Making Your
Own LMS?
Some
organizations entertain the idea of creating their own in-house Learning
Management System (LMS). Undoubtedly, they are intrigued with the potential
cost savings and thoughts of a custom solution, designed just for them.
This do-it-yourself approach may appear, at least superficially, easily
achieved, but the project itself can be fraught with unexpected pitfalls and
risk. Let’s look at this endeavor from a different, straightforward
view. Total cost of ownership for a home-grown LMS systems is elusive at best, quality often
becomes inferior and future proofing is non-existent.
Generally
speaking, an LMS is a specialized and sophisticated enterprise software application,
usually with built-in course creation tools and a multitude of management
features for the learners and administrators, including content files and extensive
tracking capabilities. Course creation tools provide many options due to the
different types of training applications and preferred methods for teaching and
testing. Home grown systems typically embrace one way of doing things with
few alternatives, leaving training administrators at the mercy of their IT
professionals. This rigid end-product easily stunts creativity with course
creation. As many people are impacted by any broadly deployed LMS, ask yourself, “Does my IT
department have a strong track record in developing enterprise-wide software
applications, and does it have the time and collaborative E-Learning technology
expertise to guide me down the right paths?”
Software
development cost is almost always under-estimated. In the “old days” of
software development, people often recommended tripling cost estimates of those
given by programmers for creating software. Creating a highly effective LMS from scratch should begin with an
extensive needs analysis for most of the organization. Let’s assume the
task force conducting the needs analysis has the necessary skill set, including
organizational development, teaching and learning technology expertise, plus software
development project management. Each additional stage of software
development has its own associated cost, including the cost of software bug
fixes that most assuredly crop-up over time. Also, if you expect your new
enterprise application to remain up-to-date, make sure to include the cost for
your team to track and plan for on-going improvements and upgrades.
Overwhelmed?
There is another option! You can purchase a fully supported, off-the-shelf LMS; one that is mature,
cost efficient and proven effective across small or large enterprises. Target
a system with the broadest matching application, one that reaches the furthest,
vertically and horizontally, through your organization and distribution
model. Consider a system that allows “skill sets” for content creation so
it accommodates the flexibility of an ever changing staff.
The FlexTraining
LMS offers the most up-to-date and
integrated features that will improve your productivity and maximize your
return on investment. Total cost of ownership of FlexTraining calculably
fixed with high quality and dependability. The FlexTraining total E-Learning
solution is one of the best technology investments you can make.