LMS for start-up company

[Stephen Brown]

Hi all,

A little while since I've posted, and even longer since I've been involved Learning Management Systems, which is what my post is regarding.

I'm hoping to gain a rough insight into where things stand with the LMS world at present, and who would be good providers to approach given my requirements.

Essentially I'm looking at a start-up initiative where I would host all types of content (video/podcasts/e-learning) as well as users being able to upload documents for the purposes of evidence, record keeping, assignments etc.

I'm also looking for a specific payment model, i.e. per user/per month, with low set-up costs. 

Any suggestions would be very welcome.

Stephen

[Mae Church]

Stephen,  have you looked in Moodle, moodle.org?  This is an open source LMS and much more!  You could use the money you would pay to fund the further development of Moodle.  I was very leary of open source applications until experiencing Moodle.  It is run as well or better as other companies providing similar LMS.  I have yet to find a need for our organization to go to another product. It is user friendly to learn.  I am fortunate that I have sql expertise at my disposal.  There are consulting companies who specialize in helping you set or maintain. You go get a tour of the LMS at their website. We are doing all that you listed with ease.

[Asi DeGani]

Hi Stephen,

Sadly the LMS market has not made significant advancements in a long time so everything will seem familiar to you. The only real change was probably moving to the cloud but beyond that most systems are still AICC and SCORM 1.2 compatible with Tin-Can (xAPI) being something they are looking at.

If you don't want to go down the Moodle route I would reccomend looking at the following two:
- Totara - https://www.totaralms.com
- Docebo - https://www.docebo.com

Docebo offer a free trial and have a per user per month model. They seem to be growing very quickly so there must be something there...

There are loads of other options like adding a SCORM tracking option to Joomla etc but for that you will need a more robust set of requirements and possibly someone who ca tinker with a server configuration file.

Hope this helps,

Asi

[Duncan Dunlop]

In my work with Futurelearn I speak to a wide range of businesses about their current LMS and their requirements going forward.

Couple of LMS seem to be fitting their needs better then others as focused on Learners (supporting self directed learning), aggregating content (taking advantage of wide range of digital learning materials), well thought through and designed UI (vs the feature / data centric traditional LMS interfaces) and data centric (tracking and reporting on ALL learning personal and professional) 

www.degreed.com

www.pathgather.com

Check them out, think you'll find they are a good match for what you are looking for

Feel free to reach out if you want any further advice

Duncan

[Karim Ladak]

Hi Stephen,

I don't have all the answers to your questions, but this white paper by Saffron is useful for explaining what is possible. http://saffroninteractive.com/the-changing-role-of-the-lms/

Best wishes,

Karim

[Marco Venutelli]

Hello Stephen,

You need to define your requirements very clearly before you can start looking at the LMS vendors.

I would start with four fundamental areas:

Functional requirements

Technical requirements

Costs requirements

Resources required (internal/external)

For each of these three areas you will build a long list of requirements.

Then you need to prioritise them.

Once you have done this then you can start looking at vetting LMS vendors and once you have a shortlist of 3 to 4 contenders you can evaluate their solutions.

If you require further help please feel free to contact me.

Kindest regards,

Marco

[Paul Matthews]

Hi Stephen,

I agree with Marco in that you should be thinking about a purchasing process. It's great asking for recommendations, but what works for someone else might not work for you. There are around a 1000 or more LMSs out there!

A few years ago, I wrote a guide to selecting a system. It is not specific to an LMS, but gives a process you can follow. You can get a copy at https://www.peoplealchemy.co.uk/free-stuff/guides/guide-3-system-se... or message me and I will send it direct.

You could also have a look at the work done by Fosway at http://www.fosway.com/9-grid/lms/

Cheers, Paul

[Stephen Brown]

Thanks for all of the recommendations and guidance, very useful.

Stephen

[John Curran]

Stephen,

Things have moved on in the LMS market....there are many more and thankfully because of 'the cloud' its now much cheaper to get started.

Don't spend ages on functional specifications - you'll end up depressed and suffer analysis paralysis. Try some out to see if they come close to doing what you want. For me the user experience is key but it helps if the admin functionality is good too.

I'd recommend trying these cloud solutions (they all have a free trial):

LearnUpon (Dublin based strong in the UK)

TalentLMS

Litmos

For something more commercial (think a business Udemy) try:

Thinkific

Moodle is strong pedagogically and has everything but it's a very clunky user experience (and a really clunky admin one too).

Hope this helps!

[Thérèse Coyne]

A good solution for you would be Learning Gateway, a software-as-a-service learning management system, allows organizations to tailor every detail of the learning experience themselves, quickly creating multiple, personalized e-learning portals on the same LMS. This flexibility allows for more engaging learning and better organizational outcomes.

You can schedule a demo http://www.lumesse.com/lumesse-learning-gateway

[Kate Graham]

Hi Stephen

Worth checking out the Fosway 9-Grid for LMS: http://www.fosway.com/9-grid/lms/

Good luck!

Kate

[Grant Bailey]

Hi Stephen,

What system did you end up going for?

Regards,

Grant Bailey