spri_LMS Research_fun_20120723l

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Objective: A learning management system (LMS) is a great way to make sure your entire team is receiving the training and support they need to perform their duties to the very best of their abilities. Everyone in a company, no matter what their level, wants to know that he or she has the necessary skills and support to complete the tasks they are assigned.

Feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt can lead to a drop in productivity and impact overall team morale. Supporting the entire team though an effective LMS is how a business can turn the corner to see a reduction in attrition rates and how productive their entire team can be.

Knowledge is power and the same holds true for any business. Giving your team the knowledge they need is giving them the tools to get the job done. By integrating online and in-house training through an extensible LMS makes it possible for every organization to offer the proper training for their entire staff. Robust reporting and management tools are a must to help your leadership team review, revise and plan training strategies.

The competition in every industry means business can no longer afford not to maximize their revenue through a highly efficient, trained and motivated team. An important component of every team is its training and development and that is why many successful businesses are using a LMS to ensure their team has the tools necessary to complete their tasks and grow within the organization. The top talent in every industry likes to grow professionally and an easy way for every company to offer that is through a LMS.

Page 2 Just as a great team I know says, “Your productivity is our passion:”

Discovery: To promote a spirit of continuous learning and improvement within our organization, we will need to consider the following while researching different Learning management Systems (LMS):  Personalized learning. We need the capability to seamlessly connect to our already successful viral and organic educational tools. This can be obtained by choosing a system with a standards-based ecosystem with open API development aimed at building community, supporting sustainable growth, and maintaining a secure and scalable online learning environment. The key to any program’s extensibility is its openness, support for standards, and ability to upgrade effectively.  Enhancement of learner engagement and collaboration. Leveraging existing toolsets such as Microsoft SharePoint and Lync, as a main source of collaboration with our team, has proven itself vital. The same engaging toolsets should be integrated into the LMS. This will be possible through “single sign-on” technology.  Improve retention and organizational growth. We should provide employees a safe and secure environment to share best practices that can promote social learning. This can happen by making a seamless connection between our current

Page 3 viral tools and the use of blogs, wikis, surveys, and comment sections. Everyone learns differently, and we should promote it! By encouraging social learning, employees can show the whole company what they’ve learned, their opinions about the process, and the steps they’ve taken to get there.  Equal accessibility for all. From interface design and mobility to accessibility enhancements, we need to pair technology with pedagogy in the relentless pursuit of excellence in learning.  Improved outcomes. The LMS must have an established hierarchy so an employee’s “reports to” is notified when they pass or fail an assessment/course.

This is vital in order for our organization to promote a spirit of continuous learning and improvement. The notification process can be achieved by connecting the LMS to Microsoft Exchange or any other mail system. The hierarchy must be passed over from Payroll (recommended) or an Active Directory.  Create value and reduce total cost of ownership. Employees need to know what’s in it for them. We can accomplish this by integrating Continuous Learning Models (CLM) into the LMS. Weather their goal is to move up within the company or master their current role, CLMs will provide them a clear path for learning. The more users, the lower the system costs will be.

We need to focus on all aspects of the LMS solution to ensure all needs are addressed in order to guarantee our ultimate goal is reached.

Details: The tables located on the following page provide a comprehensive view of all costs the top researched Learning Management System (LSM) companies offer. The tables list services provided and display their costs for three tiers of users (5000, 20000, 100000).

Please continue to read on to view the in-depth analysis of each company.

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Page 5 VenU Solution

VenU’s solution is lower in cost compared to the other hosted solutions, (Desire2Learn, SuccessFactors and Taleo), but it will require more configuration. All the functionality of the other hosted solutions’ LMS is available with this solution, but it does not come standard. While their standard platform is a complete Learning Management System (LMS), it is only part of the overall solution. The VenU platform is combined with their professional services (administrative support and customer care) to provide a complete solution that helps foster a user-centric learning environment of continuous professional development. They will become an “active partner” to insure a successful LMS. While comparing their offerings to our business requirements, I noticed the following standard solutions they provide that stood out: 

An externally hosted online Learning Management System (“Externally Hosted LMS”) will be provided. It will be customized and branded to address our specific business requirements and scalability.

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At no extra cost, a comprehensive LMS solution to deliver, manage, track and report on learning content to our internal and field employees will be provided.

Single Sign-On (SSO) will be enabled with the internal SharePoint system (i.e.

LincTube) and possibly with an internal payroll system for user management (only).

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The LMS provides internal testing tools that can be used to create and administer exams. It supports SCORM content (current format), and will completely replace our current internal testing tool (QuestionMark). This will provide a $5,000.00 annual savings.

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Rich communication tools built in that encourage collaboration and offer a social learning atmosphere for all users. This means all users with access to the LMS will have their own email, blogs, schedule, chat and paging capabilities.

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VenU Mobile App is provided as a standard application. It provides users and administrators with full access to the LMS from any of today’s leading smartphones.

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The Instructor-led training classroom management tool is used to create manage ILT classrooms and scheduled events while adding eLearning components to

Page 6 traditional learning environments. Complete integration with Webex Meeting makes their LMS a complete blended learning solution within a single platform. 

“Momentum” is VenU’s support and administration program used to maximize the success of ongoing online initiatives. It is based on a “best-practice” approach to promote and ensure awareness and usage of the LMS; providing expert end-user support throughout all levels of the organization; providing valuable information to internal and external stakeholders; and detecting and correcting any slippage in alignment of the goals and objectives of the program.

To better understand their “active user” pricing, please take the following terms into account: 

Active Registered User: An “active user” specifically refers to those users that have an active account and access the branded platform (LMS) within the 30-day monthly reporting period.

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Inactive Online User: An “inactive online user” specifically refers to those users that have an active account and can access the branded platform, but have not accessed it within the designated 30-day monthly reporting period.

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Inactive Offline User: An “inactive offline user” specifically refers to those users that have an inactive account and cannot access the branded platform. Inactive offline users must request reactivation of their account prior to logging into the branded platform.

Page 7 SharePoint LMS Solution The SharePoint LMS solution is simply an upgrade of our current Learning Management System. This solution supports SharePoint 2010 and includes internal testing tools that will, just as the VenU solution, save $5,000.00 in annual training costs. The main issue with this LMS is that it is not scalable. Unless we invest in a hosted SharePoint solution, this LMS will need to be managed internally. Standard support is offered, but it is also the same as our current solution. Since the SharePoint LMS solution is hosted on our internal SharePoint environment, troubleshooting whether the issue is from our environment or their platform becomes difficult. This LMS will be a great solution if we decide to keep our users under 5,000 active members at all times.

Recommendation: After researching both Learning Management Systems, I would recommend a partnership with VenU for our scalable online learning initiative. We are undertaking a program that benefits the education and professional development of so many individuals. It is very important for us to share a common vision as we work together to address our business needs, goals, and objectives.

VenU’s approach to client programs is to qualify success from inception. This method requires both a top-down and a bottom-up organizational commitment to the online program (LMS). Our experience has shown that “executive buy-in,” a strong program manager, “employee and user buy-in,” and a commitment to foster a corporate culture of professional development are key elements of a successful professional development initiative. The VenU eLearning platform is combined with their professional services (administrative support and customer care) to provide a complete solution that helps foster a user-centric learning environment of continuous professional development.

Thank you for your time in reviewing my research.

Sincerely, Lindsey Percle | ABM | Corporate Education Manager ABMLQ | Your Productivity. Our Passion.