The features provided by a learning management system (LMS) simplify the process of creating, delivering, monitoring, and managing eLearning courses. Academic LMSs come with features to cater to the needs of schools, colleges, universities, and other educational institutions.
At the same time, corporate LMS comes with features to reduce the time and resources required to run multiple learning and development (L&D) programs. The steady growth of the global corporate LMS market creates opportunities for your company or startup to choose from many corporate LMS systems.
On-premise and cloud-based corporate LMS systems enable your organization to run multiple L&D programs. However, your organization can curb upfront and ongoing costs by opting for an enterprise LMS hosted in the cloud. Likewise, you must consider an array of factors or requirements to choose and implement the right corporate LMS.
10 Factors You Must Consider to Select the Right Corporate LMS
L&D Needs
Your organization cannot train, reskill, and upskill the workforce without running multiple L&D programs – onboarding, orientation, compliance, technical, leadership, language, product, marketing, and sales. Hence, you need an LMS that enables managers to create and modify L&D programs without putting in extra time and effort. It is always important to define your company’s L&D needs and use them as the key parameter for evaluating corporate LMS systems.
UI and UX
Working professionals access eLearning tools on multiple devices – desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets. Also, they abandon eLearning solutions that are difficult to access and interact with. Hence, you need to ensure that the corporate LMS delivers optimal user experience (UX) across devices and platforms. Additionally, its user interface (UI) must enable learners and instructors to perform desired tasks without requiring technical proficiency.
Off-the-Shelf Content
Your organization cannot run L&D programs successfully without delivering eLearning content in multiple formats and languages. Some corporate LMS systems help you curtain content creation time and costs by featuring complimentary digital libraries. However, you must check if the digital library enables employees to access content in multiple formats – eBooks, audio, video, infographics, quizzes, and simulations. At the same time, you should prioritize software that supports multiple users and languages.
Curated Content
In the age of Industry 4.0, industry and technology trends change frequently. You cannot boost employee reskilling and upskilling initiatives without helping employees track and understand emerging trends. Some corporate LMSs make it easier for learners to track emerging trends by sharing curated content. New-age corporate LMS systems further gather up-to-date content from internal and external sources using intelligence technologies. Hence, you must check if the LMS shares curated content with employees as they access the off-the-shelf content.
Content Authoring Tool
Your in-house trainers or instructors need robust tools to create eLearning content in multiple formats. They can accelerate multi-format content creation using tools for producing fresh content and repurposing existing content. Leading corporate LMS systems come with built-in content authoring tools.
Trainers can use these tools to create, curate, and repurpose eLearning content in a short amount of time. The eLearning content authoring tools are essential for your company to run multiple L&D programs successfully.
Data Security and Management
In addition to creating several training programs, the L&D manager will manage the content, track learner progress, and impose access restrictions. Hence, you must choose a corporate LMS that automates routine administrative tasks by featuring an intuitive dashboard. The dashboard will make it easier for you to monitor and measure L&D initiatives by generating reports based on real-time data. However, it is also important to check how the LMS ensures the security of eLearning and enterprise data.
Options to Customize, Scale, and Integrate
Most corporate LMS systems are developed to cater to the L&D needs of enterprises across sectors. Your organization may not need some features or require additional features to meet its L&D needs. Hence, you need to ensure that the corporate LMS can be customized according to your organization’s L&D needs.
Likewise, you must enhance the LMS’s core functionalities by integrating it with existing tech tools and solutions. You should prioritize software that can be integrated with third-party tools seamlessly using application programming interfaces (APIs). At the same time, you must check if the LMS is scalable enough to accommodate new L&D programs and content.
Learner Engagement
Most employees acquire knowledge and hone skills after working hours. Your L&D strategy must focus on increasing the online course completion rate by keeping engaged and motivated. It becomes easier for your L&D manager to engage and motivate learners when the LMS supports interaction, collaboration, and gamification.
While evaluating corporate LMS systems, you facilitate interaction and collaboration by providing features like chat, discussion forums, leaderboards, and query corners. At the same time, you should prioritize LMS which gamifies the learning experience by offering features like badges, scorecards, and virtual coins.
Tech Support
The cloud-based corporate LMS will be maintained and updated by an IT team deployed by the provider. Your team needs to contact the support team to solve various issues. Hence, you need to ensure that your team can avail of the required technical support 24/7 without any hassles or delays. Also, you should prioritize vendors that provide 24/7 customer support across popular channels – phone calls, emails, live chat, and video chat.
Reviews and Recognitions
The reviews posted by existing users make it easier for you to evaluate the pros and cons of a corporate LMS based on real-time data. Hence, you must read the online reviews and ratings posted by existing users while evaluating the enterprise eLearning tools. At the same time, you must prioritize learning management systems that stand out from the crowd by winning prestigious eLearning excellence awards.
Conclusion
While comparing corporate LMS systems, you must ensure that the software can be implemented, customized, integrated, and maintained effortlessly. At the same time, you should focus on an integrated or unified learning platform for your company or startup. Hence, you should prioritize a corporate LMS that comes with complimentary eLearning tools like online classroom software and digital library software.
About Mintbook
Mintbook helps enterprises run multiple L&D programs by providing a unified learning platform. The platform enables a company or startup to avail of an LMS system along with online classroom software and digital library software. Also, each enterprise can customize the cloud-based LMS according to its precise L&D needs and strategies.
