Hello, all! We're looking to acquire an LCMS within the next year or so (not an LMS). If your company/organization uses an LCMS, which one? What do you like/not like about it?
This is an old thread, but I have the exact same question.
I'm looking for a LCMS that will allow me to ideally:
Update content in one place and have it auto-update in different areas (wiki, PPTs, Storyline modules)
Be searchable
On-premise solution (also called 'private cloud')
I realize this is a tall order. I would be happy to find a LCMS that would allow me to categorize, flag, add metadata and search files (Word files, PDFs, Storyline, PPTs) so that I can update these things when source material changes.
Right now the only alternative I can think of is to use a wiki program such as Confluence, and link necessary files to various Confluence pages. Then when an update is needed, I would change the content, re-publish and re-insert into a regular LMS.
Why is this needed? Large manufacturing company that moves quickly and needs to keep training material organized and current. Any help or thoughts would be GREATLY appreciated!!!
If you are quite sure of your needs, then I can tell you that we used Outstart for several years with on-site hosting. They are out of Boston and if I'm not mistaken now under the IBM umbrella of companies. Platform did what we asked of it for the most part and was stable.
Now just in case you have never been down the LCMS path before, I will share a few more thoughts.... please ignore if you have already worked with an LCMS and are sure it's the right direction. The "promise" of an LCMS sounds wonderful. It appears to be logical, efficient, and time-saving to create stand alone content pieces and have them brought together dynamically. The sad reality is that for MANY companies the promise is not realized....
An LCMS is not something you can do half-way. It's all or nothing. That means to realize the benefits you will need to create full-blown meta-data schemes, have meticulous documentation, and commit ongoing human resources exclusively to the governance of the content pieces and data schemes. It's quite a commitment. Entities like the US Navy make LCMS platforms work well. But in today's fast-moving business world they are often not the right choice.... even if they may appear to be on the surface.
What is often a better choice, even for large multi-nationals is a robust LMS that allows courses to be assembled from various lessons. Most companies today find that maintaining lessons (vs individual learning objects) offers the best of both worlds, so to speak. For example, instead of having to maintain and catalogue every picture, every text block, etc and worrying about if they are dynamically building correctly, you can maintain short lessons instead. Then reuse those lessons as needed.... with other new perishable content, stand alone, or in combination. Think of it like this... building a car one bolt, piece, etc at a time like Rolls Royce, or building it in perfected sub-systems like Mercedes Benz. Both are amazing.... .but one turns out many more cars, still maintains amazing quality, and does so for less money and more reliability.
In any case, good luck with your search and if you do go with an LCMS you may want to secure funding/support and resources in a multi-year commitment or you may find that you walk away from it as we did a few years down the road. Hope this helps!
Your last paragraph echoes precisely what I recommended to my organization in lieu of spending a lot of time and money towards a CLMS solution. Modular, organizing through great documentation, and nimble updating. That in itself takes a dedicated employee or two but probably more effective.
This touched on another issue, which is course development. With blended learning of documents to read, videos to watch and eLearning SCORM files to complete, what's the on-premise LMS of choice? Leaning towards JoomlaLMS at the moment. It looks to fit the bill.
3 Replies
This is an old thread, but I have the exact same question.
I'm looking for a LCMS that will allow me to ideally:
I realize this is a tall order. I would be happy to find a LCMS that would allow me to categorize, flag, add metadata and search files (Word files, PDFs, Storyline, PPTs) so that I can update these things when source material changes.
Right now the only alternative I can think of is to use a wiki program such as Confluence, and link necessary files to various Confluence pages. Then when an update is needed, I would change the content, re-publish and re-insert into a regular LMS.
Why is this needed? Large manufacturing company that moves quickly and needs to keep training material organized and current. Any help or thoughts would be GREATLY appreciated!!!
Hi Jen and Brent,
If you are quite sure of your needs, then I can tell you that we used Outstart for several years with on-site hosting. They are out of Boston and if I'm not mistaken now under the IBM umbrella of companies. Platform did what we asked of it for the most part and was stable.
Now just in case you have never been down the LCMS path before, I will share a few more thoughts.... please ignore if you have already worked with an LCMS and are sure it's the right direction. The "promise" of an LCMS sounds wonderful. It appears to be logical, efficient, and time-saving to create stand alone content pieces and have them brought together dynamically. The sad reality is that for MANY companies the promise is not realized....
An LCMS is not something you can do half-way. It's all or nothing. That means to realize the benefits you will need to create full-blown meta-data schemes, have meticulous documentation, and commit ongoing human resources exclusively to the governance of the content pieces and data schemes. It's quite a commitment. Entities like the US Navy make LCMS platforms work well. But in today's fast-moving business world they are often not the right choice.... even if they may appear to be on the surface.
What is often a better choice, even for large multi-nationals is a robust LMS that allows courses to be assembled from various lessons. Most companies today find that maintaining lessons (vs individual learning objects) offers the best of both worlds, so to speak. For example, instead of having to maintain and catalogue every picture, every text block, etc and worrying about if they are dynamically building correctly, you can maintain short lessons instead. Then reuse those lessons as needed.... with other new perishable content, stand alone, or in combination. Think of it like this... building a car one bolt, piece, etc at a time like Rolls Royce, or building it in perfected sub-systems like Mercedes Benz. Both are amazing.... .but one turns out many more cars, still maintains amazing quality, and does so for less money and more reliability.
In any case, good luck with your search and if you do go with an LCMS you may want to secure funding/support and resources in a multi-year commitment or you may find that you walk away from it as we did a few years down the road. Hope this helps!
Wow, thanks Bob... and great answer!
Your last paragraph echoes precisely what I recommended to my organization in lieu of spending a lot of time and money towards a CLMS solution. Modular, organizing through great documentation, and nimble updating. That in itself takes a dedicated employee or two but probably more effective.
This touched on another issue, which is course development. With blended learning of documents to read, videos to watch and eLearning SCORM files to complete, what's the on-premise LMS of choice? Leaning towards JoomlaLMS at the moment. It looks to fit the bill.
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