Questions that need to be asked before the introduction of DLS

In this post I do not set goals to talk about what a LMS (Learning Management System) is and how to choose it correctly, the essence of the question is displayed in the topic. It is assumed that the reader already has an idea about this class of systems.

So, if e-learning is planned or introduced in your company, you will need to answer a few important questions to begin with.

Information on the organizational structure

The first thing that needs to be fixed (even if you are an employee of the company and know everything about it perfectly) is information about the organizational structure.
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Here is a list of mandatory questions related to your organizational structure (suppose that you are implementing a system within the company in which you work) companies that need to be answered (independently or with the involvement of colleagues):

1. What are the number and geography of representative offices / branches of the company?
2. What is the number of employees in the parent organization?
3. What is the number of employees in branch offices?
4. Is the structure supposed to be responsible for training, including distance learning?
5. Who is responsible for the training and distance learning in the company?

Answers to these questions will help you understand what the hardware and software requirements for the server should be, the system's capabilities in terms of data replication and integration with other systems, as well as who can answer key questions when implementing LMS.

Specific information (training, evaluation, staff development)

1. Does your company already use any LMS ( How strange it is, but it may well turn out that the company (especially if it is a Russian representative office / office / branch of a foreign company) already uses a system of this class and it will be extremely important to get permission to introduce a new one not easy (although possible) )?
2. What are you using or are you going to use LMS for?
3. What forms of company training are used?
4. In what areas is being trained in the company?
5. What HR processes exist in the company (assessment, development, adaptation of employees)?

Having received answers to these questions, you can more clearly approach the process of selecting a system in terms of its functionality. Everyone knows that sellers of any kind of information systems are able to “fix” those functions / modules that are being streamed ... well, this is like going to the store, so as not to buy too much, it is better to make a list of the necessary functionality.

IT infrastructure

1. What is the percentage of employees with computers?
2. What is IT platform (AD, Windows)?
3. Do employees have internet access, are there other security details?
4. What is the bandwidth of communication channels?
5. What other corporate IT-systems (personnel records system, etc.) exist in the company?

To choose an LMS, this is the same important question as the selection by functionality. For example, if you use Oracle DBMS, and the system can work only with internal DBMS, then the choice is obvious. Or you need NTLM authorization, but the system does not support it. In fact, this is the choice of the system according to formal features, sometimes it is worth starting with it. Also, the answers to these questions will give you the opportunity to select a system on the part of the possibilities of integration with other systems that are already functioning in the company.

Here, perhaps, are three large blocks of questions that should be started when choosing an LMS. It is clear that the list of questions is much wider (the link below shows the criteria for choosing LMS), but having such a small list before your eyes, you can create a picture that will allow you to go to the system selection stage already with more detailed analysis (including budget and timeline). ).

References:

Selection criteria for LMS / LMS / LCMS
The open source LMS market in the US education sector (Michael Feldstein)
Download the catalog of developers and suppliers of distance learning systems