Hi all,

I work for a large organisation and our IT and HR Departments are currently working on a strategic platform review. A LMS forms part of that review, but it's taking time for our parent company to reach a decision, and with lead times etc. it's looking unlikely that I'll see any movement on a new system this year.

I need to find an interim solution that enables me to host e-learning in SCORM format, track usage, completion and pass rates, and ideally has some form of user authentication linked to our employee eystem. At this point I don't need an all-singing all-dancing solution, just a basic system that allows me to host and report on e-learning until our LMS is in place.

Can anyone recommend a low-cost provider that can do the above please?

Many thanks,

Leanne

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Replies

  • Hi,

    Sorry to hijack the thread but also looking for advice on this.

    We are a small (100-150) company and need to roll out an LMS quite quickly. Any advice you had, Leanne, or anyone else, would be gratefully received.

    Thanks in advance 

     

    Nathan

    • Hi Nathan,

      No apologies needed. It's great that you've dived into this conversation. It's just what it's here for.

      I'm interested to hear whether you've given any thought into what's most important to you and your organisation when looking LMS platforms. Have you given any thought to what features are essential/desirable, what you might place on it, whether or not you need to control access to different content and track completions and engagement.

      If you've anything to share on this front, it might help take the discussion and your discovery further.

      • Hi Ady,

        As a company we are very displaced, we have 32 sites across the country. At the moment 99% of our training is F2F and the majority of courses involve staff travelling to head office. This has strain on staff time away from the workplace and financial implications, as you can imagine. We would like a platform where we could create online content, through media and assessments that staff could consume more frequently and more suitable to their needs. 

        Reporting is essential and automatic renewel and reminders would be really beneficial. Moving forward, content that could include gamification is an ambition but not a necessity at first.

        I suppose that a platform that could grow with us and our need is our aim. As we are a small company budget restrictions will probably effect decisions.

        Any help or support would be greatly appreciated.

        Thanks

        • Hi Nathan / Ady,

          Unfortunately, one of the challenges of working in such a large organisation is that it's virtually impoossible to get anything done quickly so this project is still an ongoing source of frustration for me and I am not much further forward. I've done numerous versions of the business case and spent a great deal of time talking to potential providers!

          In short, we are still awaiting the big strategic decisions to be made. The business has now chosen their preferred provider, which means getting in anything that's a new system is almost impossible so I am now pushing for a decision on whether or not we can bring the LMS element of the project forward, or whether I still need to source an interim solution.

          But, when I did research I came across a company called How to Moodle as I'd heard of Moodle as a potential cheap, short-term solution. They introduced me to Totara which actually seemed to tick a lot of boxes - customisable, managed f2f and online learning, social learning, virtual classrooms, training records and MI. and pretty low cost.

          Nathan, I'd certainly recommend you give them a call and arrange a demo as it sounds like you're after a similar solution to me!

          If you want to discuss any further, please let me know, I'd be happy to help if I can! It'd be nice to see someone get an LMS, even if it's not me! :)

          Leanne

        • Nathan,

          Are you by any chance on Twitter? I'd highly recommend it!

          The reason I ask is over there, I posted a Tweet on Friday about LMS recommendations. This discussion started by Leanne and added on by you and others, together with a friend asking me the same question has brought me to a realisation....

          I'm out of touch nowadays with LMS options - these days, I'm all about the content and the conversation. Yet I need to know about what the latest and greatest in this space are.

          So, on behalf of us all, I asked the question.

          Some great replies....

          48552851?profile=original

          48553054?profile=original

          48553085?profile=original

           

          • For my take, the most light wieght LMS i have seen is Curatr - https://www.ht2labs.com/curatr/

            But from talking with all the different companies, it seems as though most of the timing is on how complex / bespoke you need it for your company. If you take one off the shelf with little altering, they can be pretty quick. 

            My biggest advice is have some future proof in there - like us, you are a geographically diverse compnay so i would make sure the company can deliver social learning.

            The thing to remember that although reporting is imporant, moving forward, more companies are moving toward self-learning and individuals earning 'training points' or moving up a leader board. 

            Curatr
            Curatr gives organisations the tools to design, deliver and facilitate Social Learning whilst making the best of the content and systems they already…
  • Hi. I have done some reseach into different LMSs and to be honest, with modern LMSs, you dont need SCORM as they have the ability to track regualr MP4 uploads. We have recently moved away from SCORM as we were not getting the vaule out of them - considering how much time it takes to upload them. 

     

    In my experiecne, the best LMSs i have come across are Curatr for basic, Growth Engineering (my favourate one), Fuse, kPoint (for more self-created video). Cornerstone Direct is good but expensive.

     

    There are a lot of companies that offer very similar features so what i would recommend is have a clear understanding of exactly what you want now, and what you dont want (and think aobut where your company is heading to be able to support it in the future) and then attend as many demos as possible. 

  • HI Leanne,

    It's been a while since you posted this. I wondered if you'd been able to move forward with this and any recommendations have come into you that you should share?

    Would love to hear.

    Thank

    Ady

     

     

  • Hi Leanne,

    For a basic system that gets you up and running, City and Guilds Kineo have a product called Kineo Track. It's an 'off-the-shelf' (their words) solution that's a basic Moodle set up. They will implement and host for around £8k-£10k per year, which is pretty reasonable. They're pretty quick too.

    Most companies will do something similar for around the same price and will run a Totara LMS. They tend to have pricing structures dependent on how many users you have. Generally, less than 1000 users is the cheapest. They will charge more if the range is up to 3,5 or 10 thousand users. 

    I'm currently working with Webanywhere who are also pretty good in this regard. Both Kineo and Webanywhere charge separately for support, and this can get quite pricey if you need lots of support. It's best to implement basic stuff like this if you have people in-house that know their way around a Totara LMS.

    Happy to provide contact details for some people to get in touch with from Kineo and Webanywhere if you like.

    David

    • Thanks David,

      I actually looked at Totara and had that pinpointed as my ideal solution. Unfortunately though this is still an ongoing project for me as it's been backwards and forwards at senior level with regards to the bigger picture strategic platform review and we are no further forward!

      Strategically the business has now chosen their preferred provider, I am now pushing for a decision on whether or not we can bring the LMS element of the project forward, or whether I still need to source an interim solution.

      If I am honest, I am now past caring on what the solution actually is, I just need something!

      Leanne

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