5 Key Signs

It's Time to Replace Your LMS

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In today’s fast-paced business environment, your Learning Management System (LMS) effectiveness is crucial to maintaining a competitive edge. Training leaders at small and mid-sized organizations face unique challenges that require a dynamic and efficient LMS to fully support their learning strategy and goals. However, many organizations are hindered by outdated, inflexible, or poorly supported systems, leading to reduced learner engagement, limited functionality, and increased total cost of ownership.

This eBook, 5 Key Signs It’s Time to Replace Your LMS, empowers training leaders with critical insights into identifying when to upgrade their LMS. By shedding light on key issues such as low learner engagement, limited functionality, and lackluster support, this guide will help you understand the telltale signs that your current LMS is holding your learners and your organization back.

You are Experiencing Low Learner Engagement

Poor course completion rates or a lack of user feedback can be signs of reduced learning effectiveness and employee engagement in training. For instance, if you notice a significant drop in the number of employees completing their assigned courses or a lack of feedback on the course content, it could be a sign that your LMS needs to be more effectively engaging with your learners. Training leaders must recognize these problematic leading indicators. Another critical issue impacting learner engagement is the poor user experience reported by many Learning Management System (LMS) users. A poor user experience may include cumbersome interfaces and inadequate support for mobile learning, which are crucial for modern, on-the-go, or in-the-field learning environments. These limitations can lead to low engagement and course completion rates among learners.​

Your LMS Functionality is Limited

Organizations considering replacing their LMS often experience functionality limitations as a pain point. There can be many causes for this. Perhaps you would like your LMS to integrate with other software systems, like Salesforce. Or maybe your company just went through M&A and you have new requirements for multiple levels of branding for different learner groups. As priorities change, it’s essential to identify what your company needs to support various learning audiences (employee, member, customer) today and into the future. When looking at new LMS providers, consider a vendor’s focus, vision, roadmap and strategy for integrations, course authoring, AI capabilities and flexible reporting capabilities to track progress, measure effectiveness, drive decision making and document compliance.

Your LMS Wasn’t Designed to Serve Both Internal and External Learners

Training KPIs for learning leaders rarely stay the same. To meet diverse business needs, a versatile LMS should support training for both internal employees and external audiences like customers, partners, and members. A well-designed LMS can pivot from a cost center to a revenue generator if it is flexible. And to support external audiences, organizations must have access to a robust and easy-to-use e-commerce solution. For instance, a common complaint among LMS admins is the lack of flexibility and scalability. Many systems fail to support diverse and complex global learning requirements, such as multiple language support and localized content delivery, which are essential for multinational organizations.

Your LMS Vendor Delivers Limited or Sub-par Customer Support

When investing in a learning management system, a great customer portal and training videos are helpful, but they are not a replacement for personal support. These self-directed tools may benefit initial training and support on-demand training follow-up. Savvy organizations seek a true Learning Management System partner that offers more. Vendor responsiveness and the availability of knowledgeable staff on an ongoing basis is critical for learning program success. Some LMS providers, like DigitalChalk, provide unlimited support for admins and learners. This commitment to customer success demonstrates a true partnership in helping an organization achieve its learning goals. When looking at a vendor’s support options, you may also want to investigate the tenure and background of the company’s support staff to ensure that you will have access to a competent and knowledgeable staff.

Your LMS Has Demonstrated a High Total Cost of Ownership

Chances are good that you’ve already implemented a SaaS LMS, so you’ve taken the first step toward lowering your TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). But if you are working with a vendor that outsources implementation, support or training, you may want to investigate those services fully. While it can be cheaper for the software provider to outsource the services, are they still charging you significant fees? Hefty training fees, delays in training and long implementation timelines can also drive up the total cost of ownership.

Moving Foward

Watching for key signs and recognizing when it’s time to replace your LMS is crucial for maintaining the effectiveness and efficiency of your training programs. This eBook has outlined key signs to look for, but you may also be experiencing other challenges, including limited configurations and a lack of integrations. These issues can significantly hinder your organization’s ability to deliver impactful training and learner engagement.

A modern, easy-to-use LMS can address these challenges by providing enhanced user experiences, robust support, scalability and cost efficiency. Upgrading to a new LMS can help you overcome these hurdles and transform your training initiatives, drive higher engagement, deliver better learning outcomes, improve relationships with your members and customers and pave the way for your organization’s improved productivity.

To learn more about choosing and implementing an LMS that fits your organization’s needs:

  • Start by identifying your training requirements and evaluating potential LMS solutions based on these needs.
  • Seek out actual user reviews to better understand the pros and cons of LMSs on the market. Once you’ve selected an LMS, the implementation process typically involves data migration, system configuration, and user training.
  • Make an informed decision to expand your training programs and ensure your organization’s growth and competitiveness.

DigitalChalk offers a full-featured LMS that is top-rated by analysts and loved by our customers. Our technology powers employee productivity and customer training and enables training companies and associations to drive profitable growth.