Learning Management and the Swiss Army Suite

Is Your LMS at Risk in a Super-Sized HCM Platform?

By Ramesh Ramani, Founder and CEO, Expertus

Ramesh Ramani, CEO, Expertus

If you’re like me, you’re curiously attracted to innovative gadgets – especially pocket-sized multi-tools. First, it was the familiar red Victorinox Swiss Army knife. Then Leatherman tools followed. Now countless other ingenious variations are available – even some the size of credit cards.

Each year, a slew of new options are introduced just in time for Christmas, and I find myself tempted to buy the latest, greatest designs. However, I resist. Not because I have too many of them. And not because they’re expensive. But because I realize that I simply won’t use them.

When I need to tighten a screw, I dig into my toolbox for my favorite screw driver. When I need to wrap a package, I grab the full-sized scissors from my desktop. Meanwhile, my Swiss Army knife gathers dust – tucked away in the corner of a drawer.

This actually reminds me of what’s happening in the talent management and learning technology space. After high-profile acquisitions involving LMS companies like Plateau, Learn.com and GeoLearning, some industry analysts are heralding the arrival of the all-in-one Human Capital Management (HCM) platform.

Without seeing sales figures for these “super-sized” HR-talent-learning suites, you might conclude that enterprise organizations are abandoning their dedicated LMS platforms in droves, hoping that the switch to all-in-one HCM will satisfy every need. But I’ve seen analyst data that suggests otherwise. And the behavior of our prospects and customers confirms that this just isn’t the case.

Why not? Essentially, for the same reason I hardly use my prized pocket knife. On one hand, it’s reassuring to know that it’s always available in a pinch, and that it promises a broad spectrum of functionality. On the other hand, it doesn’t perform exceptionally well in any capacity. And it certainly isn’t my “go to” choice for specific tasks.

Don’t get me wrong. We understand that all-in-one models are attractive, in theory. We often meet prospects who assume from the start that a “Swiss Army” suite would be ideal. But when they look more closely at their learning requirements, and consider the value that a highly adaptive, dynamic LMS can add to their HCM infrastructure, they usually recognize that a kitchen-sink solution demands too much compromise. Here are several reasons why:

1) Learning is Complex

On the surface, organizational learning may seem like a relatively simple and intuitive process – particularly in a networked environment. However, the practice of enterprise learning and performance support brings challenges that are unexpected by those from other operational areas, such as HR or IT. Representatives from those areas are often involved in purchasing integrated suites – but because they aren’t deeply familiar with learning needs, they’re likely to overlook critical decision criteria. This can be a costly mistake. We often see this after-the-fact, when customers seek us out to rework or replace an LMS that never fully delivered.

2) Learning is Specialized

It’s logical and legitimate to think of learning and development within the context of career progression and talent management. However, the ideal solution isn’t necessarily standardization on an all-in-one HCM suite. It’s naive, at best, to assume that any organization’s particular learning needs will be fully addressed by LMS technology that happens to be available within the “mother” suite. One size does not fit all. Would a surgeon select a Swiss Army blade over a scalpel? Success depends on matching the tools to the context at hand.

3) Learning Reaches Beyond Employees

Increasingly, enterprise organizations are grappling with how best to serve the learning needs of communities that exist outside traditional corporate boundaries – customers, channel partners and the contingent workforce. These learning experiences must be seamlessly integrated with internal information systems and business processes. However, HCM functions by definition focus on internal resources. Therefore, it’s risky to assume that all learning bases will be covered by an HCM suite. Instead, it’s essential to clarify how the LMS component will enable learning and knowledge-sharing across diverse internal and external global audiences.

Conclusion

These are only a few of the reasons for corporate learning professionals to be cautious about embracing an integrated HCM. But these concerns are important. They point to the need for thoughtful discussion about learning requirements – and a thorough analysis of the fit with any “Swiss Army” suite.

Bottom-line: If your LMS is indispensible – in the same way that a good screwdriver often is for me – then you probably want a platform that is optimized for your organization’s unique learning requirements. Don’t just settle for one that is available when you can’t find the tool you really want.

If you’d like to discuss how this applies to your learning environment, we invite you to schedule a consultation or a demonstration of our award-winning dynamic cloud LMS, ExpertusONE.

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Note from Ramesh: What are your thoughts about “Swiss Army Knife” HCM suites, and how LMS platforms should fit in? To learn more about how ExpertusONE stands out as a best-of-breed LMS, and yet fits into any enterprise HCM infrastructure, visit our website. Or email questions and comments to me at rameshr@expertus.com.

Let Nothing Stand Between Learners and Learning

It’s Time to Bridge the Gap

By Ramesh Ramani, Founder and CEO, Expertus

Ramesh Ramani, CEO, Expertus

Today’s LMS market is ripe for disruption – and in my opinion, it’s long overdue.

Information technology has advanced at a dizzying pace in recent years. At the same time, a new young wave of workplace contributors has arrived on the scene, bringing “anytime, anywhere” expectations and social media cultural behaviors that defy every aspect of the traditional enterprise landscape.

What does this mean for LMS vendors? We must radically redefine the “learning management” concept at its core. It’s about meeting learners on their terms – at the moment they need support for diverse performance, development and knowledge-sharing activities. It’s about flexibility to serve a learner’s unique needs, as they shift over time. And it’s about rethinking all aspects of the classic LMS infrastructure, so that cumbersome systems get out of a learner’s way.

Despite an abundance of industry chatter, vendors have been slow to address these critical requirements. And that is precisely why we welcome the challenge.

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

To appreciate the new world order, let’s first take a quick look back:

Most first-generation LMS platforms were built more than a dozen years ago to support corporate training operations. Target users were managers and administrators who developed and delivered training programs. Training participants (“learners”) were secondary. For learners, interaction with an LMS occurred behind the firewall – often in response to compliance directives. Learning scenarios typically involved searching for a prescribed course, registering, attending and completing related training activities.

These highly structured LMS mechanisms spawned their own complex support environments – massive course catalogs, manual workarounds to compensate for functional limitations, and user groups to demystify arcane interface issues.

I was part of the learning community in those early days – and so was Expertus. While LMS vendors focused on building software, we focused on services to optimize those systems, and make them relevant in real-world enterprise settings. As our competence grew in integrating, customizing, upgrading and maintaining legacy learning systems, our vision for the next-generation solution became increasingly clear.

That vision is what is now reflected in our cloud-based continuous learning platform, ExpertusONE.

Today’s Problems Can’t Be Solved With Yesterday’s Approaches

Our design philosophy is simple: In the enterprise universe, success revolves around people – employees, customers and business partners. For them, change is the only constant. Therefore to deliver value, our product architecture and functional design must be people-centered – intuitive, agile, flexible and scalable.

How does this translate into LMS characteristics? It’s evident in many ways. For example:

• Simplified user interface
• Streamlined roles and privileges
• Sophisticated search capabilities
• Integrated collaboration tools
• Dynamic, personalized learning plans and
• Support for content delivery in all desired forms/formats

Perhaps this user-centered focus is why ExpertusONE is being embraced by global 500 companies. Perhaps it’s why social enterprise industry analyst Jim Lundy chose Expertus as a 2012 “Hot Vendor” in the Learning, HCM & Talent Management category. And perhaps it’s why e-learning and LMS market advisor, Craig Weiss, recently placed us at the top of his “Extended Enterprise LMS” directory list.

This relentless, user-centered focus is a bold approach. And it’s certainly more easily said than done. But I hope you’ll join us in demanding nothing less than the best user experience from learning platforms, going forward.

With the future of enterprise productivity and performance at stake, we believe nothing should come between learners and learning.

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Note from Ramesh: What are your thoughts about this learner-centered design philosophy? And what potential do you see for cloud computing to transform enterprise learning? To discover more about how cloud computing is playing a pivotal role in corporate learning, workforce development and performance management, visit our website. Or email questions and comments to me at rameshr@expertus.com.

LMS Reporting Problems – Getting to the Source

Are Your Reporting Problems Really Reporting Problems – or Something Else?

By John Schneble, Product Director, Technology Solutions, Expertus

John Schneble, Product Director, Technology Solutions, Expertus

Of all the challenges associated with legacy learning management systems, reporting is almost always cited as the toughest.

If you’re familiar with any enterprise LMS, I’m sure you’re not surprised. And if you’re responsible for responding to numerous executives who request complex, multifaceted LMS reports on-the-fly, you know exactly where the difficulties lie.

We’ve all encountered technical issues (such as system downtime) and stale data (delays of a day or even a week are not uncommon). But there are 3 other key concerns: limited data access, costly/complex reporting tools and “dirty” data.

Top 3 Reasons for Reporting Headaches

1. Limited Data Access – Your reports don’t have access to necessary data captured in LMS fields, or the LMS doesn’t capture this needed data.
2. Costly Reporting Tools – Too often the tools required to generate the reports you need are sophisticated 3rd party reporting tools that require licenses (money) and expertise (money).
3. Dirty Data – If you don’t know it before you deliver a new report, you will hear about it soon after. Data integrity is a challenge in any enterprise-wide platform, and especially in an LMS.

Now, estimate the sum of all of this effort, and then take an honest look at what you are delivering – incomplete or invalid information, after the fact! Here are suggestions for handling these issues:

Tip #1: Reporting vs. Data Availability – Clarify the Problem

What would happen if you asked everyone who requests reports whether they’d prefer real-time access to that information? I’m sure a large percentage would laugh, and say “of course!”

Do you think they’d be able to do their jobs more efficiently if they had immediate access? Do you think they’d be more effective at reducing business risk if they knew at any moment that someone was out of compliance with training requirements?

If so, then I challenge you to view their situation as a data availability problem, not a reporting problem.

A report is an after-action summary. It answers the question, “What happened?” But if your requesters are trying to manage today’s operations, they don’t need a report. They need a tool that reveals “What’s happening now?”

Tip #2: Proactive vs. Reactive Management – Is It Worth the Risk?

Too often managers are responsible for ensuring that their employees are compliant. However, they don’t have the necessary data available to make this happen. Instead, they’re forced to request “after-action summaries” and must manage their team’s compliance based on less-than-timely data.

Needless to say, this is a frustrating and risky process.

Tip #3: Dynamic Learning Platform vs. Legacy LMS – 4 Key Advantages

For more than a decade, Expertus has configured, customized, implemented and supported today’s major enterprise learning management systems (LMSs), Our technical specialists have been responsible for scoping report requirements; designing custom reports; and deploying, testing and managing  reports on these systems.

Several years ago, we recognized that learning measurement and reporting were one of the weakest links in the learning infrastructure. That’s when we created a next-generation, cloud-based learning platform that – among other things – addresses common LMS reporting problems. That platform is ExpertusONE, and here are the key issues it addresses:

1. Streamlined Reporting – In ExpertusONE, reports are presented in the same browser-based interface as other screens. This means no more 3rd-party reporting tools, no more subscription fees, and no more expensive custom report-building resources!

2. Smarter Architecture – Businesses are moving too fast to be managed using yesterday’s data. Our system architecture supports real-time reporting and data access without the use of a dedicated reporting database, and with zero performance degradation.

3. Open Data Availability – We’ve redefined data availability by ensuring that the system can access and report data from every data field. If your organization is taking the time to capture data, you should be able to access it.

4. Real-time, Actionable Data View – We need to stop looking at manager reports as “reports” and see them for what they really are – highly valuable business decision-support data. That’s why ExpertusONE has built-in management views that provide your senior leaders with quick and easy access to actionable data. If non-compliance is a costly risk, we make sure your managers can avoid it. If performance is a key success factor, we make sure your managers can monitor it.

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Conclusion

If you have any doubt about the structure, scheduling or validity of your learning system reports, we can quickly evaluate your situation, pinpoint the root cause of problems and suggest an effective course of action.

Note from John: If you need expert advice to resolve learning reporting challenges with measurement services or you’re interested in cloud-based tools to drive learning analytics, contact me anytime at johns@expertus.com.

Taking Your LMS to the Next Level

An evolutionary approach to LMS form and function can revolutionize learning across your extended enterprise

By John Schneble, Product Director, Technology Solutions, Expertus

John Schneble, Product Director, Technology Solutions, Expertus

Do you think your LMS (learning management system) is ready for mothballs? Your not alone. In April 2011, a Brandon Hall webinar poll indicated that nearly 60% of attendees were in the process of replacing their learning systems.

Although that survey didn’t examine the reasons why learning organizations are rapidly embracing new platforms, it’s no secret that legacy systems fall short of today’s learning requirements. I’d like to add some perspective on the issues learning organizations face when shifting core technologies.

Let’s start with 3 suggestions – based on insights gathered from these sources:

• A survey that Expertus and TrainingIndustry.com conducted among 144 learning professionals, and
• A “Think Tank” discussion Expertus hosted with 12 leading learning executives.

Tip #1: Accept the LMS for What It Was Designed to Do

The LMS excels in accomplishing the specific tasks for which it was designed – to target, train and track. These are critical functions for learning organizations. However, the LMS hasn’t changed enough in the last 20 years to support all modes of enterprise learning.

Many popular learning management systems work well for the 20% of learning associated with formal, structured training. But they ignore the remaining 80% of activity associated with informal learning, collaboration and knowledge-sharing. As one learning executive says:

“LMS is a misnomer. It’s really a Training Management System. Training is pushed to users in a uniform fashion – with content determined from the top and delivered to all in the same way. In contrast, learning is user-driven (informal) – finding and using content that meets an individual’s unique needs. This is much more difficult to manage.”

This is why we shouldn’t expect too much from standard LMS offerings. They’re inherently out-of-touch with most enterprise learning behavior. What’s the answer? Each organization should determine the unique functional adaptations and enhancements that will best address the informal and social learning requirements of their learning community – while preserving the functions that support classic formal training.

Tip #2: Link the LMS with New Systems to Handle Growing Demands

Today’s LMS is typically not flexible enough to meet the diverse knowledge access demands of today’s fast-paced corporations. Furthermore, it’s quite difficult and expensive to configure, integrate and deploy an LMS. So learning executives are looking for ways to extend existing systems by adding new technologies that deliver a robust learning experience.

Desired extensions often include elements such as personalized development paths, integrated enterprise-wide real-time collaboration tools, dashboard reporting tools, federated search, support for user-generated content, mobile learning. One survey respondent observed:

“Learners have universally adopted mobile technology, so we need to make it a better two-way learning tool … push for training to go where learners are in their daily activities … and create original content for the mobile learner – not repurpose existing material.”

So essentially, users are playing a vital role in the LMS revolution. User learning, productivity and work performance can improve exponentially by implementing tools that enable interactive communication and collaboration, along with push and pull access to informal learning content.

Tip #3: Continue to Track and Measure “Evolved” LMS Capabilities

This leads to our last question: Is an LMS revolution required? In a word: Yes! As we’ve discussed, to support today’s advanced functional requirements, new technologies must be integrated with existing learning systems. What’s more, it’s important to add more sophisticated tools to measure usage (where and how users seek information) and effectiveness (how well users’ needs are served). As one L&D professional noted:

“It’s vital to get your arms around the different venues for learning. With the huge number of tools available to users, it’s important to use the LMS (or other technologies) to track and determine their value. This enables us to focus on creating content and devices that utilize what is effective and avoid what is not.”

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Conclusion

Learning executives are still experimenting with processes, technologies and techniques that will best complement today’s LMS platforms. Rather than abandoning their significant investment in existing infrastructure, they’re gravitating toward methods that extend and add value to existing systems. Therefore, the most practical path to revolutionary changes in learning systems infrastructure is likely to require an evolutionary process.

Note from John: Want more details? Read the complete article in Training Industry Quarterly. Or, to talk about how your organization can resolve learning management systems issues, contact me anytime at johns@expertus.com