What LMS for SharePoint training system is right for you?

For many companies, an LMS for SharePoint just makes sense. The obvious reason is the utilization of software that you already have plus the integration with every other system used by your business – a major plus both functionally and financially. However, with the different SharePoint LMS systems on the market, this blog will give you some ideas to consider before choosing which system will work best for your specific needs.

LMS FOR SHAREPOINT

No matter what SharePoint training system you choose, there are some big advantages to using a SharePoint LMS.

SharePoint in and of itself sets the path for training success. Right out of the gate, companies can utilize the following features:

• Content Management – Managing content is huge when it comes to eLearning and SharePoint excels at this. Every year, companies create hundreds of courses and having a centralized area to store content is crucial. With workflows, audit trails and versioning you’ll always have the most up-to-date course available. And, having content stored in SharePoint makes it seamless to transfer to the LMS for SharePoint. No room for error when everything is kept under the same SharePoint umbrella.
• Social Features – Social and collaboration are the latest buzz words in eLearning and SharePoint offers all the social features you would need such as team sites, discussion boards, communities and MySites.
• Single Sign-on and Active Directory – Your learners will not have to remember multiple passwords because they can just use the log-in information that they use daily for their work station computer.

Adding in an LMS feature to your SharePoint environment is the icing on the cake. Even more training functionality is provided, including:

• Scorm/Tin Can – This means that your elearning content can be played on any training system. Being able to track both formal and informal training provides a full picture of learning outcomes.
• Customized Learning paths – One of the most important features of an LMS, is learning paths. Because an LMS in SharePoint ties into your active directory, it is easy to assign learning to individuals by job title or department as an example.
• Built-In Testing and Reporting – These days, providing a link between learning and performance is more important than ever. That is why comprehensive testing and reporting provided by a SharePoint LMS is a huge advantage.
• Compliance – While SharePoint ranks high for systems that manage compliance issues, a SharePoint LMS fills in the gap with security features like e-signature and auditing.

CHOOSING WHICH LMS FOR SHAREPOINT IS RIGHT FOR YOUR COMPANY

Now that we’ve discussed a few of the benefits of a SharePoint LMS, let’s get even more granular and talk about some of the specifics to consider when evaluating various training systems based on SharePoint.

If you know, without a doubt, that you want to utilize your SharePoint environment and a SharePoint LMS is right for your business, consider these things before purchasing:

Is the LMS built on top of SharePoint or integrated with SharePoint?

This is something you may or may not think to ask while getting information about the system. A SharePoint LMS that is built on top of SharePoint is a true SharePoint LMS. This is because it works as part of your SharePoint environment and inherits all existing authentication protocols etc. When the system is just ‘integrated,’ there will be multiple systems that need to ‘talk’ to one another and it creates a situation where it might not be as cohesive.

Do you need a system built for corporate or educational environment?

Each SharePoint LMS on the market will have its specialty and it’s worth asking the question. Is it designed for business enterprise, education or human resources? ShareKnowledge, for instance, is designed for enterprise and is completely scalable. We can handle up to the 80,000 user range while our competitors will not be able to handle more than 5-10,000 users effectively. Some SharePoint LMS systems are more focused on HR and the training aspect is very small and limited in scope.

Simple or complex needs?

This is another big question to ask. For some companies, all they need is simple training while others require more complex workflows. Some SharePoint-based LMS systems on the market cater to very small groups that almost exclusively use SharePoint out-of-the-box features. This means you cannot scale nor handle large amounts of data which is fine for some users. However, if you have multiple organizational units and very complex needs that require customization, than these simple apps will not suffice and you’ll need a system like ShareKnowledge to handle this.

These are just a couple questions to keep in mind while deciphering between the various SharePoint LMS systems on the market. They all have great benefits but it’s important to know what they excel at and what they do not in order to align with your business needs.

ShareKnowledge is the first corporate LMS built on SharePoint. A Microsoft® Partner with Gold Application Development Competency, ShareKnowledge is considered the industry’s most valuable SharePoint add-on — providing a powerful learning solution that will transform your organization and propel business productivity.

Not only are we SharePoint experts, but the folks at ShareKnowledge have over 20 years of combined eLearning experience.