How to Choose an LMS Vendor: Five Steps Plus One

I’ve had the extreme pleasure over the last two months to participate in several BrandonHall webinars. It’s a neat way for me to connect with companies all over the globe, and for the prospect watching on the other end, I believe the content to be very helpful in their quest to choose the correct fit for their company’s needs. The two most recent topics were: How to Choose an LMS for an SMB; and How to Replace Your Existing LMS. Although the drivers for reaching a decision are different, I don’t believe the process in getting there has to be.

BrandonHall (and other analyst firms out there) really pushes a Five-Phased approach for navigating through myriad vendors in our space, and I agree with most of their suggestions. I’ve listed the steps below and included some comments on each. I hope it helps any prospect currently experiencing the “What do I do now” effects of being tasked with choosing an LMS vendor.

Phase 1: Create a Short List of Vendors

I totally agree with this first step. There are over 130 LMS providers currently in the elearning industry, and clearly, there is no way a prospect can review each option in detail. Instead, I suggest using a tool, like BrandonHall’s LMS KnowledgeBase, to distill down a short list (maybe 10 initial providers). KB is basically a form you complete with check boxes and drop-down options, and after filling out the fields, their software will generate a list of vendors who meet your criteria. I’m not sure of the costs for using the portal, but I can tell you it is probably worth every penny. To make an analogy, think of buying a car. There are thousands of options out there, and you wouldn’t judge their ability to meet your criteria by going to the Ford or Toyota websites. All you will find there is marketing gibberish. No, you would go to Consumer Reports or Kelly Blue Book, and what you would read there is analysis done by researchers whose job is to write reviews on the exact car you are looking to purchase. Take the same approach with your LMS decision.

Phase 2: Develop a Set of Use Cases

Oh how I love thee! I cannot tell you how many times we have gotten calls from prospects that don’t even know why they are talking with us. Literally, we had a young lady call the other day wanting to learn about our Rollbook LMS application. When we asked why she needed an LMS, she had absolutely no idea. I know that may sound crazy, but we get these calls every week. If you don’t know why you need it, how in the world can you justify spending the money! So, create a list of use cases, involve as many departments in the company as possible, and use the list as your roadmap for driving the decision.

Phase 3: Set Up Scripted Demos

Another awesome idea! Folks call and talk to our sales staff for five minutes to prequalify Intellum as an option (BrandonHall’s KB would have been a better bet, right!). Boom, the next step is to set up a demonstration, except that this demonstration has no value at all unless the prospect knows what they want the LMS to do. If you come into the demo with a list of features you’d like to see in action and know why you need these features, the demonstration will go much smoother, both for the prospect and the vendor. Further, outlining the scripted demos beforehand will allow you to hold each vendor accountable for how many steps it takes to accomplish the need. In a crowded LMS industry, almost every LMS accomplishes similar goals. The difference in vendors is HOW they accomplish it. I promise if you follow this phase the difference in vendors will highlight itself within the first five minutes of seeing the LMS in action.

Phase 4: Write an RFP

Okay, this is where it gets less awesome for me ☺ I understand the need to have a baseline of knowledge about each vendor you are reviewing, and I also realize the prospect is trying to get an apples-apples comparison of each. However, does an RFP really accomplish that goal? Not really in my opinion, and I’ve been doing this for over a decade. No, the RFP is the vendor’s chance to wow you with fancy marketing jargon, slick graphics, and kill three million trees while printing out seven copies of the 96 page RFP. If you feel the need to issue an RFP, my suggestion is to create your own RFP. Don’t go to an elearning consultant’s site and download a pre-made one. Their version will contain many things you don’t need and leave out aspects important to your decision. Understand, the person who created that RFP is trying to sell you their services. The document isn’t for you…it’s for them! Instead, write a simple document outlining your needs, requesting information on the vendor’s history, their technology, e.g. are they hosted or installed options, their pricing structure, and three references. Might take you a morning to write but it will be exactly what is needed.

Intellum’s Phase 4: Test.It.Out

If you really want to understand what a company offers in the way of technology, try it out. This is the most important aspect of your entire decision-making process. Don’t believe what you saw in the scripted demonstration, and definitely do not believe much of what you read in the RFP. Go take that sucker for a test drive, and make sure you can accomplish all of the scenarios yourself immediately after the vendor demonstration. Require that they provide a login to a sandbox account that is full-featured and has unlimited access. I have a client who just moved from another LMS application. They are a hospital, and the reason they moved…reports took 24 hours to generate. Tell that to the Joint Commission when they are standing at your doorway asking for a report on all nursing quarterly training done in 2010. Hospitals literally get shut down if they cannot generate this information on the spot. The other LMS's sales person conveniently forgot to mention this when “winning” their business. Do not take my or their word for it…find out for yourself, and if they can’t or won’t give you a sandbox account, off they go from the short-list.


Phase 5: Evaluate Proposals

This step is obvious, but I really do believe it should also be the most enjoyable. One step before finalizing the choice I would suggest though…make sure you contact their references. Another hole in the RFP strategy is that it is impossible to convey how we treat our clients. Were there any ‘gotchas’ during contract negotiations, any hidden fees that had not been discussed, does their support stink, did they meet stated implementation timelines….these are all virtually impossible to determine without speaking with references. As I wrote before, get three, and I like to set the prospect up with a client in their industry, a client with similar headcount, and a client that is local (so they can grab lunch to talk through in more detail). If you have followed the previous four phases, your choice of the best fit should be very clear. You know what you want, why you need it, how it works (first-hand), and how much it will cost. You are ready to drive off that lot with a shiny new car!