an LMS is right for you:

1. Do you have someone in charge of training at your organization?
2. Does your organization have a learning strategy in place?
3. Does your organization hire new employees frequently and track their training progress?
4. Does your organization need to track and report an individual’s progress and completion?
5. Does your organization offer and report certification training?
6. Does your organization have employees in multiple locations?
7. Does your organization offer external training to customers or suppliers?
8. Does your organization handle a lot of registrations for your training events?
9. Does your organization already have training courses created?
10. Does your organization charge a fee for courses?

There are no right or wrong answers. If you answered these questions with a YES, then exploring the possibility of using and LMS could certainly be worth it.