LMS, eLearning and WBT: Is it right for your organization?

When determining whether an LMS e-Learning solution is going to be a good fit for your company, department or clients, there are several factors that you should consider when shopping around.

• Efficiency: How long will it take to deliver the LMS Solution? What is the learning curve? Do you need your own IS department to deliver the system internally or is there a managed LMS e-Learning solution that is web based (WBT – Web Based Training)?


• Implementation: What will the learning curve be for your organization or company? Does the LMS or e-Learning product come with support from the vendor? What is your total ramp up time to deliver your LMS?


• Training Content: Is the LMS SCORM compliant? How easy is it for instructors to create courses, exams, etc? Is there pre-packaged course content for your industry or education sector in the e-Learning solution?


• Integration: Does your LMS offer offline, traditional classroom scheduling? Does it integrate with Licensing and CE credit (Continuing Education Credit)?


• Delivery Method: Will WBT work for your organization? Do you need a managed and hosted solution to ensure uptime and full support through the lifecycle of your Online University?

Most companies can very quickly assess these factors to make the best choice for their environment. However, the bottom line for many companies when choosing an LMS, e-Learning solution or Web Based Training package is cost.

Companies will want to look at their own budgets and recognize the long lasting impact of buying into an LMS. Firstly, what may seem like a considerable investment in the short run may pay off down the line as long-term cost of support, integration and pre-packaged training may reduce overall long-term expenses if bought up front. Secondly, a comparison between a WBT, e-Learning or LMS solution vs. traditional classroom training, conferences and seminars may shed some light on the issue as these can be very costly over time for an organization.

According to Michele Webb, who has over 20 years in the Oncology Healthcare field:

[LMS] is less expensive to deliver almost regardless of the participant population. For example: in populations where the participants number 100 or more, e-learning [LMS] had clear cost advantages and as the population number increases, so does the cost advantage. Cost advantages were still measurable in groups of 100 or less and even with classes as short as one hour in length. In a corporate study conducted by Caterpillar, they determined that e-learning was 40% less expensive than the traditional classroom models.

(Source: Comparing Costs: eLearning vs. Traditional, Michele Webb, pub 2005 by ArticleCity.com)