If you are an SME, you may consider outsourcing your LMS (Learning Management System). There are good reasons to consider this option.
First among them is that you may not have the time nor the resources to engage a staff member whose job is solely to maintain the smooth running of your online training. Administration of an LMS like Moodle or Totara has many working parts.
They include the technical aspects of making sure your training is delivered smoothly over a wide variety of devices including mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets What happens if your LMS goes down and you need to get it up and running again quickly? Does your LMS administrator have the skills to technically troubleshoot the problem and smoothly re-boot the system?
Systems integration is another big sticking point. How will the assessment data be delivered and to whom? And how do you protect the data from falling into the wrong hands? What about onboarding new staffers? Who will train them up?
Here is another key question: How likely are you to use your LMS for more than standard training? For example, does your training have to deliver a technical piece of information that requires consistent updating or working with internal or external Subject Matter Experts? Is your LMS administrator capable of incorporating that new information in a format that is palatable to learners?
What about UX and UI? And Gamification? Many companies, even SMEs, could benefit from these higher end skills that would require outsourcing anyway unless you have some talented coders on staff. Not all IT departments have experts in delivering eLearning, however.
It sounds like a no-brainer, but the best course of action is to determine if your team are competent in running an LMS. Chances are the answer will be no, particularly if you are a non-profit organization or running a business without the benefit of an internal IT department.
A good practice would be to write up a task list your LMS administrator would need to follow. That list could include:
- Uploading new users
- Expiring old users
- Adding new content
- Distributing LMS reports
- Home page maintenance
- Updating Calendars and milestones
If you look at that list and think, “No way. Don’t have the time to do any of that,” then you’ve answered the question initially posed in this article.
Outsourcing your LMS administration may be the most efficient way to handle your training.
My Learning Space has the staff members available to help you decide if outsourcing your LMS is the way to go. We even have an LMS hosting service that includes tech support. Contact us for more information.