Seven Things You Need to Consider While Buying an LMS

For any industry, choosing the best LMS platform is important because the entire eLearning system is to be built based on your choice of an LMS. An LMS has a vital role to play in the long journey of the organization. If you are looking for the right LMS for your organization, you need to take time and not rush to make the final decisions. Before picking an LMS for your organization, you need to take a step back and consider some things that will help you make a better choice. Nowadays, many large organizations have their own LMS, but the choice varies based on the purpose and requirements. Therefore, the solution for buying an LMS can be different for every organization.

But there is a getaway for this problem. You can fix some essential pointers to help you determine which LMS is the best solution for your organization.

We have brought you a checklist that will make your selection subtle, and you will get to know the points you should keep in mind while buying an LMS for your organization.

• Understanding the purpose

  First, you need to focus on the learning requirements for your organization. Before you start exploring the LMS, you must have a clear vision of the user's expectations. You should have clarity in your decisions about what you want to see as the goal of the learning session. This is your ultimate achievement of buying an LMS. On the other hand, you can consider an LMS for a web designing course or visual art and animation course, where you need to incorporate more interaction between the learner and the trainer. In this case, the LMS should support the exchange of files, programming skills, artist tools for sketches, etc. There should be options for uploading the assignments and sharing comments. An in-depth analysis of your learning needs is one of the biggest needs for buying an LMS for your organization.

• Integration Capability

  While buying an LMS, you should keep in mind that there might be a possibility that the users would like to work on multiple other platforms simultaneously, or they want to communicate with various platforms for better exposure. In such cases, some integration features like SSO and Webhook can customize your LMS better.

  You can also consider linking your LMS to some social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, etc. This is a nice strategy to widen the range of active audiences.

• Mobile Optimization

  Most LMS users prefer logging in to the eLearning systems on their way to work, university, or any other place. Some might use it while traveling, or they might want to access the system from their homes.

  If the LMS is restricted to a desktop or even laptop only, then there comes a chance when you might lose organic traffic and potential users of your eLearning system. So, you need to predict your users and have a deeper analysis of their device preferences research. Here comes the solution of launching an especially designed learning app for mobile users.

  There are lots of LMS that are capable of doing mobile optimization and fulfilling this requirement. They are responsive and able to work smoothly by providing a flexible user interface on different types of mobile devices. In addition, they are similarly efficient in working with desktops or laptops.

• Content Development Strategy and Content Compatibility

  Content is the rock foundation of any kind of LMS. All other features are based on and revolve around the content of an LMS, whatever be the course material or course structure. So, you should have rich and well-researched content at the right place by deciding the impact of the training and effectiveness of the eLearning material.

  For this purpose, the first step is to identify the format of your content. It can vary from written format content like Word document to PDF, or other types of content like XML to PowerPoint presentations. It could also be some video streaming to the audio transcript.

• Generating Reports and Analysis

  One of the essential criteria for an LMS is the comprehensive analysis of training and generating reports as a means of solution. It can offer you deeper insights into the previous performance of the learners and then provides you with the effectiveness of the course.

  The monitoring can be done in the following ways:

  • Course Reports
  • User Reports
  • Schedule, Enrolment, Assessment
  • Organization Training
  • Performance Comparison
  • Active Users
  • Login activities
  • Custom Reports
  • User’s Progress
  • Complete Course Reports
  • Auto-generation of Reports
• Eliminate Unwanted Features

  While buying an LMS, you should have the vision of the future that if you want to accommodate some advanced needs that should be performed well based on the reality checks. It is evidence that your LMS has good management skills. However, if you have an LMS loaded with rich high-end features, you need to foresee the basic requirements if it is suited for the scope of expansion. Focus on the core features of the system and maintain them for meeting the learning goals.

• Security Checks and Reliability Performance

  Every organization should be very cautious and give extra attention to security checking and protecting its sensitive information. A security breach could turn into a significant loss for the system. That is why this is the biggest threat to any organization’s reputation and trust. The use of strict security guidelines and adhering to the rules make it easier. You can also use firewalls and SSL that are very important when you think about the protection of your LMS. They help you in tightening the security. On the other hand, the reliability of the LMS should also be checked by understanding its capability in disaster management.

  Here at Gyrus, we offer you Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), which is a multi-tenant cloud solution. It is built on the Microsoft Azure platform to support every kind of client. It is effective for small teams, and also it is suitable for large multi-site enterprise organizations. Gyrus provides support in over 17 languages globally. You can curate and manage whatever you desire. Gyrus offers you various types of learning activities that include online instructor-led webinars. It could also be file-based on courses and specially designed classes incorporated with approvals and assessments. It also includes integrations and APIs that allow you to communicate with your business applications along with tools like Human Resources, Web Conferencing, content authoring, and others.