Selecting the LMS and loading training material on it is the easy part. What is difficult is ensuring that the whole process works – having users engage with the tool, integrating the system with HR and CRM systems, generating relevant reports, and not experiencing the gradual erosion of the budget due to fixing issues that could have been prevented upfront.
LMS consulting solves this problem. Consultants get involved at the strategy stage, when decisions have yet to be made, and assist in moving from "we need a learning system" to "here's a solution that aligns with our business processes."
What Is LMS Consulting?
LMS consulting is a special type of consulting service which supports organizations in planning, selecting, implementing, optimizing, and scaling learning management systems.
LMS consulting deals not only with the process of deploying the system but also considers all aspects of the learning process as a whole, including choosing a platform, developing content strategy, making integrations, creating learner experience, meeting compliance requirements, developing reporting framework, and scalability.
As companies develop their training programs, the importance of having proper guidance becomes more apparent. An efficiently developed LMS allows improving learning results and providing useful analytics.
Why Businesses Need LMS Consulting
All LMS implementation projects that failed have been doing so for certain common reasons, such as a lack of focus on the needs of a particular organization while evaluating different systems on their capabilities checklist, a lack of awareness of the complexity of integrations required and a lack of understanding of the ways the employees will interact with the system.
Consultants make sure organizations do not experience any of these particular problems. They understand what might go wrong through previous experiences in many similar implementations, so it helps them to reduce the time needed to complete a project and save money in the process.
Common examples of issues that consultants may help solve include
- Aligning the system capabilities with the organization's training processes, rather than its marketing promises
- Designing the integration with HR, ERP, CRM, and identity management systems in advance
- Creating user roles and learning workflows that will be sustainable and manageable by administrators
- Implementing proper reporting on the compliance, completion rates and learning outcomes
- Planning the migration from existing legacy platforms so that all course history and certificates are saved
Key LMS Consulting Services
LMS selection and vendor evaluation
The selection of an appropriate LMS is perhaps the most important decision of any learning technology project. Given the wide range of different solutions on the market, picking an LMS purely based on functionality may be very costly.
LMS consultants analyze such factors as business needs, learner profiles, compliance concerns, and future growth for finding the most suitable solution. They also compare different vendors, examine licensing schemes, and calculate the cost of ownership.
LMS implementation strategy
For successful implementation, technical implementation alone is not sufficient. LMS consultants create elaborate implementation plans which cover stakeholder engagement, data migration, content creation, and employee training.
LMS Integration and Data Management
Today’s businesses operate using a number of different software systems. An LMS should communicate with HR, customers, identity management, and reporting systems.
The architecture of integration is created by LMS consultants for increased data consistency, elimination of manual procedures, and exchange of data in real time. This leads to increased efficiency and provides a smooth experience for the user.