ten steps to successfully selecting a learning management system
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TOPIC:46 TEN STEPS TO SUCCESSFULLY SELECTING A LEARNING
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
A learning management system (LMS) is a software application or Web-based technology
used to plan, implement, and assess a specific learning process. It is also known as training
management systems and integrated learning solutions. It has now developed as full-scale enterprise
software. These have gained popularity because they can serve as the backbone of a company's learning
and e-learning strategy as it launches e-learning courses, resource management, tracking and even
more. LMS functionality has spearheaded its growth in the marketplace and with more than one
hundred LMSs selecting it is a huge and challenging decision.
LMSs are large, complex software programs that are changing rapidly and can cost a million dollars,therefore following steps should be taken into consideration for its effective and successful selection.
1. Determining Your LMS Business RequirementsRecognising the business need for LMS is the most important decision and should be made with
utmost care as it helps to develop the information needed to write a coherent Request for Proposals
(RFP). A right decision can maintain control of the process later.
Following questions must be answered:
What is the business need for the LMS?To know some business challenges that LMS can fix, may be to deploy learning enterprise-wide,
automating training administration processes, deploying learning resources and training programs
more quickly.
How to measure success?Develop metrics as it will help to determine the return on investment.
Potential Return on InvestmentTarget audienceDetermine which users or business group(s) would make for an ideal pilot.Project stakeholders and their requirements.Functional and non functional requirements.Technical requirements.Phases of LMS implementationSelection team
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2. Researching LMS VendorsReview functional and non-functional requirements and determine what high- level functionality
required like "Competency Management"
Organizing your researchCreating a simple LMS Product Screening Matrix. It will even determine the match between the
needs and vendors product.
Narrowing the fieldReview the results and remove unsuitable vendors from consideration now. The vendors that
have the most criteria checked off are those who should be bring in for demonstrations.
3. Conducting LMS Vendor DemonstrationsSchedule and bring the vendors in organization for product demonstrations.
Everyone involved in the selection process should attend the product demonstrations alongwith an IT partner.
Set expectations with the selection team and schedule product demonstrations.State functional andnon-functional requirements for clear understanding of needs.Finally conduct demonstration and look for (Interoperability, ERP, strategic
partnership, investment, etc.)
4. Narrowing Down Potential Vendors for ConsiderationThe best vendors should be taken in the consideration set. While considering them the
following points should be considered:
Vendors who meet the maximum of the functional and non functional requirements.Though no vendor can fulfil all the need but those who can fulfil maximum of them.
TECHNICAL FIT: May be the vendors in the consideration set do not technically fit but thevendors generally try to customise LMS to fit the environment but if this doesnt work then in such a case
selection should be done again.
ERP VENDOR: The ERP vendor should always be under consideration. If he doesntmeet the needs then he may either withdraw from the RFP process.
It is very important to build a positive relationship with the vendor foe effectiveworking.
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5. Conducting an LMS Needs AssessmentIt sets the broad parameters for the LMS project, even outlines the functional and technical
requirements for LMS and the implementation barriers one may face.
Assessment should be done before the RFP processSuch need assessments helps in validating business requirements, estimating costs,
determining internal vs. external hosting and even in increasing stakeholder involvement and
commitment.
6. Developing and Distributing the RFPIt has to be carefully developed to insure that all the information is received from the prospective
vendors. It focuses on the content of the RFP. Even if your organization already has a formal
RFP process, the information here ensures that to get quality responses.
RFP should definitely include the background information, proposal conditions, functional and non-
functional requirements, technology, value proposition, and investment.
7. Evaluating Proposals and Short-Listing Vendors
After the evaluation team is established, the project sponsor and other executiveultimately approve or veto their short-listed selection.
After its evaluation, the expected time and budget regarding the same are decided. Theevaluation criteria and weighting for each criterion are created as well.
Once the evaluation team determines its process and schedule, executive evaluators needto be informed. Also the executive evaluators review and revise the weightings given to
the evaluation criteria identified.
After distributing vendor proposals and score sheets to the selection team, an online copyof the score sheet for automatic scoring is also provided. This ensures that the vendor is
truly evaluated on their solution and not the cost of the solution.
After reviewing the proposals based on the agreed-upon schedule, the team memberssubmit their score sheets prior to a team meeting for the purpose ofsharing evaluations
and creating a short list. The scores are compiled to determine a ranking of vendors.
The Project Leader brings the teams recommendations to executive evaluators forapproval and vendors are notified to either inform whether they are selected or not.
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Finally, there may be more than one vendor for consideration. Having a final vendorpresentation provides you with the opportunity to - ask the vendor the questions they did
not respond to in their proposal or provide the vendor with a case study to respond to in
the presentation. Final compilation is done.
8. Conducting Final Vendor Presentations and Selecting a Vendor
After short listing vendors, the final presentations are conducted. The format of each vendor presentation should be customized to ensure that your issues
are appropriately addressed, also it enables you to get a better feel of the vendors culture
and you can get to know whether you can work with him or not.
After vendor reference checks are conducted, the final selection is made on the basis oftechnical fit, quality of proposals, investment required, ability of vendors to meet
implementation, quality of vendor resources and strategic alliances as well as the
chemistry.
9. Negotiating the LMS Licensing and Service Level Agreements
It takes three weeks to two months to effectively negotiate an LMS contract because is asignificant software investment that almost always requires some level of customization
and there will be intricacies that need to be ironed out in the contract.
Typically an LMS contract contains 25 to 35 pages. While negotiating a contract things like; functionality required, hosting agreements,
additional professional services ,handling of press release and industry announcements
and legal agreements ;should be incorporated.
10. Negotiating the LMS Contract and Getting Ready for Implementation
The implementation phase of LMS is as important as selecting LMS. For successful
implementation develop an apt project team, map business processes and develop marketing
strategies.
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CONCLUSION
An LMS is a comprehensive system that streamlines an organizations needs for both its
clients and its employee.
A successful Selection of learning management system is very important as it helps to plan,
implement, and assess a specific learning process. Taking the system on a real life test driving
with use cases is the best way to experience the system and discover that if the system is
going to work in the end and even how painful and costly the process is going to be to get
there. It is important to estimate the pros and cons of all aspects of LMS project so to know
the critical success factor for the project.
Selection is even important as:
it involves a huge investment, it can serve as the backbone of a company's learning and e-learning strategy as it launches e-
learning courses,
it helps in resource management, it can keep a track on progress, Monitor the effectiveness of the organization's education and training.
Thus all the above steps if executed properly can surely help on organization in
extending its success by selecting and implementing an EFFECTIVE LMS.
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TOPIC:18 ENABLING GLOBAL COLLABORATION WITH INTEL -
BASED INFRASTRUCTURE
OVERVIEW
The collaboration tool supported by Intel IT falls into two categories, firstly those improving
employees productivity and secondly for supporting formal team collaboration.
All these collaboration provides many benefits to Intel like enhanced employee productivity,
travel avoidance , increased agility, greater job satisfaction, support for business growth in
emerging market ,brain storm new ideas etc.
HISTORY
If we look into the history of Intel it can be known that earlier collaboration was inefficient
due to lack of devices and applications but now with the emerging tools collaboration is
actually helping Intel to grow its business in emerging markets. Collaboration is very useful
in enabling teams to have fast and low cost access to expertise, for free flow of information,
for around the clock concept. In short collaboration is reducing the cost of doing business by
extending Intels team. Thus Intel IT evaluates and deploys tools that improve collaboration
while helping to manage costs.
SOLUTION
For supporting both personal and team collaboration Intel uses different collaboration
tools. Personal productivity collaboration tools helps Intel to improve employees personal
productivity (applications like UM, IM, soft phones). On the other hand team collaboration
tools add a layer on personal collaboration to enable efficiency for groups (tools like audio
bridges, team data repositories etc.)
Collaboration applications often have infrastructure requirements thus choosing the right
infrastructure is must. Security is also another consideration thus Intel has been moving
from legacy phone system to voice over internet protocol (VoIP) model using Intel protocol
private branch exchanges (IP PBXs).
Intel recognizes that its employees use a spectrum of devices to perform their work thus it
requires seamless collaboration and data flow from one device to another. For this Intel
deploy mobile business PCs equipped with high speed processors. It was found that the
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ability to perform local computing on the client offers the best user experience and flexibility
to run different types of applications for real time collaboration. Success of PC boost
collaboration is one such example.
Intel has seen that employees have greater collaboration needs and freedom to choose devices
best suited for them especially in an environment of acceleration business cycles. With
extensive security review Intel provide employees with owned handheld devices (Jan 2010).
By the end of 2010 the result was overwhelmingly positive.
In 2010 Intel have upgraded their WLAN as a result there was increase in performance at
lower cost by reducing number of access points. They also upgraded WAN infrastructure in
order to handle their growing need of business capabilities.
Intels collaboration services are a major component of collaboration infrastructure. Up
to date service architecture enables them to meet demand and accommodate future growth.
Intel is trying to virtualized as many applications as possible but real time applications pose
as a challenge as they are time critical and thus sensitive to handle.
Collaboration tools like IM, UM, personal bridge lines, soft phones, and webcams enhance
personal productivity of the employees working in Intel. IM that is instant messaging and
informal online meetings helps employees to chat; they can locate any person wit necessary
information while sitting on their chairs and contact them. Its usage provides the evidence
that how well employees have embraced this technology. Unified messaging helps to
manage cost. UM enhances the productivity of employees as they can access all the required
data from a single software application on their computer. UM creates a more streamlined
environment for IT. Intels UM uses new processors and XML. Soft phone enables
employees to make call from their laptop to the destination network including Intels private
network. Soft phones sometimes eliminate the need for PCs and phones. Webcams helps
employees to hold virtual meetings. Webcams add a personal connection to informal
meetings and thus increasing the ability to chat.
Several technologies are also used to enhance team productivity such as
Videoconferencing, audio conferencing, shared information repositories and collaborative
websites.
Videoconferencing benefits Intel by reducing cost, avoids travelling, enhancing team spiritand trust and for global collaboration. Intel has an array of videoconferencing rooms where
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employees can schedule a conference directly from their email application. Intel has over 70
such rooms keeping in mind specific need for collaboration.
Due to sensitive nature of Intels business Intel employees have enthusiastically adopted this
new capability within the framework of the security guidelines such as using personal bridge
lines for internal meetings only. Audio conferencing helps to enhance their services.
Intel has developed Shared information repositories and collaborative web sites where
team members can store share the necessary information between themselves. Intel provides
separate services for internal and external teams as a point of security.
Webcams helps the team to attend remote meetings and to present information to colleagues
and external business partners.
Intel has implemented an enterprise wide social computing platform that combines
professional networking tools with social media and securely integrates with existing
enterprise. Intels goal is to transform collaboration across their enterprise by enhancing
productivity of employees.
Future plans
Intel still believes in focussing on collaboration. Their long term vision is unified
communication and collaboration, which is an evolving framework to unify all forms of
human collaborations and communications. With UCC Intel is expecting to deliver more
collaboration solutions.
INFRASTRUCTURE MODIFICATIONS USED ARE :
Devise independent mobilityIntels allows employees to choose the devise that bestfit their needs and work style
Remote pc management- by this service technicians PC can essentially collaborate withthe malfunctioning PC.
PERSONAL COLLABORATION ENHANCEMENT
Intel is planning to use virtual personal conference rooms , these rooms will resemble
physical meeting rooms and information can also be shared, Federated IM to enable
employee to send IM to everyone, Soft phones, tool integration, content awareness
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TEAM COLLABORATION ENHANCEMENT
Intel is planning to use videoconferencing expansion, electronic white boards, enterprise
video portal, and presence awareness.
OTHER COLLABORATION SERVICES
Services which Intel is planning to integrate are digital signs, employee learning entertaining
team, secure collaboration solutions.
CONCLUSION
In an environment of accelerating business cycles and geographically dispersed teams
collaboration is necessary. Collaboration offers many benefits. The collaboration tool
supported by Intel IT falls into two categories, firstly those improving employees
productivity and secondly for supporting formal team collaboration.
All these collaboration provides many benefits to Intel like enhanced employee productivity,
travel avoidance , increased agility, greater job satisfaction, support for business growth in
emerging market ,brain storm new ideas etc. . In short collaboration is reducing the cost of
doing business by extending Intels team. Thus Intel IT evaluates and deploys tools that
improve collaboration while helping to manage costs.
An Intel-based infrastructure, including PCs, WLAN, and enterprise servers, supports are
currency and future collaboration needs. Intel has upgraded their WLAN as a result there was
increase in performance at lower cost by reducing number of access points. They also
upgraded WAN infrastructure in order to handle their growing need of business capabilities.
The combination of advanced collaboration tools and this computing infrastructure enables
Intel employee to securely share data, brainstorm new ideas and work collaborate with
internal and external teams.
Intel still believes in focussing on collaboration. Their long term vision is unified
communication and collaboration, which is an evolving framework to unify all forms of
human collaborations and communications. With UCC Intel is expecting to deliver more
collaboration solutions.