The market for Learning Management Systems is broad, with about 600 vendors worldwide. It makes the selection process quite an undertaking. A structured approach facilitates the implementation of an LMS enormously. The overall process can be divided into 3 main phases: Evaluation and Selection, Implementation and Operation and Governance. A thorough needs and requirement analysis guides the evaluation and underpins the final decision as the result of the first phase of the overall implementation process. The go-live preparation not only consists of the configuration and testing of the new system. During the actual implementation phase a number of critical aspects need to be defined, such as the creation of interfaces with existing systems, permission rights and program structures. The involvement of major stakeholders is as important as the communication about the progress within the company. The successful go-live marks the end of the second phase and the achievement of a major milestone, which is worthwhile celebrating. In the third phase structures and processes are defined, which are used on one hand, to ensure a close alignment with operational and strategic goals. They constitute the so-called governance system. On the other hand it is important to create rules and regulations that give all participants binding structures and processes in order to ensure long-term transparency, orderliness, and ease of use, and prevent the LMS turning into a "LM-Mess”. Together the two aspects form the cornerstone for learning excellence, sustainable success and ROI.

1. 1
Striving for Learning Excellence
LMS Implementation
at a global Automotive Supplier
©SchubertODConsultingMay2016

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The market for Learning Management Systems is broad, with about 600 vendors
worldwide. It makes the selection process quite an undertaking.
A structured approach facilitates the implementation of an LMS enormously.
The overall process can be divided into 3 main phases: Evaluation and Selection,
Implementation and Operation and Governance.
A thorough needs and requirement analysis guides the evaluation and underpins the final
decision as the result of the first phase of the overall implementation process.
The go-live preparation not only consists of the configuration and testing of the new
system. During the second, the actual implementation phase, a number of critical
aspects need to be defined, such as the creation of interfaces with existing systems,
permission rights and program structures.
The involvement of major stakeholders is as important as the communication about the
progress within the company. The successful go-live marks the end of the second phase
and the achievement of a major milestone, which is worthwhile celebrating.
In the third phase structures and processes are defined, which are used on one hand, to
ensure a close alignment with operational and strategic goals. They constitute the so-
called governance system.
On the other hand it is important to create rules and regulations that give all participants
binding structures and processes in order to ensure long-term transparency, orderliness,
and ease of use, and prevent the LMS turning into a "LM-Mess”.
Together the two aspects form the cornerstone for learning excellence, sustainable
success and ROI.

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LMS Implementation Process
The LMS implementation process consists of 3 main phases and
requires a significant amount of planning and attention to detail.
Evaluation and Selection
Implementation
Operation and Governance

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Evaluation and Selection Phase
Selecting an LMS requires 5 main steps. Different organization-specific
aspects need to be considered to reach a sound decision for an LMS
appropriate to business needs and requirements.
Evaluation and Selection
Needs
Analysis
Define
Requirements
Vet
Products
Evaluate
Products
Select
Finalist
Operational
Driver
Technical
Driver
Strategic
Driver
Needs
Analysis

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The drivers represent what the organization and different stakeholder groups
want to achieve with the LMS in years to come!
Current systems,
practices,
strategies and
their interrelationship
Needs
Analysis
Define
Requirements
Vet
Products
Evaluate
Products
Select
Finalist
Evaluation and Selection
Evaluation and Selection Phase
Operational
Driver
Technical
Driver
Strategic
Driver
Needs
Analysis

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Requirements address the specific needs of different stakeholders groups.
Define a list of distinctive ones that best match their needs.
Needs
Analysis
Define
Requirements
Vet
Products
Evaluate
Products
Select
Finalist
Functional
Requirements
Technical
Requirements
Cost
Requirements
Evaluation and Selection
Evaluation and Selection Phase

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Hundreds of LMS products available.
Distinctive requirements help to create a manageable shortlist.
• More than 600 LMS vendors worldwide.
• Create a shortlist (5-8 vendors) by identifying 8-10
distinctive requirements.
• First screenings to build up a better understanding about
functionality and look and feel of shortlisted LMS
Needs
Analysis
Define
Requirements
Vet
Products
Evaluate
Products
Select
Finalist
Evaluation and Selection
Evaluation and Selection Phase

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Evaluation works like a funnel. At the end finalists should be determined and
a sound understanding about their products established.
To pre-selected LMS vendors send out
RFI
(Request for Information)
focus on
• vendor capabilities, skills & experience
• client’s minimum &mandatory key requirements
• client’s process, time lines and decision points
helps
• vendors to eliminate themselves if unable to fulfill
requirements
• client to find right partner by establishing dialogue in
terms of Knowledge Sharing to go beyond WHAT
towards HOW
Determine 2-3 “finalists”
Needs
Analysis
Define
Requirements
Vet
Products
Evaluate
Products
Select
Finalist
Evaluation and Selection
Evaluation and Selection Phase

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Needs
Analysis
Define
Requirements
Vet
Products
Evaluate
Products
Select
Finalist
Evaluation and Selection
Evaluation and Selection Phase
 To “finalists” send out
RFP
(Request for Proposal)
Company requirements with projection up to 5 years
• learner audience (number, languages)
• data types and systems
 Vendor submits proposal
• detailed pricing models (fees for implementation, data
migration, licensing, hosting, maintenance, support,
systems integration, customization, professional services)
• Service Level Agreements
 Basis for Contract
Negotiate the best pricing and terms leads up to
the determination of the final product

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Implementation Phase
After selection and LMS and before Go Live 6 steps have to be passed
through, to avoid later unwanted surprises and unhappy users.
Planning Configuration Integration Migration Testing Go Live
Implementation
SCORM
“Cloud”
LMS
External
Content
SAP
CSV
LearnerAdmin
Company
Content
Portal
LMS
Project
Team

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Implementation Phase
Planning Configuration Integration Migration Testing Go Live
Implementation
Assemble your Team
• Core Team
• Extended Team
• Define Responsibilities & Cooperation
Planning
• Implementation Timeframe
• Data Management
• Data (Person / Organization)
• Data sources
• Data cleanup
• Communication Plan
• IT
• Admin Profiles
• User Access
• Computer
-> Learner without own PC
Assemble the project team and establish the project timeframe before diving into
detailed planning. Continually expand and refine the initial plan.

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Implementation Phase
Planning Configuration Integration Migration Testing Go Live
Implementation
LMS Configuration
• User Profiles / Portal
• Admin Profiles / Portal
• Course Catalogue Structure
• Curriculum Structure
• Notifications / Events / Workflows
• Training Evaluation
• Job Roles / Skills
• Reports
System configuration decisions have far reaching effects and are difficult to change
later on. They require a sound understanding of organizational data and
operations, system’s data fields, functionality, and capabilities.

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Implementation Phase
Planning Configuration Integration Migration Testing Go Live
Implementation
Systems Integration
• Interface with other systems
• Data Import (What / How)
(e.g. Data feeds for user
accounts and profiles)
• Data Export (What / How)
(e.g. Progress Data, Content)
• Browser
• Firewall
Systems Integration consists of the creation of interfaces and
mechanisms for recurring data feeds from existing systems and back.

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Implementation Phase
Planning Configuration Integration Migration Testing Go Live
Implementation
Course & Data Migration
• Training History
• Existing Training Material
• Relevance
• Up-to-dateness
• Formats
• Completeness
• External Online Courses
Course and data migration involves moving training history and course data
from the legacy to the new system, while checking data relevance and
consistency and avoiding data loss.

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Implementation Phase
Planning Configuration Integration Migration Testing Go Live
Implementation
Conduct user acceptance testing to ensure a bug-free and fully working
system and the anticipated availability of all configuration and data.
User Acceptance Testing
Define
• Test -Users
• Small Group Real User
Define test procedure list
• Workflows / Events
• Look and Feel
• User Friendliness
• Intuitiveness
• Accessibility
Define documentation, routine and
sequence for tests and bug fixes

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Implementation Phase
Planning Configuration Integration Migration Testing Go Live
Implementation
Go Live Preparation
• Helpdesk
• Lost Password
Ensure
Communication, Involvement,
Celebration
• All Learner Event
Prepare Go-Live by notifying all stakeholders, activating the
helpdesk and creating a memorable learner experience.
Analyze lessons learned with project team.
HELP Desk @"
Welcome to
YOUR LMS

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Operation and Governance Phase
Operation and Governance
Standards Taxonomy Configuration
Management
House
keeping
Governance
The daily operation challenge!
Avoidthe LMS becoming an L-M-MESS
Ensure that the LMS remains easy to use and operate for years to come.
Go Live is the beginning of a continuous LMS improvement process.
!! !! !! !! !! !! !!
aaa! aaaaaa! 1! a! a! A! a!
!!
Department)
Title-Ini/ als)
Level)
1!
2!
3!
Format)
b!
c!
e!
t!
v!
Country)
Region)
Language)
Policies
Procedures
Guidelines
Conventions

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Operation and Governance Phase
Operation and Governance
Standards Taxonomy Configuration
Management
House
keeping Governance
Standards ensure administrators and stakeholders use
LMS in a consistent and uniform way, which improves
usability and manageability.
Standards include:
• Policies e.g.
• Content inclusion policy
• Content ownership policy
• Content lifecycle policy
• Training info retention policy
• Procedures
• Guidelines
• Conventions
• Course properties and structure criteria
Clear roles & standards support the daily operation of the LMS.
• Local LMS Roles
• Global LMS Roles
Policies
Procedures
Guidelines
Conventions

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Operation and Governance Phase
Operation and Governance
Standards Taxonomy Configuration
Management
House
keeping Governance
Content can be organized in different ways.
The LMS contains
• a configurable catalogue, and
• a number of metadata tags associated with courses.
• Together these organizing data comprise the
taxonomy of the LMS content.
Metadata
• describes other data: e.g. topic, delivery format,
language.
• consists of a property (e.g. language), and a number
of values (English, Spanish, German)
• Typically, each course is assigned a single value for
each metadata property.
Stringent classification of the content simplifies searches within the LMS.
Description
Department
Title-Initials
Level
1 Basic
2 Intermediate
3 Advanced
Format
b Blended
c Classroom
e External-Online
t External-Training
v Virtual Class
Country
Region
Language
Dept Title-Initials Level Format Country Region Language
Format aaa aaaaaa 1 a a A a
Digits 3 6 1 1 1 1 1

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Operation and Governance Phase
Operation and Governance
Standards Taxonomy Configuration
Management
House
keeping Governance
LMS configuration documentation enables to plan and make
changes more easily, understand impact of the changes on
other settings, provides direction to vendor or IT department.
Documented LMS configuration should include
• Access and authentication,
• HR data feeds (csv personnel & org data)
• User account and profile settings
• Security roles and permissions
• Audience rules
• Catalog and metadata taxonomies
• Transcripts and certificates
• Notifications, and look-and-feel settings.
Configuration documentation and management enables consistency
throughout the LMS lifecycle.

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Operation and Governance Phase
Operation and Governance
Standards Taxonomy Configuration
Management
House
keeping Governance
Prevent
o outdated courses
o duplicate user accounts
o catalog dead ends
o lack of accountability or course
ownership
o Inconsistent course naming
o reporting anomalies
o unused features
o spam-like email notifications
o misalignment to goals and strategy
Good Housekeeping prevents the LMS from becoming a data cemetery.
Housekeeping = Clean up data on a regular basis
in order to keep data up to standards.
• Identify cleanup requirements and tasks, e.g.
• create inventory of data in need of clean up
• identify courses that need to be archived
• identify deactivate and duplicate user accounts
• List of configuration changes  determine
how data will be affected
• Define a recurring procedure (steps,
sequences, and dependencies,
responsibilities, frequency)

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Operation and Governance Phase
Operation and Governance
Standards Taxonomy Configuration
Management
House
keeping Governance
• Establish Content Approval Process
• Establish Governance
• Provides a structure for decision-
making
• Ensures representation of relevant
stakeholder groups
• Ensures alignment with Business
Goals
• Without adequate governance, it is
more difficult to establish and
enforce standards
A governance system helps to ensure alignment with business needs and goals.
Content
Approval
Form

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LMS - ROI
Better personalized and role specific training
Foster systematic and lifelong learning
Increase engagement and motivation through
training
Improved compliance with regulatory
requirements
Contribution to quality and productivity
Faster response and communication of
changes in products, processes, skills
Easy reporting on training
Flexible access to training resources
Reduced dependency on time and location
Simplified training administration
Consolidation of all training information into
one system
Your Return On Investment
Learning Excellence

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Sources
http://elearningindustry.com/top-lms-statistics-and-facts-for-2015
http://elearningindustry.com/elearning-statistics-and-facts-for-2015
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2014/08/28/the-red-hot-market-for-learning-technology-platforms
http://blog.capterra.com/top-15-elearning-statistics-2014/
http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/1181/five-steps-to-evaluate-and-select-an-lms-proven-practices
http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/1244/lms-operation-and-governance-taming-the-beast-part-3-of-4
http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/1214/the-six-proven-steps-for-successful-lms-implementation
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/automotive/publications/assets/pwc-global-automotive-supply-industry-2014-study.pdf
http://blogs.opentext.com/top-ten-trends-that-will-impact-automotive-supply-chains-in-2014/
https://www.rolandberger.com/media/pdf/Roland_Berger_Global_Automotive_Supplier_Study_20141209.pdf
http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/HumanCapital/gx-dup-global-human-capital-trends-2016.pdf
http://drivingworkforcechange.org/reports/supplychain.pdf
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