Making
Your Own LMS?
You could create your own in-house Learning Management
System (LMS). Undoubtedly, they are intrigued with the low
cost and thoughts of having just what they want or need, designed just for
them. This do-it-yourself approach may appear, at least superficially,
easily achieved, but the project itself is fraught with unexpected pitfalls and
risk. Let’s look at this endeavor from a different, straightforward view.
Total cost of ownership (TCO) for 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 and the managerial process. 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 collaborative and 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 enterprise software from scratch should begin with
an extensive needs analysis for most of the organization. Let’s assume
the task force, or individual conducting the needs analysis, has the necessary broad
skill set. The key skills for creating an LMS include organizational
development, teaching and learning technology expertise and 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. Technology is a
competitive differentiator, and you certainly want to maintain your edge.
But wait
just a minute - there is another option! You can purchase a fully supported,
off-the-shelf enterprise LMS that is easy to use and administer, with a
powerful, sophisticated platform, maturity, cost efficiency and proven
effectiveness. 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
“choice in skill sets” for content creation so it accommodates the flexibility
of an ever changing staff.
The off-the-shelf
LMS vendor will offer the most up-to-date, integrated features to improve your
productivity and maximize your return on investment. This future-proofing
is built-in to the overall cost. Total cost of ownership (TCO) of a
packaged LMS is calculably fixed with high quality dependability. An off-the-shelf LMS is one of the very best
technology investments you can make.