Top Learning Management Systems — June 2020

How much learning management software costs depends on a number of factors, including the actual vendor you choose as well as how you want to be charged. In other words, do you want to be charged per learner per month or per usage per month? Or, do you want to just pay a one-time fee to access course content or a learning environment in its entirety and in perpetuity? 

While actual pricing varies by platform, here is an idea of what you can expect:

• Per Learner: In most cases, learning platforms will charge between $5-$15 per learner per month. This range accounts for what’s actually included for each learner. Most platforms also charge a setup or installation fee on top of the per learner per month rate.‍
• Per Usage: If you only want to be charged for what your employees are actually using, you can expect to pay wide ranges depending on how much pre packaged content you're using. Similar to the per learner pricing, where your price falls in that range will depend on what’s included.‍
• One-Time Licensing Fee: To purchase a license to install LMS software and use it in perpetuity, you could pay up to $50,000 or more. The licensing fee itself ranges from $500-$20,000 and then there is usually a hefty setup cost as well. Keep in mind that this option is really best suited for larger companies with a dedicated IT staff.
  

As you do your own research, you might see that there are also free options (which are typically the most basic and not very user-friendly) and free trials. Be sure to discuss pricing packages on your demo so you can get a clear sense for what an LMS will cost your company.

Learning management software offers a variety of features depending on your needs and budget. You’ll see that some offer a full suite of them (and usually command a higher price as a result), while others are more niche. So once you figure out what kind of online training you want to provide your employees, you’ll be able to pick a vendor that meets your needs. 

Generally speaking, learning management systems offer some or all of the following:

• Employee Training: Access new hire onboarding materials and employee training courses on everything from business skills, to compliance training, to workplace safety and more. If your industry requires certain certifications, you can administer the relevant tests to get your employees properly certified.‍
• Content Library: Many learning management systems have ready-made educational content that you can use for your company. Such content includes (but is not limited to) slides, videos and animations, PDFs, course modules, even gamification.  Many of these will be specific to a given set of roles, industries or levels in the company (for example, sales training or management training).
• Content Development: If you want a learning experience that’s tailored to your specific company, you can use templates to create your own materials. ‍
• Synchronous & Asynchronous Learning: You can decide if you want to provide learning opportunities in real-time (synchronous) or allow your employees to access on their own time (asynchronous). ‍
• Mobile-friendly: Depending on the LMS, your employees can get complete course/learning access from a mobile app, allowing them to learn anytime, anywhere.

Demos are a great opportunity for you to see how an LMS works and ask questions before you actually invest. To get the most out of your demo, make sure to ask the following questions:

General questions to ask on any demo:

• How will this solution fit into the rest of my tech stack and therefore what integrations do I need?
• How will others in the organization use this solution?
• What are the key features I want to ask about?
• What are the things that would make me nervous about investing in this sort of solution?
  

Questions specific to learning management systems:

• Do you provide a library of training content or will we have to create our own? ‍
• What type of content do you support and/or deliver?
• Is gamification built in, and if so, what kinds?
• Do you offer employee incentives/rewards for using the platform?
• How many team members can your solution support per company?
• Does your solution provide a training log, training records, and other sort of reports?
• To which extent is your platform customizable?
• What are you doing to ensure accessibility and inclusivity in online learning?
• Does your solution provide video conferencing for instructor-led training and collaborative learning?
• How do some of your features promote social learning?

Using an LMS will most likely require a team of stakeholders from across the company. This includes executive management (for buy-in), IT (for tech integrations), HR/People Ops (for learning content), team leads (to encourage usage), etc. It goes without saying, then, that you’ll need to regularly communicate so everyone is on the same page in terms of what needs to get done, who needs to do it, and when it should be completed. You can get a general idea of all of this during your demos, so make sure to ask about all things implementation — and see if they offer on-site or virtual trainings.

Additionally, you need to focus on these key elements:

• Content Management: Figure out the type of content you need, who is going to run point, and how you will manage updates as needed.‍
• Rollout: Create a rollout strategy to introduce the platform to your employees and encourage usage. Make sure stakeholders especially are clued in so they can communicate the right messaging, incentives, etc. to their direct reports.‍
• Monitor Usage: Regularly check usage data to see how many employees are engaging with the content, whether courses have been completed fully, if there are any user-experience or functionality issues, etc. Depending on your findings, you may need to make adjustments to your content or rollout plans.

What does LMS mean? ‍

LMS means learning management system, although some people also use learning management software. ‍

What does a learning management system do? ‍

Learning management systems allow your business to train new employees and teams on a variety of skills and topics. An LMS platform is typically used to efficiently onboard new hires and keep employees engaged, leading to increased productivity and higher retention rates.‍

How do you use a learning management system? ‍

You use a learning management system to provide numerous functions for employees, including efficient and effective onboarding, skill augmentation, certifications and incentive-based learning. In addition, employers can use an LMS to track employee progress and performance.

What features should a learning management system have?‍

A learning management system can have the following features:

• Administrative suite for instructors and managers
• Engaging training modules
• Tracking and reporting
• Course creation tools
• Evaluations
• Gamification
• Messaging capabilities
• Video Conferencing
• Certifications
• Calendar management
• Mobile adaptability
• Social learning aspects‍
• Customization
• Multimedia capabilities

What are the advantages of using a learning management system?‍

Using a learning management system can lead to many advantages, such as increased employee retention, professional growth and internal mobility opportunities, and boosted productivity. An LMS can also help recruiting efforts by showing prospective hires that their potential employer wants them to learn, succeed and grow in their organization. The best LMS vendors also offer employee training tracking software within their platforms, which is necessary to measure the effectiveness of the tool. For example, you can see metrics like training sessions per user, time to complete a course, enrollment rates, etc.