Choosing the right LMS for your organization isn't easy.

There are numerous choices, from vendor systems, to open source, proprietary systems, even "free" learning management systems.  There are many stakeholders whose needs should be considered. Worse, much of the information is conflicting, and product information from competing competitors starts to look all pretty much the same.

Organizations invest significant time to investigate providers of eLearning content.

Choosing a LMS can be just as critical of a decision, significantly affecting organizational benefits, ROI, and effectiveness of an organization's training strategy and goals.

To make a better decision, answer these questions before you choose a learning management system.

Knowledge Management Software Overview:

1. What are your training goals?  Typical goals include regulatory compliance (OSHA, EEOC, other), risk avoidance (harassment, diversity, safety), quality/efficiency (ISO, Lean, or Six Sigma initiatives), increased sales (sales techniques, CRM), customer service (corporate procedure, handling difficult customers, issue tracking software),  manufacturing processes, new hire training, software/equipment training, corporate policy training, and customer product training.  Are your goals to increase learning retention?  Cut learning costs?  Develop future management?  Increase sales?  Cut manufacturing/service/delivery costs?


2. How many students do you expect now and five years from now?  How many courses?  There's a big difference in the amount of complexity a mid-sized organization will need (up to around 5,000  students) vs a large organization (tens of thousands of students).  Number of courses will also have a direct impact on the amount of complexity your LMS will need.  There's no need to purchase an "atomic fly swatter", when there are simpler, more cost effective, easier to deploy and manage solutions available on the market.


3. How much will your content change?  Are you a fast growing young business whose needs will likely change within the next 5 years?  Or are you more a stable organization where your needs and size may change more slowly?  If you expect your content to change, you'll want a LMS that can manage content changes easily.  If you expect your business to significantly change within the next 5 years, you'll want a LMS that can be easily modified as your needs change.

Learning Management Constraints:

4. How much budget and time do you have? Do you have the time and budget needed to create and support a fully customized solution - do you have significant support of your in-house IT staff, or a budget to hire teams of consultants?  Unless your organization has made training a priority over most other projects, you may not get as much IT implementation and service support as you need.  If you see a risk that your IT support may be insufficient or may shrink, a hosted solution can take some of these risks off your shoulders.


5. How much of your content is developed in-house?  Most organizations have both in house developed and vendor provided content, but which is the most important to yours?  Is your custom training developed in-house or by outside vendors?    Organizations that develop significant in-house content themselves will want a LMS with features to make content authoring easy and efficient.


6. What's more important, ease of implementation, or really cool features?  Bells and whistles catch our attention when selecting a product, but ask yourself - how often will features be actually used?  Will specific features better engage students and result in greater usage and retention?  Will specific features provide information that is actually used to manage employees or help you make decisions on your training programs?  Be careful of being drawn to attractive features that will be seldom used by your organization.

Additional eLearning Strategy Details:

7. Is customization important, or is off the shelf ok?  Most organizations want the ability to tweak the system, especially if it will be used for a number of years.  Today, many companies are used to the benefits of site customization, especially for systems that will be used for a number of years.


8. How detailed do management reports need to be?  Will you publish summary or granular training information to other parts of the organization?  Organizations having a complex organizational or cost structure are more likely to require more granular information.  While many companies may only need summary information, organizations that allocate every expense into product costs, who have a matrix organizational structure, or who have many departments based on products/functions/regions may need very granular information.


9. How easily will an LMS work with your existing training content?  If you've already purchased content, consider how well it will integrate with your LMS.  Ask potential e-learning vendors for sample course that you can test on a demo of an LMS that you are considering to make sure it works.


10. Does your LMS need to be SCORM compliant?  If your training needs to be SCORM compliant, your LMS needs to be able to work with SCORM compliant training.


11. How important is security around your training systems?  How much of your training contains trade secrets?  Would the risk of even minimal training downtime significantly impact your company?  Most organizations find that training, while important, won't contain the secret recipe to Coca-Cola and isn't so mission critical that investing in 100% uptime provides a strong ROI.  For most organizations, security, while important, isn't the central deciding factor when choosing a LMS.


12. Who is the company behind the LMS?  Have they been around for awhile?  Do they have a track record?  Will they still be here in 5 years to support my investment?  Do research beyond the website and product literature to find out how long the company has been in the LMS market, talk to customers, and research the web for customer reviews.

The best computer based training content in the world can fail to deliver intended benefits if paired with a learning management system that doesn't meet your organization's needs.  Many organizations invest more time and resources to examine eLearning content than to study the system that organizes that content, as content typically carries a steeper initial investment.  HR and training managers can avoid expensive pitfalls by asking the right questions before choosing a LMS.

Learning Management Systems (LMS) have increased in popularity and become within reach of more organizations over the past few years.

However, organizations won’t enjoy the full advantages and savings of computer based training without a Learning Management System.

1. Training Consistency - Because a LMS is centralized delivery of training, it's consistent. While the quality of instructor-led training can vary based on how well the instructor engages students (as well as instructor knowledge base), employee training (elearning as well as instructor led) through a Learning Management System delivers a consistent level of training quality to all employees by providing a single source for content, related materials and instructions.


2. Reporting and Tracking - A Learning Management System allows an organization to easily produce training reports on an overall or an employee level basis. A well-designed LMS will allow the organization to easily track utilization, goal progress, knowledge gains, and ROI. An LMS allows the organization to clearly demonstrate cost savings for individual training initiatives and strategies.


3. Measurement of Knowledge Gains - Pre and post testing gives an organization the ability to measure knowledge gained through the LMS.


4. Ability to quickly change and update training materials - A Learning Management System allows the organization to change employee training to quickly respond to client feedback. Organizations can easily release training for new products and features.


5. Compliance - A Learning Management System provides training reporting and evidence to satisfy legal and regulatory requirements.


6. Personalized Learning - A well designed LMS allows training to be tailored for each employee.


7. Training Time Management - Learning Management Systems can monitor training time, giving insight for training improvement opportunities.


8. Administration Automation - A LMS can reduce learning administration costs by automating enrollments, registration, payments, student recordkeeping, syllabus, course assignments, course content reviews and updating, assessments, certification, surveys, course evaluations, student communication, reporting, education analysis, development and analysis of training costs.


9. Build training feedback systems - Learning Management Systems can track employee course satisfaction, and knowledge differentials. These measurements can uncover opportunities to change course content for increased effectiveness.


10. Demonstrates organization's training priority - Organizations that commit resources and internal projects to LMS implementation signal the importance of training to employees.

Organizations that invest in employee training can leverage savings by adding a well designed Learning Management System to corporate elearning strategies.

Conference Alerts has posted a comprehensive list of upcoming events in internet-based education, educational technology and related fields.

January 2010

07 Learning Futures Festival Online 2010 Leicester United Kingdom
07 Hawaii International Conference on Education Honolulu Hawaii
15 New Frontiers in Learning and Innovation Houston Texas
20 MISC 2010 - International Conference on Mobility, Individualisation, Socialisation, Connectivity London United Kingdom
22 The 2nd IEEE International Conference on Future Networks (ICFN 2010) Sanya China
All accepted papers will also be published in theconference proceeding by ASME, and will be listedin the ASME website, and indexed by Ei Compendexand Thomson ISI.
25 2010 International Conference on e-Commerce, e-Administration, e-Society, e-Education, and e-Technology Macau China
The main objective of e-CASE & e-Tech 2010 is toprovide a platform for researchers, engineers,academicians as well as industrial professionalsfrom all over the world to present their researchresults and development activities.
26 Best Learning Center Practices to Support Online Student Success and Retention online
Online students need specific learning & studystrategies support. Learn how to involve learningcenter admin/staff in helping campus studentstaking online courses & how to assist instructorsin integrating learning assistance support.

February 2010

01 3rd Annual Forum on e-Learning Excellence in the Middle-East 2010: Bringing Global Quality to a Local Context Dubai, UAE United Arab Emirates
04 World Conference on Educational Sciences istanbul Turkey
12 The 2010 IEEE International Conference on Data Storage and Data Engineering (DSDE 2010) Bangalore India
All papers of DSDE 2010 will be published by IEEE,and will be included in the IEEE Xplore.
15 Mediterranean Conference for Academic Disciplines Gozo Malta
19 E- resources in Higher Education – Issues, Challenges, Opportunities and Developments Tiruchirappalli India
23 International Conference on Digital Libraries (ICDL) New Delhi India
25 The International Society for the Social Studies Annual Conference Orlando Florida
26 2010 The 2nd SPIE International Conference on Digital Image Processing (ICDIP 2010) Singapore Singapore
All accepted papers will be published in the conference proceeding by SPIE, and will be SPIEDigital Library, indexed by the INSPEC, EiCompendex, Chemical Abstracts, InternationalAerospace Abstracts.
26 2010 The 2nd IEEE International Conference on Computer and Automation Engineering (ICCAE 2010) Singapore Singapore
All accepted papers will also be published in theconference proceeding by ASME or IEEE, and beindexed by the major indexing services, such as EiCompendex and Thomason ISI Proceeding.
26 2010 International Conference on Behavioral, Cognitive and Psychological Sciences (BCPS 2010) Singapore Singapore
The accepted full papers will be published in theBCPS 2010 Proceeding, which will be indexed by theworld major indexing services.

March 2010

01 Developing an Online Orientation Online Webcast
01 International Conference for Academic Disciplines Orlando Florida
04 TOUCHPOINT 2010 1st Technology in Education Conference Manila Philippines
15 International Conference for Academic Disciplines Las Vegas
15 Microcomputers in Education Conference Tempe Arizona
15 The Eighth IASTED International Conference on Web-based Education ~WBE 2010~ Sharm El Sheikh Egypt
18 GUIDE Association International Workshop 2010 New Challenges for e-learning in cultural, scientific and socio-economic development Rome Italy
19 The 2nd International Conference on Knowledge Discovery (ICKD 2010) Bali Island Indonesia
The ICKD 2010 Conference proceeding will beincluded in the IEEE Xplore and CSDL, and indexedby the IEE INSPEC, Thomson ISI (ISTP), and EICompendex.
26 2010 The 2nd IEEE International Conference on Computer Engineering and Applications (ICCEA 2010) Bali Indonesia
ICCAE 2010 will be published by IEEE, and allpapers in the proceedings will be included in theIEEE Xplore, and indexed by Ei Compendex andThomson ISI.
27 2010 the 2nd International Conference on Advanced Computer Control (ICACC 2010) Shenyang China
All accepted papers will also be published in the conference proceeding by IEEE, and will be indexed by EI Compendex, INSPEC, Thomson ISI, IEEE XploreTM.
30 International Arab Conference on e-Technology Kuwait Kuwait

April 2010

13 IEEE International Conference on Digital Ecosystems and Technologies Dubai United Arab Emirates
15 1st Symposium on Collective Intelligence (COLLIN 2010) Hagen Germany
15 eLearning and Software for Education conference - eLSE 2010 Bucharest Romania
15 E-learning and software for education Bucharest Romania
15 The 6th International Conference STRATEGIES XXI Bucharest Romania
16 2010 International Conference on Intelligent Building Management (ICIBM 2009) Chengdu China
All ICIBM 2010 papers will be listed in IEEEXplore and CSDL, and indexed by Ei Compendex,Thomson ISI Proceedings and INSPEC.
16 2010 The 2nd IEEE International Conference on Computer Engineering and Technology (ICCET 2010) Chengdu China
The ICCET 2010 proceedings will be included inIEEE Xplore, and Indexed by Thomson ISI and EiCompendex.
16 2010 The 2nd IEEE International Conference on Information Management and Engineering (IEEE ICIME 2010) Chengdu China
Sponsored by IEEE, all papers will be included inIEEE Xplore, and indexed by Ei Compendex andThomson ISI.
21 Defence Academies and Colleges e-Learning Conference The Hague Netherlands
23 2010 The 2nd IEEE International Conference on Systems Engineering and Modeling (ICSEM 2010) Bangkok Thailand
Conference Proceedings will be included in theIEEE Xplore, and indexed by Ei Compendex andThomson ISI.
25 2010 International Conference on Economics and Finance Research (ICEFR 2010) Bangkok Thailand
All the registered papers of ICEFR 2010 will be indexed by British Library, and indexed by Thomson ISI and Nelson.
25 Quality Connections - Boundless Possibilities: Through Open, Flexible and Distance Learning Wellington New Zealand
28 “Mathematical education in a context of changes in primary school” Olomouc Czech Republic
29 Moodle Mini Moot Wellington New Zealand

May 2010

03 LANGUAGES & BUSINESS 2010 Duesseldorf Germany
05 The 3rd International ELT Conference Telling ELT Tales out of School Famagusta, North Cyprus Cyprus
05 2010 KSET International Conference Seoul Korea (South)
05 Educational Technology Forum (ETF) 2010 Sharjah United Arab Emirates
07 2010 The 2nd IEEE International Conference on Computer Research and Development (ICCRD 2010) Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
Conference proceedings will be included in IEEEXplore ,and indexed by Ei Compendex, and ISIT Thomson.
10 3rd International Conference on “Innovations in Learning for the Future 2010: e-Learning istanbul Turkey
10 Future Learning 2010 Istanbul Ýstanbul Turkey
12 GLOBAL LEARNING CONFERENCE 2010 Johannesburg South Africa
17 Global Learn Asia Pacific 2010 Penang Malaysia
19 International Conference on TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING, QUALITY OF TEACHING, AND REFORMING EDUCATION: Learning Technologies, Quality of Education, Athens Greece
23 5th International Conference of MITs Learning International Networks Consortium Cambridge Massachusetts
MIT LINC is an international community ofindividuals and organizations that focuses onhigher education in emerging countries and therole that technology can play in expandingeducational reach.
24 American Canadian Conference for Academic Disciplines Toronto Canada
31 Multiple Intelligences World Symposium Beijing China

June 2010

01 Foreign Language Teaching Conference: Independent Learning Gaziantep Turkey
02 PLATO @ 50: Conference Celebrating 50th Anniversary of PLATO System Mountain View CA
03 SOLSTICE 2010: Technology Enhanced Learning and the Student Experience Ormskirk United Kingdom
The 5th international SOLSTICE 2010 eLearning Conference will focus on technologies in teaching to support and challenge learners, to bring efficiency and added value to assessment and feedback and impact on employability.
03 The first International Conference on E-Learning For ALL (ELFA2010) Hammamet Tunisia
03 Multiple Intelligences World Symposium Singapore Singapore
07 European College Teaching and Learning Conference Dublin Ireland
This conference seeks papers in all areas ofteaching and learning, administrative, and relatedissues at the K-12 and college levels.
09 Temasek Polytechnic's International Conference on Learning and Teaching Singapore Singapore
09 International Conference on E-Learning in the Workplace (ICELW) New York New York
14 International Conference on Economics, Business and Management ¨C ICEBM 2010 Manila Philippines
All the registered papers of ICEBM 2010 will be indexed by British Library, and indexed by Thomson ISI and Nelson.
22 2010 The 2nd IEEE International Conference on Education Technology and Computer (ICETC 2010) Shanghai China
Based on the success of ICETC 2009, ICETC 2010will be held in Shanghai China during Jun 22-24, 2010.
28 International Conference on Information Society (i-Society 2010) London United Kingdom
30 PLAT2010 Edinburgh United Kingdom
30 ICT2010 International Conference on Teaching and Learning Singapore Singapore

July 2010

05 2010 the 2nd International Conference on Signal Processing Systems (ICSPS 2010) Dalian China
ICSPS 2010 is co-sponsored by the DalianUniversity of Technology, InternationalAssociation of Computer Science and InformationTechnology (IACSIT), and IEEE.
06 INC2010 - 8th International Network Conference 2010 Heidelberg Germany
This conference, the eighth in our series, willbring together leading figures from academia andindustry to present and discuss the latestadvances in networking technologies from researchand commercial perspectives.
08 6th International Conference on Education (ICE) 2010 Samos Island Greece
09 2010 International Conference on Instructional and Computer Technology (ICICT 2010) Chengdu China
ICICT 2010 will be published by IEEE CPS, which will be included in the IEEE Xplore, and indexed by the Ei Compendex, ISI Proceeding and other indexing services.
09 2010 the 3rd IEEE International Conference on Computer Science and Information Technology (IEEE ICCSIT 2010) Chengdu China
Conference proceeding will be published by IEEE,and will be included in the IEEE Xplore, andindexed by Ei Compendex and ISI Proceeding.
09 2010 IEEE International Conference on Information and Applied Electronics (ICIAE 2010) Chengdu China
All accepted papers will be published in theconference proceedings, which will be indexed byIEEE Xplore, Thomason ISI, Ei Compendex and othermajor indexing services.
12 International Conference on e-Learning Penang Malaysia
12 2010 World Congress in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Applied Computing Las Vegas Nevada
12 The 2010 International Conference on Computer Graphics and Virtual Reality (CGVR'10) Las Vegas Nevada
12 The 2010 International Conference on Information and Knowledge Engineering (IKE'10) Las Vegas Nevada
12 The 2010 International Conference on Semantic Web and Web Services (SWWS'10) Las Vegas Nevada
12 The 2010 International Conference on e-Learning, e-Business, Enterprise Information Systems, and e-Government (EEE'10) Las Vegas Nevada
12 The 2010 International Conference on Frontiers in Education: Computer Science and Computer Engineering (FECS'10) Las Vegas Nevada
15 8th ICICTH - International Conference on Information Communication Technologies in Health Samos Island Greece
15 ETLDR 2010 York United Kingdom
17 Cyberpsychology and Computing Psychology Conference (CyComP 2010) Bolton United Kingdom
25 2010 IEEE International Conference on Computer Design and Applications (ICCDA 2010) Qinhuangdao China
All papers in the ICCDA 2010 will be included in IEEE Xplore, and indexed by ISI, Ei Compendex, and CSDL and INSPEC.
26 IADIS International Conference e-Learning 2010 Freiburg Germany
26 IADIS Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems 2010 Freiburg Germany

August 2010

01 Annual International Conference on Computing and ICT Research (ICCIR'10) Kampala Uganda
04 2010 the International Conference of Organizational Innovation Bangkok Thailand
06 The 8th Asia TEFL International Conference Hanoi Viet Nam
20 2010 the 3rd IEEE International Conference on Advanced Computer Theory and Engineering (ICACTE 2010) Chengdu China
Sponsord by IEEE, All accepted papers will be published by IEEE, and be included in the IEEE Xplore, and indexed by the Thomson ISI and Ei Compendex.

September 2010

10 The 2nd ASME International Conference on Mechanical and Electrical Technology (ICMET 2010) Singapore Singapore
All accepted papers will also be published in theconference proceeding by ASME, whichwill be indexed by ASME Digital Library, EI Compendex and Thomson ISI.

October 2010

03 2010 The 2nd International Conference on Software Technology and Engineering (ICSTE 2010) Puerto Rico USA
All accepted papers will be published by IEEE, which will be included in IEEE Xplore, and indexed by Ei Compendex, ISI Proceeding and other major indexing services.
18 TARC INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LEARNING & TEACHING 2010: Emerging Trends in Higher Education Learning and Teaching Malaysia Malaysia

November 2010

08 International Conference for Internet Technology and Secured Transactions (ICITST-2010) London United Kingdom
28 European Conference for Academic Disciplines Gottenheim near Freiburg Germany

February 2011

21 eLi - The 2nd International Conference of e-Learning and Distance Learning Riyadh Saudi Arabia

August 2011

17 Conference on eLearning & IT Offshoring New Jersey / New York USA