LMS Migration: How To Efficiently Migrate Your LMS

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Migrating from one Studying Administration System (LMS) to a different is a frightening process, particularly for bigger organizations with in depth content material libraries and well-established processes. The considered disrupting ongoing studying packages, transferring massive volumes of information, and retraining workers on a brand new platform could make even essentially the most forward-thinking groups hesitate.

However simply as there are drawbacks, there are very actual rewards. Staying with an outdated or insufficient system can restrict your group’s capability to develop and innovate. And should you’re studying this, you already know that your current LMS is not getting the job accomplished.

With the correct strategy, LMS migration would not must be overwhelming. On this article, we define 9 sensible tricks to simplify the method, reduce disruption, and set your group up for long-term success.

Whether or not you are upgrading to fulfill trendy studying wants or consolidating platforms to streamline operations, these methods will assist you to navigate the transition with confidence.

Why Migrate To A New LMS?

There are a number of the explanation why a corporation would possibly wish to migrate from its legacy LMS to a different:

1. The present system or platform shouldn’t be producing sufficient engagement amongst learners.
2. You are missing the correct performance. This usually consists of the power to localize content material for worldwide groups, contain Topic Matter Specialists (SMEs) simply, and create programs quicker with the assistance of AI. All of those are crucial as you develop.
3. The LMS lacks integration with different instruments—your HRIS or CRM, for instance.
4. The Return On Funding from the training platform is not paying off.

Regardless of the cause, migrating an LMS entails some main challenges. It’s worthwhile to switch numerous helpful information shortly and effectively, with out overly disrupting present person exercise.

And you then want the smoothest potential onboarding to the brand new platform to get everybody up and operating simply.

It is inconceivable to embark on a migration with out preparation. That is the place a correct migration plan is useful—and that is what this text will assist you to put together.

The Important Steps For Easy LMS Migration

Here is a easy and efficient 9-step migration guidelines for a easy transition to a brand new Studying Administration System.

1. Align L&D With Your Firm’s Strategic Imaginative and prescient

Migrating to a brand new LMS is a strategic transfer that must be completely aligned together with your firm’s long-term plan. It is also the right time to evaluate your Studying and Improvement roadmap. You are about to rebuild your studying surroundings round new instruments, so reinforcing your technique now helps set you up for achievement.

Evaluate your organization’s 5-year strategic plan and be sure that it’s correctly mirrored in your expertise administration technique. Ask your self: how can coaching help this ambition?

At present, essentially the most profitable L&D packages tie on to core firm targets. In case your coaching and studying initiatives assist the enterprise progress in direction of its largest objectives, your impression turns into evident to everybody.

In brief, rigorous strategic alignment from the outset is the important thing to a very helpful LMS migration in the long run.

2. Assess Your Migration Wants And Targets

Other than strategic targets, take time to correctly assess your migration wants. This step is essential for selecting your LMS supplier and making ready for the following steps.

Contemplate your wants when it comes to:

• LMS options and performance. What’s your present LMS missing {that a} new system ought to present? For giant corporations, this might embrace detailed efficiency reporting or superior admin roles for the training help crew.
• Studying expertise. What sort of person expertise would you like? Most learners profit from social studying options (reminiscent of dialogue boards) and gamification (reminiscent of quizzes or multiple-choice questions). We’re agency believers in a collaborative studying strategy, so the correct LMS will emphasize this.
• Integrations with different instruments you utilize. Affirm compatibility together with your CRM, HRIS, ERP, or coaching content material creation instruments that you simply use alongside it.
• Compliance with requirements in your sector, reminiscent of SCORM or compliance guidelines linked to the safety of shared information.
• Timing. When do you want your new LMS up and operating? How a lot downtime from eLearning companies are you able to settle for? Relying on the reply to those questions, your LMS migration might occur or in phases.
• Prices. What funds are you able to deploy on your new LMS?

Crucially, get settlement and sign-off from key stakeholders on these wants and the funds earlier than going too far into migration.

3. Choose Your New LMS Platform

This step is easy, however not at all times simple. You need the correct LMS platform that matches your corporation and learners. So attempt to line up the priorities you recognized above together with your subsequent studying platform.

One technical situation to think about at this level is LMS information migration. It’s essential to have the ability to deliver all your current coaching information and historical past with you to the brand new service. This situation impacts each the brand new LMS and your current platform.

To begin, take a look at the content material migration companies supplied by your present LMS, and the way they adapt to totally different platforms:

• Does it allow you to robotically export your studying content material with out modifying it?
• What in regards to the information linked to using the platform (engagement fee, completion fee, historical past of programs taken by workers)?
• If that’s the case, in what codecs?

If the reply to the primary query is not any, you’ll need to consider allocating time to manually transferring information from one software program package deal to a different. Which is, clearly, an enormous endeavor.

To make the correct alternative, ship a specification to totally different LMS distributors and examine the totally different options obtainable to you.

4. Outline The Roles Of Key Stakeholders

An LMS migration venture typically entails a number of gamers within the firm:

• A coaching supervisor, answerable for the academic technique.
• A devoted venture supervisor, who screens the varied phases and allocates duties to every particular person.
• IT specialists, who will deploy and combine the LMS into your tech stack. Given the potential for added points and complexity, contain your IT crew early within the planning part.
• Studying content material creators, who will migrate after which create the content material from scratch.
• Crew leads and/or line managers of some key roles, to verify the person expertise and assist get their groups excited. An apparent instance may very well be managers of junior gross sales groups, the place the necessity for coaching is excessive, and the amount in fact content material might be too.

Make clear everybody’s roles and duties at every stage of the migration, to restrict platform downtime and potential errors. Forming an actual crew is the important thing to a easy migration.

5. Talk Internally About The Adjustments

Migrating from one LMS platform to a different is akin to a company change administration technique—particularly if customers have been accustomed to and connected to their previous software program. Therefore the necessity to talk clearly with learners and managers in regards to the impression of migrating your LMS.

Listed below are a couple of inquiries to reply:

• Why have you ever launched this migration? What advantages will crew members get from it?
• How lengthy will the migration take?
• What impression will it have when it comes to entry to the platform, course of modifications, entry to coaching historical past, and extra?

The very best communication channels might be these you already use most steadily: all-hands or “city corridor” conferences, your HR publication, intranet, or company communication instruments like Slack or Groups.

6. Migrate Your Current Information And Content material

Apart from selecting the proper enterprise LMS, information migration is essentially the most crucial a part of the LMS implementation course of.

To succeed, begin by categorizing your information into totally different typologies:

• Consumer information (linked to the profiles of the varied learners)
• Information linked to the programs themselves (uptake throughout the group, for instance)
• Analytical information (utilization historical past, engagement, and different metrics measured in your previous LMS)
• Certifications

Then there are 4 essential steps to observe.

First, again up present information to a separate server out of your LMS. This may allow you to retrieve it intact if one thing goes unsuitable.

Second, extract the information out of your present LMS. Many LMSs supply automated export choices, however you continue to have to verify that every one the information you want is contained on this export.

Then, remodel this information in order that it matches effectively together with your new platform. That is the time to scrub out your coaching and analytical information that you could be not want. It could be obligatory at this stage to alter course codecs—for instance, by reworking PowerPoint shows into movies or extra participating eLearning modules.

At this stage, you’ll most likely have SCORM recordsdata emigrate to your new LMS. (SCORM is a set of technical requirements used to create eLearning programs). Keep in mind to obtain any media you will have (paperwork, movies, and so on.) in case your present LMS gives this.

Some uncommon instruments in the marketplace supply SCORM reversibility for content material created of their authoring software. That is the case with 360Learning.

Lastly, you may import your up to date information into your new LMS.

7. Check And Validate The LMS Migration

Now that your information has been migrated, return over the checklist of exported information and verify that every part is current in your new LMS. If this isn’t the case, you’ll need to manually export lacking information out of your backup.

Subsequent, perform a check on a couple of totally different person profiles, and verify that every part is working correctly. Have these assessments carried out by a number of individuals within the firm: the venture supervisor, the course content material creators, the IT managers, and even check teams of volunteer learners.

Ensure you may use all of the options of your new LMS platform to switch your content material, person profiles and reporting.

As soon as these assessments are full, you may formally swap from one platform to the opposite.

8. Prepare Your Customers On Your New Platform

To reap all the advantages of your LMS, make it possible for your learners know the way it works and may use it optimally.

To do that:

• Arrange demos, guided by coaching managers.
• Put together tutorial movies to show them how to connect with the coaching platform, use it and get essentially the most out of it.
• Create a devoted communication channel the place customers can ask any questions they could have.

Additionally think about coaching content material for back-office customers. Those that are concerned within the content material creation course of, or who must do the efficiency reporting, additionally have to grasp the brand new platform correctly.

9. Measure Publish-Migration Efficiency And Outcomes

Final however not least, verify that your new LMS platform is effectively suited to your wants and people of your learners.

To do that, monitor key metrics regarding:

• Platform use. Variety of connections, use of a selected function, and extra.
• Worker engagement. Completion charges for the varied modules, and engagement charges for social studying options (reminiscent of boards or feedback).
• Studying outcomes. Worker success within the varied quizzes or certifications obtained by way of your LMS. And if potential, broader progress in direction of key firm targets—reminiscent of worker retention or dimension of offers closed.
• Accumulate qualitative suggestions from learners. Distribute questionnaires (nameless if obligatory) to learn how they’re getting on with the brand new platform.

These outcomes allow you to frequently regulate and enhance your new LMS.

Case Examine: Mangopay’s LMS Migration Course of

International fintech Mangopay has greater than 500 workers throughout a number of geographies. The crew had loved utilizing Looop as their software of alternative for compliance coaching and onboarding, however wanted extra help in upskilling and reskilling workers. So Mangopay’s studying consultants selected emigrate to 360Learning.

Lengthy story quick: the migration was an enormous success. Rapid outcomes included a 99% relevance rating for coaching programs, and a extra engaged workforce that may simply adapt to altering enterprise priorities.

Mangopay created customized studying teams for every division, assigned authors and group admins, and created a course of to share inside studying wants.

These new teams and roles gave managers the visibility they wanted over their groups’ studying whereas holding L&D leaders in management.

Total, there’s now a greater construction and clear tradition of collaborative studying at Mangopay.

Keys To This Profitable Migration

On high of the 9 steps shared above, there are a couple of nice classes to be taught from Mangopay’s LMS migration.

1. Open communication. In the course of the migration course of, 360Learning and Mangopay had common check-in conferences to maintain the venture on monitor and guarantee either side understood their duties.
2. An inside migration crew. Mangopay’s L&D crew created a migration group on 360Learning. Utilizing the web discussion board, this group had real-time discussions across the content material migration and launch initiatives.
3. A revised L&D technique. Mangopay used the migration to 360Learning as a chance to evaluate and revamp their total L&D technique. Whereas a migration is a large venture, it is also the right time to evaluate your present initiatives and make good modifications the place acceptable.

Learn Mangopay’s migration story in full.

Prepared To Migrate To A New LMS?

Switching such a core firm software will at all times really feel like a big, and doubtlessly overwhelming, problem. But when accomplished for the correct causes, the rewards could be enormous.

As you put together to take this large step, revisit the steps and recommendation above to make sure issues go easily. A very good venture plan is vital, and nearly as essential as choosing the proper platform emigrate to.

In case you’re on the lookout for a high-performance, collaborative digital coaching platform, 360Learning’s LMS answer is designed to enhance learner engagement and make educating simpler. What’s extra, the migration course of is easy and simple, together with a mass import perform for all of your content material (together with SCORM).

Making the swap to 360Learning is easy and painless, and our crew is right here that will help you each step of the best way.

Request a demo now to take your digital studying to the following stage.

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