Expertus 2-minute Training Tip of the Month

Our recent survey on consolidation showed that 83% of responding companies planned on consolidating or replacing their Learning Management Systems (LMS) within the next two years. In another survey, as part of the consolidation process, 40% of respondents say they plan on purchasing and implementing a new LMS and 36% say they will make major upgrades to an existing LMS during consolidation.

These consolidations are major projects from a technical perspective. And, given that they often impact the entire enterprise and require significant investments ñ even if the consolidation is on an existing system -- they usually have a high profile. Consolidation projects that go over budget, miss deadlines, or fail to deliver on promised functionality put your credibility at great risk.

An often-overlooked issue involved in consolidations is that of data integrity. While companies usually want to preserve historical data, when they import inconsistent, non-standardized, and sometimes inaccurate data the new system is ìcontaminatedî and the validity of new reports is in jeopardy. If done right, you can efficiently store and access historical data from multiple sources without compromising the integrity of data in the new system.

Another area is functionality mapping. While most LMSs have common functionalities, the execution of functions can be quite different. In order to map current functions performed by different systems to a single standard system, you need a project team with knowledge of all the systems involved. This is a very important aspect of the project since you want to preserve or enhance the functionality of your internal customers with minimal disruption.

Configuration, customization, and integration are also areas that tend to be challenges.

With LMS consolidation projects, youíve got the opportunity to get everything right. You can address long-standing shortcomings of other systems, clean up and standardize data, and bring new consistency to learning-related processes.

Iíd love to hear from you about your LMS consolidation project. Contact me and Iíd be happy to assess your plans and offer advice.