This is the second installment in a series of four posts where we share our experience of changing Learning Management Systems (“LMSs”) from decision-making to the post-launch process.
In the first post, we discussed reasons why you might want to change your LMS. Once you identify the need to find a suitable LMS alternative, set criteria that are aligned with the reasons to migrate to a new LMS. Some examples of criteria are:
- Cost and pricing model: How expensive is the new platform, and how does the pricing model adapt to the organization’s budget or needs? You will usually find that the “bundles” providers offer are a good opportunity. However, make sure you analyze if you need all the additional features or if you can replace them with external tools or processes already in place. A good example is metrics and dashboards; even if it sounds like a good practice, consider if you already have helpful metrics about your learners out of the LMS and just need to download a basic report instead of having a very complex dashboard that you can not use outside of the LMS.
- Security and compliance: Make sure your provider is aligned with policies about protecting your learners’ personal data, Also consider your content, is it proprietory, protected or otherwise confidential? You should know where your provider is hosting and where your data is saved.
- Opportunities for blended learning: Consider how your new LMS connects with other types of learning and anticipate how certain features can be used for in-person scenarios.
- Accessibility: You need to assess if your new LMS has accessibility features that are sufficient for your audience and any policies of your organization. Even if your new alternative includes accessibility features, confirm how they will look from the perspective of learners and instructors.
In addition to essential criteria connected to content delivery, assessments and reports, other criteria that you might consider are the capability to provide content in different languages, the options to integrate your LMS with other platforms such as payment platforms, branding and consistency with your visual style; and opportunities to grow. It is also important to try to anticipate how easy it will be to migrate again if the LMS you chose does not work out the way you had hoped.
In the next post in this case study is related to preparing for migration. You might also be interested in our other posts relating to why you might choose to change your LMS or what you should keep in mind in terms of the timing of the launch of your new LMS.