Buyer's Guide: Selecting an LMS for SMB

Learning Management
System for Small and
Mid-Size Organizations

February 2013
Chris Osborn, VP of Marketing, BizLibrary
Jessica Batz, Marketing Specialist, BizLibrary

Business Need
STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

Small and mid-size companies have employee training needs
that are every bit as complex and mission critical as large ASTD published an annual State of the
organizations. This makes the delivery of high quality, value- Industry report. This report contains some
based and technology driven learning solutions to this market great information about employee training
segment important to their success. The question these and development trends.
organizations should ask is how can they acquire a Fortune 500
employee training solution on a small company budget? Smaller
organizations can acquire outstanding solutions with creativity,
planning and a diligent search for the right partner. This buyer’s
guide will offer a roadmap to make finding the right partner a
little bit easier.

So, you need a Learning Management System. Or – you’d like to
replace your current Learning Management System (LMS). How
do you go about actually buying one?

The fact of the matter is that while learning technology is no
longer “new”, there are still thousands of smaller organizations
that for a variety of reasons do not currently use a learning
management system. Additionally, there are many organizations
that make the decision to buy only to become dissatisfied with

$1,182
the system they selected. The purpose of this guide is to help
demystify the buying process, clarify some of the confusing
terms and acronyms commonly used, and offer some common
sense suggestions for making this important investment
decision.
The average direct expenditure per
employee per year
The most basic and fundamental question to ask yourself is:
what is the business need we are trying to meet by acquiring an This is a 4% drop from 2010
LMS? If you cannot answer this foundational question, you could ($1,228)
end up going down the wrong path towards a solution that will
never satisfy your organization. In fact, there is a lot of data
derived from extensive market research over the last several
years proving that most organizations are dissatisfied with their
current LMS solution and/or vendor. Don’t let your organization
employees averaged
become one of these statistics.

More than 80% of our new clients are new to online training
when they implement our solutions, so we’ve learned quite a bit
about what business needs led them to consider and then buy
an online employee training program that includes an LMS. About 1 hour less than 2010
What follows are summaries of some of the most common
business drivers that led to the decision to purchase an online
training solution and learning management system.

Business Need
STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

Employee training in many organizations is delivered through
instructor or facilitator in a classroom setting. And this remains
true no matter the size of the organization. According to the
American Society of Training and Development’s (ASTD) annual
State of the Industry Reports from both 2011 and 2012,
instructor-led training (“ILT”) remains the backbone of most
employee training programs. However, instructor-led training
(“ILT”) only programs are more common in smaller
organizations, and in today’s business environment, ILT-only Training delivery and methods
programs create significant employee training challenges. An 2010 compared to 2011
automated solution can address many of these common
training challenges.

59% 59%

37% Instructor-led classroom
33%
26% 25% Technology-based
25%
20% All online
Self-paced

2010 2011

A small company with fewer
than 500 employees has an
average cost per learning
$126 hour used of $126,
compared to $82 for a
$82 midsize organization, and
$51 $51 for a large organization
with more than 10,000
employees.*

*ASTD State of the Industry Report, 2012

Business Need
TRAINING CHALLENGES

Scattered workforce Lack of resources
Having employees working in multiple locations was Many smaller organizations have HR teams of limited
once an issue faced only by larger organizations, size with competing demands and priorities,
but that is not the case anymore. Technology including payroll, employee relations, benefits
advances in communications and online connectivity administration, HR administration, and . . . Well – you
afford organizations of every size the opportunity to name it! And then there comes employee training
work with employees located in various places. and development. When there are only a few, or
There is less and less reliance upon everyone being sometimes even one, HR Professionals trying to
located in the same physical space. deliver HR support to an organization, employee
training is sometimes (usually) not a major priority or
These same opportunities create challenges for area of focus.
employee training and development efforts. It’s
difficult (maybe impossible) and sometimes very One of the major stumbling blocks to the delivery of
expensive for smaller organizations to get every employee training in traditional classroom settings is
employee in the same place at the same time for a the time involved in developing and delivering the
traditional classroom training session. content. Online delivery changes the dynamic so
there is far less time involved for the HR team, but
Online training and training technology offer far more training content and value delivered to
solutions for organizations with scattered employees.
workforces by allowing employees to access on-
demand training content, as needed, at their For instance, the HR team may no longer have to
convenience without the need for every employee to carve out four to five hours developing course
be in the same physical space for classroom training materials, and another two hours delivering a
sessions. course on communications skills. Instead, one HR
professional can assign a communications course
(or courses) to employees who need the training, set
Tracking and reporting up e-mail reminders to take the course, and then
check in after 30 days to see who has completed the
As smaller organizations face more and more training. These tasks might take less than an hour.
complex training challenges, training professionals As for the employees – none of them had to leave
need access to more reporting and tracking. One productive work to come sit in a classroom, and you
significant market challenge impacting the need for can ensure everyone took the training – even if they
tracking and reporting is the changing regulatory might be out of the office on the day your HR
compliance environment. Depending upon the professional assigned the materials.
industry, some organizations face training
compliance requirements from a variety of local, Automating the delivery of training content using an
state and federal agencies. On top of governmental LMS represents a great solution allowing
compliance requirements, some employees may organizations to make greater use of scarce
have professional licenses that require ongoing resources and deliver comprehensive employee
education and certification tracking, too. In order to development programs all at the same time.
prove compliance with these requirements, the
ability to track and then report on training activities
is critical. Learning management systems automate
the tracking, record-keeping and even the delivery
of content to support these important business
needs.

Business Need
TRAINING CHALLENGES

Cost and benefits Need for speed
We frequently get caught up thinking about what Delivery of Training to Employees More Quickly. One
things costs our organizations, and costs is a thing we can predict with some degree of certainty
legitimate concern when it comes to investments. But is that the pace of change we are seeing in this
when you are looking at investing in learning market will not slow down. This reality forces us to
technology, we think you can make a much better confront the fact that we have to make our employee
business case for moving forward by focusing training and development efforts match this pace.
instead on the business benefits the proposed
solution can deliver. Our employees need faster access to new
information, training and development. Traditional
Senior leadership will want to know how the classroom instruction models will not meet that
investment in an LMS will improve business results. need. We must find ways to deliver real time
You cannot explain improved business benefits if you information to employees when they need it and
are caught up in an ROI calculator trying to prove where they need it, so they can apply learning at the
that you will save $75 for every hour of training your moment of need. Technology-based training
employees absorb online as opposed to what they solutions represent an important step towards
take in the classroom. So, look to how it will benefit solving this important business problem for
your organization, and focus on the gains you make organizations of all sizes.
from the investment. Here are few places you might
look:

• Productivity: HR and training professionals will
gain productivity through a reduction in time
spent in classroom sessions. Or, alternatively, the
classroom session offered can be more
specifically targeted to meet clear needs and
general training can be delivered online.
Employees will be more productive by having less
work interrupted by classroom training events.

• Compliance: compliance tracking and reporting
will improve.

• Certifications: you can track the professional
certification and continuing education
requirements of employees who work in fields “ Only 30% of strategic initiatives
where CE is required, and you can deliver content
onsite at lower cost and with less disruption. are successfully executed.”
There will be other benefits specific to your
organization. Make sure to think more about benefits
than costs. Your senior leaders will respond much HBR IdeaCast:
more readily to an explanation of what your Executing With Strategic Speed
organization will gain as opposed to what a
technology solution will likely cost.

Business Need
LMS SOLUTION BENEFITS

Do you need to buy an LMS, or are there alternatives?

We get this question from time-to-time from prospective
clients – usually when they get their IT teams involved in Save time with automated course
the decision-making process. Sometimes, organizations assignments, registration, tracking
think they can build an LMS on their own. Before you go and reporting.
down the path of trying to build instead of buy an LMS,
it’s important to understand some basic information
about what an LMS does and does not do. Once you Save time with automated course
Easily monitor compliance training
have a firm grasp of the core features and functionality assignments, registration, tracking
with learning plans, assignments,
of an LMS, you can make a more informed choice. If your and reporting.
due dates and notifications.
organization does not need the functionality of an LMS,
and your IT team has the time, resources and expertise
needed to first build and then maintain and service a Empower and increase the training
Easily monitor compliance
content delivery system, then building an alternative with learning plans, assignments,
engagement levels of employees.
might be a viable option for your organization. So let’s due dates and notifications.
start with the basics – what does an LMS actually do?
Deliver all of your training and
Reduced to the most basic functions, there are three Empower and increase the
learning resources from one central
things every learning management system allows an engagement levels of employees.
location.
organization to do:

Administer training programs. Deliver all of your training and
Manage external training events,
Deliver training and education courses and classroom events, AICC andone central
learning resources from SCORM
programs to employees. location.
courses and more.
Document, track and report on the training activities
of employees.
Create a custom or brandedevents,
Manage external training portal
These three core functions seem pretty straight forward for employees, clients and and SCORM
classroom events, AICC
on their surface, but that appearance is somewhat distributors. more.
courses and
misleading. LMS vendors have built-in expertise in
crafting solutions to deliver these core functions and
your IT team likely does not. For example, training Create a custom or branded portal
content must be developed and delivered in a specific for employees, clients and
type of file format so the your employees’ training distributors.
progress is tracked an recorded. Does your internal IT
team have experience with these file types and these
standards? In other words, a self made system might
seem attractive to start, but by utilizing the expertise of a
vendor, you can keep your internal IT resources focused
on what they already do best – servicing your clients
and customers on your services and solutions.

Key Stakeholders CONSIDER YOUR
COMPANY CULTURE

Do you know how your critical stakeholders are? Sometimes, this
question seems so obvious it gets overlooked. But don’t make that
mistake with your decision-making process. As you are working
your way through the business problems, make sure you develop a
clear understanding of who is impacted by both the problem and
the potential solution. For each problem and solution, there will be
different groups of employees affected by the training initiatives you
help implement. Who are they, and what will their concerns and
objectives be as you move through the decision making process?

Human Resources (HR)
Your HR Department may own employee training in your Every organization
organization. If so, how will they react to a technology-based
solution? Your HR team will likely have a different set of concerns has its own unique
that relate to record-keeping, tracking, reporting and compliance.
Make sure you are prepared to answer their questions and culture. Are there
address those legitimate business concerns with any proposed
solution. other stakeholders in
Training and Development your organization you
Your employee training function may or may not be a separate
group or department. In many smaller organizations, employee need to involve or
training falls under HR. In many organizations employee training
falls into the various functional departments like Sales or consider?
Operations. Make sure you are adequately addressing every
employee training need and business challenge no matter who is If you are uncertain, ask! Go to each
responsible for the over all business function. Remember, your
sales team will likely have very different training and performance
department head and ask them if
support needs than your HR team. If your chosen solution cannot they see anyone else that needs to
meet both sets of stakeholder needs, you will set the stage for be involved or consulted about the
becoming one of those dissatisfied LMS customer statistics we buying decision.
mentioned earlier.

CEO – Senior Leadership
The last thing you need is to get close
Ultimately, senior leadership has to be on board with any employee to finalizing a deal only to learn
training and development program. You will build senior leadership you’ve forgotten to involve an
support one way – by building an effective business case. You make important stakeholder.
a compelling business case NOT with a mathematical ROI calculator,
but by meticulously identifying the actual business challenges you
are addressing and linking each element of your proposed solution
to pieces of the challenges.

Informational Technology (IT)
Like any major application purchase, your IT team will want to know
what is expected of them. If you are looking at an SaaS or cloud-
based solution, you will significantly reduce the burden on your
internal IT team. However, your IT team will still need to understand
the level of support they might have to provide your employees or
the end users in terms of upgrades or systems.

System Functionality KEY TERMS AND
DEFINITIONS

Learning Management System (LMS)
Learning management systems have evolved over the last A software application for the
several years. Many systems have a large number of administration, documentation,
features and functions, in fact the sheer volume of options tracking, reporting and delivery of
and choices can get confusing and overwhelming. That’s why education courses or training
it’s critical to make sure you clearly understand the business programs.
problem you are trying to solve.
Learning Content Management Systems
Once you can articulate and explain the business challenges (LCMS)
you are facing in your employee training and development A software application that includes the
capability to develop content within the
efforts, you can begin to make informed choices about the
structure of the application.
core functionality you need from a learning management
system. Within the three core functions of an LMS, here are a The distinctions between LMS and
few features and additional functions you will find, as well as, LCMS was more relevant when the
a brief overview of what each function can help you do. content development tools were the
sole domain of web developers. With
Administration the emergence of so many high quality
authoring tools that do not require any
Organize Employees into learning groups. Most systems allow programming or code knowledge, the
you to organize employees into logical groups based upon distinctions between and LMS and
LCMS are not as important as they
business needs. For instance, your organization might need
used to be.
employees organized by location or function. Most systems
are flexible enough to allow you to place employees into Authoring Tool
multiple groups if necessary. An application or program that allows
the user to generate e-learning
Assignment of learning resources based upon employee content. Examples include Lectora,
need. Different employees usually need different training Captivate and Articulate.
resources. Most systems will allow you to assign specific
learning resources to either groups of employees, or Mobile Learning
individuals as you deem necessary or appropriate. Mobile Learning, sometimes referred to
as mLearning, is a form of online
training or performance support
Classroom training management is also an important feature delivered to smart phones or tablet
of most systems today. While the need for technology-based computers.
training solutions meets many business needs, most
organizations still need to deliver some training content in Single Sign-On (SSO)
classroom settings. An effective LMS will allow you to bring all A type of access control of multiple
of your training management into one comprehensive system. related, but independent software
systems. With this type of access a user
Integration with other systems is now a common function and logs in once and gains access to all
feature of most LMS. With HRIS and payroll systems being systems without being prompted to log
in again at each of them.
routinely used by organizations of all sizes, most LMS now
integrate with other HR systems to facilitate a single sign-on Classroom Management
for employees and administrators alike to reduce “password” This allows you, your employees and
burnout and ease the administrative burden of maintaining instructors to register, track and
multiple systems. manage training events.

System Functionality KEY TERMS AND
DEFINITIONS

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)
Deliver training and education courses and programs to The standard security technology for
employees establishing an encrypted link between a
web server and a browser. This link
An LMS is a specific type of application designed expressly to ensures that all data passed between
deliver training content to a designated audience, and every the web server and browsers remain
system on the market accomplishes this purpose. private and integral.

AICC or SCORM are acronyms you will see, and these are SCORM
terms that describe standards for how content will SCORM is an acronym that stands for
“shareable content object reference
communicate information to your LMS. They allow the LMS to
manual.” SCORM is a set of technical
record, track and report your employees’ progress through standards for e-learning software
the training. It is the LMS’ ability to host, deliver and then track products and serves to make content
this training data that truly sets it apart from other basic work in multiple platforms.
content servers or host environments.

Documenting, tracking and reporting AICC
AICC is an acronym that stands for
Every LMS on the market will generate some type of “Aviation Industry Computer-Based
documentation and reporting about the learning activities of Training Committee.” AICC specifications
no longer apply exclusively to aviation
your employees. The real question isn’t whether the LMS you
specific content. The standards are now
are considering will do that, but whether it will deliver the widely accepted and permit learning
reports and documentation your organization needs. technology vendors to host and deliver a
wide variety of content without regard to
Certification and continuing education tracking is an important who developed the learning materials.
feature many organizations need, particularly organizations
in heavily regulated industries. Many LMS on the market offer Tin Can
very good tracking and reporting of your employees’ Tin Can is an API that is not dependent
continuing education and certifications. upon a constant web connection, but still
allows for the complete tracking and
reporting of learning on a wide range of
Self-service reporting is a feature available in most systems
devices including mobile platforms. This is
today. Your employees should be able to log in and look at the newest type of LMS standard on the
reports about their own progress and – as appropriate – market. It may gain wide acceptance due
certification or continuing education credits. to the difference between it and SCORM
and AICC, both of which require
continuous web connections to function
correctly, and neither of which were
developed with mobile technology in
mind.

HTML5
HTML5 is a type of code for delivery on
content to the Internet. The “5” refers to
the fifth generation of HTML, but what is
most important in this generation is that
video in the HTML5 format will play on
virtually any device or browser, so you
can publish video to both Windows and
Mac users such as iPads and iPhones.

System Functionality
System Access

LMS Only or Fully Integrated Solution ISO27000
An Information Security Management
One of the developments in the market is the availability of Systems (ISMS) standard that provides
solutions that include a learning management system, a best practice recommendations on
information security management, risks
performance management system, an applicant tracking
and controls.
system, or other HR-oriented application of some type all in
one big package. There is some appeal to these solutions, BizLibrary technology utilizes numerous
and these vendors certainly tout them as “easy” and a “one- methods to ensure the highest level of
stop” place for all of the HR technology needs. If only the confidentiality, integrity and availability
reality were so simple. for our clients' data; physical
infrastructure designed to keep hackers
Most vendors in this space started out offering one solution out, application design using accepted
and added other solutions to their core offering. While this best coding practices, high level
isn’t always the case, most of these vendors maintain their monitoring, redundancy at all points, and
ISO27000 series based policies,
primary expertise in their first area, and they may or may not
standards and procedures.
maintain the same commitment to their learning technology.
It’s like going to a generalist instead of seeking out a As a system administrator you are able
specialist. Isn’t it logical that the specialist will have a deeper to easily allow and restrict user and
level of expertise in his or her area of focus? course data by setting system privileges.

Another important factor is the advances in the technology • Each user has a unique username
itself. For the most part, reputable vendors can integrate their and encrypted password.
solution with your current systems – either HRIS, • Assign reports and user groups
performance or talent management, payroll, etc. Integration controls to specific managers or
supervisors.
with your current system or systems can facilitate a single
• Allow course assignment privileges to
sign-on so you and your employees can log-in one time and specific users.
access learning resources and other HR oriented
information, resources or data.

In any event, with current technology advances, you no
longer have to buy all of your HR technology solutions from
one vendor. You can select the best solutions for your needs,
and bring them together on your terms.

Exceptions will usually result with incompatible basic
operating environments, but this evaluation ought to be a part
of your due diligence and testing before purchase. Make sure
your internal technical resources are available to ask and
answer questions to ensure you can integrate with your
chosen vendor, and if not, to help you explore acceptable
work around solutions.

Software-as-a-Service
SCALABILITY

To the cloud?

Cloud-based solutions are certainly growing in popularity,
and there are many very good reasons for it. When you hear
a vendor tell you they offer a “cloud-based” solution, what
they mean is a solution offered on-demand over the Internet
using servers provided by the vendor. In other words, you, as Deliver all of your learning
the customer, don’t have to have any new hardware or resources from one central location,
software on your internal systems to take advantage of the whether it’s an employee handbook,
services you are buying. SaaS, or “software as a solution” is a custom created e-learning course
another way of saying exactly the same thing.
or off-the-shelf courses and video
programs.
The advantages of a cloud-based learning management
system are pretty significant, especially for smaller
organizations.
Get the benefits of live, instructor-led
• Accessible over the Internet for anytime, anywhere use sessions without the travel and
• Lower costs with no upfront investment in hardware or business disruptions sometimes
software infrastructure associated with instructor-led
• Upgrades are part of the service and are seamless training. You can host, track,
• Saves your internal IT resources for work on your own manage and report on virtual
business instructor-led training events
directly from the LMS.
If you choose to bring an LMS onto your own premises, be
aware of the following potential risks:

• Maintenance costs of a new system The virtual classroom also allows for
• Learning curve for your IT staff to service and support a sessions to be recorded for later
new infrastructure playback. Make sure everyone gets
• Expensive upgrades and potential for becoming obsolete the same content in real-time –
with rapid changes in technology regardless of their location.
• Risk of lost time of your IT resources on your core business

One of the most often cited reasons for keeping an LMS on an Employees and supervisors can
organization’s own servers is security. With the advances in
easily monitor the training activity
cyber security, cloud-based systems are as secure as any
associated with regulatory
other web-connected systems. Further, the type of
information contained in your LMS is not confidential nor can compliance, CEU’s or internal
it be used for identity theft. An employee’s learning history will learning plans.
not (or should not) contain any personal identification
information like a social security number. Usually clients use a Each employee has a unique
work e-mail address, and most systems allow employees to username and encrypted password.
set their own passwords. While we certainly recognize the
importance of security and confidentiality, a learning Assign reports and user group
management system is not usually a point of entry of controls to specific managers or
someone with malicious intent. If security is a concern, make supervisors.
sure to cover this point during your due diligence process.

Courses and Content

Content Matters The biggest issues with video production are
instructional design and the technical expertise to
While this is a guide about selecting a technology shoot and edit the video files. We have several
platform, don’t lose sight of the fact that the platform clients who are making great use of their own video
is exactly that – a platform that you will use to deliver content to supplement their off-the-shelf content or
training content to your employees. Make sure you to provide quick release content through our LMS.
consider carefully how you will provide the content
you are going to deliver. You may also have existing classroom content that
can be converted to online training. Many of our
You might be surprised to find out how many clients use their existing content as a starting point,
organizations go into this process without but it is important to objectively evaluate your
understanding that the LMS is only one part of the current to content to ensure that it will translate into
online employee training system. You still need to an effective online learning experience for your
have training resources to deliver. So – what are employees.
you planning to do about content? You have two
choices – buy it or build it. So for many prospective LMS buyers it’s less of an
either/or choice, and more of a can I do both – buy
content AND use our own?
Build it

Online training content might be easy to “construct,” Buy it
but it’s a real challenge to build an effective online
learning experience. What the marketing materials
completely fail to explain when they tout the ease of Today’s off-the-shelf content is a lot different than
use of their respective tools, is that none of the tools the content you might have seen 10, or even five,
come equipped with instructional design expertise, years ago.
graphics design expertise, user interface expertise
or development expertise. Admittedly, the tools First, streaming video is moving to the forefront of
(nearly all of them, anyway) do a decent job of online training. Organizations are demanding
diminishing the need for a developer. But, you still training content that looks and feels more like the
need to develop content using and applying sound content their employees absorb away from work
instructional design principles, quality graphic when they look up information on the Internet. They
design concepts and best practices in user interface are not watching three hour slide shows with
design. There are not many HR teams with the interactive buttons. They largely watch videos, and
resident expertise in all of these areas. If your they usually watch fairly short videos. In fact,
organization is lucky enough to be one of them, and everything we do seems to be coming in shorter and
they do exist, the next issue is usually time. Does your faster bursts of highly concentrated information and
team have the time needed to design, build and then data. Our employee training needs to keep pace to
maintain your own content? remain relevant. Many online training vendors are
catching on, so there is a rapidly emerging market
With the rapid advances in video technology, many for high quality (HD) employee training video that is
organizations can quickly shoot, edit and publish engaging and effective. It’s hard to reproduce the
their own short video courses. This is the most likely production values and quality you can find in some
way organizations will be developing their own of this online content on your own.
custom content in the future.

Courses and Content
Topic Areas

E-Learning is a common term associated with online training
content. This refers to a type of content that resembles slide
shows that include some sort of interactivity built into the
content. Many of the newer courses now include video
elements, too. There are also simulations that are very good
learning experiences for your employees. As a general rule,
while e-Learning courses have traditionally been longer,
current best practices in design are making these courses It’s critical to deliver training content
shorter, more direct and adding a variety or more engaging to your employees on topics that are
elements.
important to them and to the success
As you explore potential LMS partners, therefore, it’s going to
of your business. As you consider
be crucial to keep in mind how you will access or add content building content or buying content,
to the LMS you are looking to buy. make sure to evaluate all of the
topics you will need to offer for a
Additionally, the off-the-shelf content is usually produced by comprehensive employee training
true subject matter experts. So rather than building your own program. The most common training
sales training, you can get online sales training from the topics offered include:
world’s leading sales trainers delivered right to your
employees. And this is true for virtually any subject or topic Compliance
you need for your employee training program. Workplace Safety
Management
Supervisor
Blend it Leadership Development
Communications
Desktop Computer Skills
Some of the most successful employee training programs our Performance Appraisals
clients implement use a bit of both – custom built content and Diversity and Inclusion
off-the-shelf content. The usual determining factor is the Sales Skills
accessibility of subject matter expertise and the need for
immediate distribution. For instance, if you have some time,
you may be able to search through a catalog of courses and
build an effective blended curriculum of leadership What topic areas are
development courses from leading experts and your own
classroom materials to emphasize the unique values and you targeting?
cultural anchors your employees can best learn from each
other or in a classroom setting. On the other hand, you may
need to get a new product to market rapidly, and the only
way to get training to your field sales team is to make a series
of short videos explaining the new product, its features and
how to sell it. Then provide classroom or a virtual classroom
session to reinforce the lessons offered in the rapidly
developed video sessions you prepared.

Vendor Selection
Strategy & Implementation

What’s Next? Questions You Should Ask

So – we’ve established our business need. We understand Are you rolling out e-learning to your entire
the issues we face, and we know why we need an automated organization?
learning solution for our employee training program. It’s If so, you have a wide audience base with a
really important here to bear in mind that you do NOT have to variety of needs.
have every single question answered about what you want or
need a system to do before you move forward. You don’t Do you have a key training initiative that
targets a select group within your employee
even have to know for sure whether you need a cloud-based
population?
solution or not. If you can tell someone the basic business The needs of this group would be more
challenges you are facing, and why you are interested in focused. For example, engineers might need
learning more about a technology solution, you are ready to project management training to meet
start looking at potential vendors. But this is where things can ongoing certification requirements.
get a bit slippery, and this is where you can get all sorts of
“unusual” or even just flat out bad advice. Is my e-learning program tied into this
audience’s strategic initiatives?
In the interest of full and complete disclosure, remember that If not, you may have difficulty getting the
we here at BizLibrary ARE an LMS vendor. However, we hope level of participation you need.
you find this next section to be reasonably neutral in tone and
Is the e-learning offered to each group
helpful in terms of advice and content. We would be very linked clearly to their day-to-day
happy to be included in your selection process, but it’s more performance and job role?
important to us that you more forward with some sound Adults learn best when they see a clear and
advice and solid information in your hands as you make this direct link between training and job
very important decision for your company. performance.

There are hundreds of LMS vendors on the market today, so Are there varying degrees of comfort with
you will have plenty of choices and options. That’s not really technology among groups of employees or
the problem. The problem is narrowing down this vast and departments?
E-learning and online training represents a
sometimes confusing market to a manageable number of
significant change in the way they are used
vendors – a short list – from which you can make a final to learning. Make sure that you are clearly
decision. We believe there are five key factors you should use and consistently communicating the benefits
to narrow down your list of potential vendors. Here they are: of this change and share success stories as
employees make progress.
• Free trial and system demo
Have we communicated the benefits of our e-
• Familiarity with your market by learning program to various groups of
• Company size employees or departments?
• Level of experience with e-learning/online training People really need to know the benefits to
embrace any kind of change
• Familiar with your business challenges
• Industry experience Are there any specific areas of resistance to
e-learning among groups of employees or
• Industry recognition departments we need to address?
This is 100% normal. Just prepare for it and
• Client testimonials/recommendations plan to engage the key stakeholders with
clear and repeated value statements about
• Case studies/use cases how the training will benefit them.

System Demo and Trial
Should I Hire a Consultant?

Essentially, you have two choices as you
Always get a one-on-one system demo and free 30-day trial navigate the buying process: go through
of the LMS before you buy it. A free trial should be easy to the process on your own, or hire a
arrange, simple to set-up and quick to get started. The free consultant to help you.
trial will be a great test for you to learn – first hand – how the
Using a Consultant – From a Consultant
vendor will behave in the event you choose to buy their
There are two major advantages of using
solution. Also – make sure the trial you get is of the ACTUAL an outside consultant: experience and
solution, not some watered down version or demo version. knowledge. Here is a very good summary of
See the actual product you are going to buy. Here are things the benefits of using a consultant from the
you want to look for during your trial: blog – Elearning 24/7

Ease of use for your employees: • Knowledge and expertise already exists.
• How easy is the system to start (log in)? Many consultants, know the market and
• Is the interface intuitive? thus are able to jump right in and move
• Can employees quickly see the courses they need to take? at a quicker pace than say someone who
is new or in the process of looking
around.
Technical support: • Looking for a system or authoring tool
• If an employee needs help, can they get it quickly? can be overwhelming. With over 550
• Is the technical advice/solution easy to follow and LMSs on the market and more than 156
implement? authoring tools finding the right one can
• Are there going to be technical support fees? be an exercise in pain and confusion. A
consultant will handle it for you and thus
Technical requirements: enable you to do other things.
• Do the computers at workstations need anything special? • Eliminates creating RFPs, shooting them
• Will the content work well on multiple devices? out everywhere and waiting for a
response. Plus it eliminates the sales
people following up with you and for
Ease of use for administrators (you): many people they do not want to deal
• How easy are reports to access? with that.
• Is the administrative interface easy to use? • Time equals money and if you can lower
the time spent, the cost for hiring some
How easy was the trial to implement? consultants will be well spent.
• If the trial is hard to implement, what do think that tells you
about the ease of implementing the solution itself? Craig Weiss is the author of E-Learning 24/7 Blog
and is a leading consultant in the field.
• What implementation support will you get?
• Are there separate implementation fees? On Your Own – It Can be Done!
You don’t have to hire a consultant. While
Can the system be used without a lot of training? this process can be intimidating, there are
• If not, can you access the training? vendors in the market who are helpful and
• Is there a fee for the training? will work with in a consultative capacity as
you make your selection. The key to making
What service and support does the vendor provide? a successful choice – even if you work with a
• Will we have an account representative to call? consultant, is to have a plan, understand
• Are they easy to reach? your business challenges and be willing to
ask questions. These three key tips will help
• Will there be help getting the program started?
you maintain a focus on your organization’s
• Do we have regular program reviews? needs and goals, and will serve as excellent
guidelines for your decision-making
process.

Market Familiarity

There are several different ways to think about your Familiar with your business
market, and each carries a different set of
challenges. When choosing an LMS vendor and challenges
online training partner it’s important that in addition
to having a good understanding of your business There are a myriad of business challenges that an
needs, they also are familiar with your automated, web-based training solution can
organization’s market. Some market consider- address. The variety of systems and system designs
ations are: also means that not every system treats every
business problems the same way. For instance,
Company size some systems do a great job of helping
organizations manage things like classroom and
virtual classroom training sessions, or employee
Small and mid-size companies are different than certifications. Other systems may not have been
large, enterprise organizations and are in many designed with those specific functions as a central
cases an underserved market. Many vendors part of the offering. So make sure your selected
choose to focus on new customers in the large vendor has previous experience helping
company market space. Contracts with really large organizations solve the business problems you are
companies with tens of thousands of employees are trying to solve. Look for case studies and ask for
simply worth more than contracts with smaller client referrals!
organizations.
Experience with e-learning and
Many vendors with a large company - enterprise
focus have a “light” or “SMB” version of their online training
solution for smaller organizations- fewer features
and functions. This type of offering reflects a Organizations usually fall into three very broad
fundamental misunderstanding of the employee categories in terms of their experience level with
training challenges faced by small and growing online training: experienced and looking for a
companies. It’s not that the employee development change, experienced and are now very resistant to
challenges are less complicated. In fact, smaller trying it again, or have never tried it before. When
organizations frequently face employee training and you are introducing an online training solution to
development challenges more complex and employees who have never used it before, there will
challenging than their FORTUNE 1000 peers. It’s be challenges that are unique and different than
important to find a vendor that can help craft a those faced by organizations simply making a
technology solution built upon the experience of change or those organizations that have had bad
working in the fluid and innovative cultures that exist past experiences.
more frequently in smaller organizations.
When online training is new, you need to work
Industry experience through a series of communications, change
management and marketing challenges that are
There are specific challenges in different industries. unique to your situation. Make sure your chosen
Regulatory challenges loom large in banking, vendor has experience with these implementation
finance and healthcare. Retail organizations are and program launch challenges. Likewise, if you’ve
usually widely scattered and experience high rates had bad past experiences, make sure you work
of turnover. If your chosen vendor is not closely with a vendor who can provide a clear
accustomed to helping organizations with the types marketing message to your skeptical employees
of routine business challenges faced by about the quality and value of the solution
organizations in your industry, do you want to be the you’ve chosen.
organization educating them?

To RFP? Or not RFP?
System Checklist

RFP or the dreaded “request for proposal” is a common
element of software and systems purchases for enterprise-
sized organizations. But is an RFP appropriate or helpful for
smaller organizations? Quite a few small and mid-size
companies use the RFP process, and they are usually
modeled on one or two templates found online. The problem
with these templates is that they are built by vendors
primarily serving the enterprise market, and these templates
can serve to add needless layers of complexity to the
process. Import / Export User Data

The RFP process can be helpful when an organization needs Access to the Branded Site
to consider a wide variety of features and functions or to Wizard
serve the needs of multiple stakeholders within an
organization such as multiple departments, divisions, User and User Group
locations, or even multiple training teams or groups. The vast Administration
majority of smaller organizations can state their business
problems more clearly and have far fewer stakeholders
Resource and Resource Group
involved in the decision-making process. Furthermore, the
Administration
RFP templates are exactly that – a template. These are really
nothing more than checklists of features that may have
nothing to do with the actual business challenges facing your Import Existing Training Materials
organization. Therefore, the RFP only adds confusion to the as Resources (PDF, PPT,
process where clarity is of primary importance. DOC…more)

The other big drawback to using an RFP for smaller Test and Survey Engine
organizations is that many high quality vendors will simply not
participate in the RFP process. The vendors that are set up to Custom Content Management -
respond to RFPs tend to be larger vendors, and that’s Import AICC and SCORM Content
probably why they built the templates that are so easy to find.
Vendors that focus on smaller organizations are likely not
Certification Management and
interested in responding to complex RFP’s because they can
spend their time actually talking to prospects and clients Learning Plans
rather than working through a complicated series of checklist
items that probably don’t reflect the actual business needs or Classroom/Virtual Classroom
requirements of the company submitting the RPF in the first Management
place.
User Progress and Course
This checklist approach to a feature set reflected in the vast Activity Reports
majority of RFP’s also completely misses the chance for
meaningful conversations with engaged vendors or Email Messages and Notifications
consultants who might be able to uncover additional business
issues or help you develop a different take on your solution.
By limiting your vendor choices to vendors who reply to a list
of available features, you lose the chance to talk to people
who might have a superior solution because you have not
thought of your problems in the same ways in which the
vendor has developed their solutions.

System Checklist

Employees want learning to be easy to complete, relevant
to their goals and performance, and available anytime and
anywhere. BizLibrary’s Learning Management Solution is
built to meet the needs of today’s learners.

BizLibrary makes online employee training easy.

Whether you’re deploying formal training, critical
compliance training or providing performance support, Import / Export User Data
BizLibrary’s award-winning Learning Management System
is a complete learning platform. Access to the Branded Site
Wizard

User and User Group
Administration
BizLibrary’s LMS has all this
Resource and Resource Group
and more! Administration

Import Existing Training Materials
as Resources (PDF, PPT,
To get started, take advantage of DOC…more)
our No-Cost 30-Day Trial. Check out
Test and Survey Engine
our Learning Management System,
Custom Content Management -
preview our courses and work Import AICC and SCORM Content
one-on-one with a dedicated
Certification Management and
training consultant. Learning Plans

Classroom/Virtual Classroom
Management

User Progress and Course
Activity Reports

Email Messages and Notifications

Buyer's Guide: Selecting an LMS for SMB

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Buyer's Guide: Selecting an LMS for SMB