Organizations have been keenly focused on reskilling and upskilling their employees, in the face of a dynamic and changing business environment. In the past few years, we’ve seen a new reality that prominently features a recent remote workforce. Reskilling needs to do to be done in a rapid, agile way, in order to keep up with changing business needs. As a result, there’s increased interest in reshaping the learning technology ecosystem to better suit this new environment.
Brandon Hall Group’s ‘Building the Next-Generation Learning Technology Ecosystem’ study finds that nearly half of companies believe their current learning technology ecosystem is inadequate in meeting their needs. Many are looking to change or expand the technology they use to fix this. Even with the growing expanse of learning technologies available, the Learning Management System (LMS) still remains the centerpiece of the ecosystem for most companies. So, for many, moving forward means changing to a new LMS. While there are many reasons for this switch, we have found that the top ones include:
- Better data and analytics
- More user-friendly interfaces
- Better meets business demands
- More admin-friendly interfaces
Such a large-scale endeavor presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The opportunity is to start over with core technology that better aligns with your organization’s vision for learning. The challenge is that it can be a massive, daunting undertaking. Though a new LMS brings the promise of next-generation features and functionality, all the data, histories, and records the old LMS has generated need to make the switch as well.
Many organizations would rather suffer with inadequate technology than go through an LMS “lift and shift.” That is why it is so critical to have a solid framework for the selection process. Start with use cases that illustrate what the current ecosystem does poorly that new technology could solve. Then build use cases based on things you want to do but can’t. This prepares the selection team to wade through the vast expanse of providers.
Perhaps the most critical element of the selection process though is to look for an LMS provider that will be a partner in your organization’s success, rather than a faceless provider of features. The use cases will help identify providers that make good partners, but it also entails putting in some effort up front. That means asking the right questions, asking for scripted (by you) demos, following up with references, etc.
This approach to partnership is one of the main reasons LearnUpon is a Brandon Hall Group Smartchoice® Platinum Preferred Provider. They pride themselves on the level of service they provide, walking companies through the complex and delicate implementation phase. They have tons of experience moving companies from one LMS to their platform, providing the support and communication required to make it go smoothly. To learn more about how LearnUpon helps companies painlessly switch LMSs, take a look at this blog [1] that goes into their approach.
