4 things to consider when planning for a Learning Management System implementation

Implementing a Learning Management System can take a long time, between three to six months and a longer time if you are planning for a corporate organization or extended enterprise. A new LMS implementation or migration to a new system can be quite disruptive to an organization. Therefore, determining success often begins before the implementation project starts.

 Before you begin any implementation, you need to consider and decide on 4 main points:

1. Persons to involve in the implementation of the LMS project: To help achieve acceptance of your new LMS and ensure that works for everyone in your organization, it is important to involve representatives from several departments to who would collaboratively define and agree on the requirements and scope of the project. These may include: Management, IT staff, HR, Finance, or Marketing. You may also decide to have a smaller core team that is responsible for executing the project, and bring in members from other departments as appropriate during different stages of the planning and implementation. It is also important to appoint someone to be in charge of the project, for instance a project manager, and act as the main contact for the LMS vendor. 

2. Define your requirements: For any LMS implementation to be successful, it is important for you to plan and clearly define your requirements.This would help you determine the tools you would use to measure the success of the technologies and resources used to deliver the LMS program and the suitability of different LMS platforms.Some companies can employ the services of an analyst, use an RFP template or work in-house with the project team. 

If you decide to plan in-house, then you and your project team need to provide answers to the following questions:

• What type of education will you offer – conferences and seminars, blended learning, online courses, offline materials, or a mixture of all of these?
• What other technology will you require to deliver the eLearning program most efficiently to your learners – content authoring tools, webinar platforms?
• Which content standards will you need to support – SCORM or Tin Can / Experience API?
• How can you make it easier for your learners to access your content? Do you need an LMS with responsive mobile design?
• Will you need to track continuing education credits? What types? Can the LMS handle multiple credit types and rules?
• What reports and information will you need to evaluate your elearning programs?

3. Systems you need to integrate your LMS with: Another important decision your project team needs to make is the type of data to share between your LMS and other software systems. For example, the LMS is a repository for learner data including training history and certifications. You may wish to integrate with a database (such as a CRM, ERP, or AMS) which would store more detailed personal information on your learners, or a shopping cart (eCommerce) integration to record purchases for eLearning offerings. When integrating your LMS to another system, you need to be aware that not all vendors offer a two-way integration. However, a strong two-way integration makes administration more efficient, as the information can be shared and synced between the two systems.

4. Prepare budget for all requirements: When planning for an LMS implementation project, it is important to consider a number of items for your budget which of course are dependent on the type of LMS you choose. For example, you may need to request customization to ensure the system performs as you require, you may also need to migrate your eLearning content from a legacy system, or require professional services to provide consultation on best practice. These services often result in additional costs and can also extend time needed to complete the implementation of the LMS project.

Would you like to deploy a Learning Management System for your organization? We would be happy to help you with any questions you have regarding a new LMS implementation or migration. Kindly contact us to see how we can help your organization.