Finding the right learning management system can be tough for any organization, but it’s particularly difficult for trade associations and professional societies. The vast majority of LMSes simply are not made to meet their specific requirements. We’ve done the work to help you find the ones that are.
In Association Learning Management Systems, we provide detailed information on 20 LMS systems with a track record in the association sector. We’ve gathered all of the learning management system features and functionality data and we’ve charted key comparisons. As a result, this report enables you to:
- save a tremendous amount of time and money in gathering LMS product data and narrowing your choices;
- run a more efficient and effective learning management system RFP process;
- increase speed to market and reduce overall risk for your e-learning program;
- get an experienced, independent perspective – we do not accept any fees or commissions for the sale of any LMS product, nor do we charge vendors to participate in the report.
- and make the right technology choice for your organization.
Why a Special Report for Associations?
If you have already been shopping for LMSes, you may have noticed that it’s hard to find information about and compare LMS systems that work well for associations.
Unlike most corporations that use an LMS to manage internal employee training, associations need an LMS that:
- Supports the sale of e-learning products
- Can manage continuing education credit
- Integrates with a membership management system
- Can be branded to match the organization’s existing Web presence
Of course, the system also needs to be easy to use and offer all of the standard features that organizations expect in an LMS, like the ability to present a course catalog, enroll learners, and track and report on learner performance.
The Association Learning Management Systems report from Tagoras was instrumental in helping my association select our LMS vendor, with whom we now have a very successful partnership. By using the report we were able to whittle down the list of potential vendors from many to a select few, based on the apples-to-apples comparison of key features and benefits the report provided. It was especially helpful that the report focuses on key attributes that associations need from their learning management systems, which differ from other entities.
Emily Saving
Director of Education & Research Foundation
Heating, Airconditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI)
www.hardinet.org
Time to spend lots of money?
You could allocate a big chunk of staff time to researching the wide range of options in the learning management systems market. Or pay a consultant to do the work for you. Or use either option to run a time-consuming and costly learning management system RFP process.
Whichever path you choose, it won’t be cheap. There are well over a hundred different systems to choose from. Most LMS providers are not a good fit for the association market, but few actually provide the right information in their marketing materials to help you filter them out. Unfortunately, making the wrong decision can be expensive both in the near-term and over the long haul.
A Better Option
If you would like to dramatically reduce the time and costs associated with choosing the right learning management system, the Tagoras Association Learning Management Systems report is just what you need.
We’ve narrowed the field of LMS providers down to a small group dedicated to serving associations and experienced in meeting association needs. We asked the providers to respond to an extensive, highly detailed questionnaire and provide a demonstration of their system. The final report includes:
- An overview of LMS usage in the association sector
- An extensive set of guiding questions for LMS selection
- 30 tables that compare LMS systems across a variety of areas
- In-depth vendor profiles based on 243 questions covering 28 different areas
- Brief reviews of each system based on answers to the questions and a demonstration session with each vendor
Companies included in the report are:
- Avilar (www.avilar.com)
- Blackboard (www.blackboard.com)
- BlueVolt (www.bluevolt.com)
- CommPartners (www.commpartners.com)
- Digital Ignite (www.digitalignite.com
- Digitec Interactive (www.digitecinteractive.com)
- DLC Solutions (www.dlc-solutions.com)
- Educadium (www.educadium.com)
- iCohere (www.icohere.com)
- InReach (www.inreachce.com)
- Interactyx (www.interactyx.com)
- Latitude Learning (www.latitudelearning.com)
- LearnSomething (www.learnsomething.com)
- Meridian KSI (www.meridianksi.com)
- Neovation (www.smarteru.com)
- Peach New Media (www.peachnewmedia.com)
- Starfield Talent Management Systems (www.starfieldtms.com)
- Thinking Cap (www.thinkingcap.com)
- WBT Systems (www.wbtsystems.com)
- Web Courseworks (www.webcourseworks.com)
The report costs $175 for a single digital copy that may be shared with up to five employees within your organization. That’s about the cost of a single hour of a qualified technology consultant’s time. Considering that the average year-one costs for an LMS implementation run from $26K up to nearly $200K, this represents a very modest investment in doing the proper due diligence. And it also represents a small fraction of what it would cost to compile and analyze equivalent data on your own.
What the Report Covers
To view the table of contents and also access summary information on LMS usage in the association sector, you can download a free excerpt from the report. The major areas included in our questions to vendors include:
- General Company Information
- General LMS Information
- LMS Implementation
- Pricing
- Technology
- System Requirements
- Integration and Interoperability
- Standards and Guidelines
- Hosting
- Personalization
- Interface Configuration
- Internationalization and Localization
- Search and Catalogs
- Authoring, Managing, and Displaying Learning Content
- In-person, Place-based Courses
- Webinars
- Registration
- Enrollment
- Managing Continuing Education and Certification
- Assessments
- Evaluations
- Reporting
- Support for Multiple Sites
- Collaboration and Communication Tools
- E-commerce
- Support and Training
- Custom Programming and Content Development
The report provides you with all of the answers submitted by vendors as well as an overview of each vendors based on our review of the answers and a demonstration of each system. Additionally, we supplement the report data with an overview of LMS usage in the association sector and practical guidance on what to consider when selecting a learning management system. If you have questions about what we asked in any of the areas above, please do not hesitate to contact us.
As a professio
nal association serving more than 15,000 members, we were ever mindful of the finite resources and limited staff we could devote to selecting and implementing our first LMS. We found the Association Learning Management Systems report to be a worthwhile investment that served as an invaluable resource throughout the process. Not only did it help us to establish our use cases and business requirements, but it also provided comprehensive, association-specific information that allowed us to narrow our list of potential vendors and perform an apples-to-apples comparison of products tailored to our unique industry.
Wes Harmon
Learning and Professional Development Services Coordinator
College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR)
www.cupahr.org
What Do We Know About LMSes?
The report’s authors, Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele, have each been in the e-learning industry for more than a decade and have spent the majority of that time working on association e-learning initiatives. They have designed, built, and implemented learning management systems in the past, and are deeply familiar with the challenges associations typically face. Both Jeff and Celisa speak and write frequently on e-learning in the association sector and are often quoted on e-learning topics in association-related publications such as the American Society of Association Executives’ Associations Now magazine.
The Bottom Line
Purchasing a learning management system can be a very smart move for a number of reasons, but even a simple, low-cost system requires a relatively significant investment over time. And if you make the wrong decision, you may end up spending many multiples of what you originally intended. If you are serious about implementing the right LMS for your association, there is no better starting point – or better value – than this report. Again, the report costs $175 for a single digital copy that may be shared with up to five employees within your organization. That’s about the cost of a single hour of a qualified technology consultant.
If you encounter any problems or have any questions during the payment process, please contact us.
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