{"id":2263,"date":"2020-03-10T06:00:54","date_gmt":"2020-03-10T06:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ltgplc.wpengine.com\/?p=2263"},"modified":"2023-04-25T14:06:01","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T13:06:01","slug":"im-a-honda-guy-or-why-were-buying-another-lms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ltgplc.com\/news\/im-a-honda-guy-or-why-were-buying-another-lms\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m a Honda guy\u2026 or why we\u2019re buying another LMS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tim Martin, LTG\u2019s Chief Innovation & Product Officer, based in Nashville, TN., gives an in-depth explanation of why we\u2019re buying Open LMS.<\/em><\/p>\n

We really believe that there is no single LMS that serves all customers, and we want to have the right LMS for almost every customer. Open LMS<\/a> serves a very different buyer than does PeopleFluent Learning, and we want to serve both.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve driven seven cars in my life. The third one came from {some other brand} and told me that henceforth I would drive Hondas. And there\u2019s a reason for this. Hondas suit my sensibilities, my values. In the automotive domain, those sensibilities might include luxury, performance, value for money, or even attitude. In my case, there\u2019s a fit and finish to Honda that I like, and I\u2019ve come to view the touches Honda values as luxury. Yes, I am aware there are fancier cars that exist, but they don\u2019t feel more valuable to me, and that means that I buy Hondas.<\/p>\n

It turns out, Learning Management Systems<\/a> are a little like cars. There is no way to build one LMS that suits every organization\u2019s needs. And this is one of the reasons there are so many LMSs in the market. When I worked at Rustici Software, we regularly marveled at every new LMS that walked in our door seeking help with SCORM. LMSs can differentiate in so many different ways\u2026 I\u2019ll posit five here.<\/p>\n\"A

Each of these could be an article in its own right, so I\u2019ll do a quick version of one here to help it make sense for the rest of the discussion. Take the first\u2026<\/p>\n

Nobody really wants to be identified as single purpose these days. That end of the continuum is hard to buy from, so I\u2019ll start at Integratable Software. Cornerstone On Demand fits this bill when stacked up next to the \u201cSuite of Products\u201d representatives, Workday and SAP. When a company buys an LMS from Workday or SAP, they can reasonably expect that the integrations will be well-formed, tested and complete. The benefit to the customer comes from that integration, but they are likely to give up a particular fit with their business or needs. Cornerstone, on the other hand, has to compete on its individual merits. It may have more functionality and a better ability to fit its software to the needs of its learning or talent customers than a full suite does. This is to say\u2026 the ends of any one continuum are not bad and good\u2026 they are fit for the needs of a given organization.<\/p>\n

Consider the second continuum. It is largely impossible for an LMS to be both profoundly deep in functionality and profoundly simple to consume as a learner. Yes, every system wants to be both deep and simple, but those concepts conflict. LTG currently offers solutions that span this continuum elegantly. PeopleFluent Learning<\/a> is incredibly deep, offering sophisticated learning path and assignment options in addition to intricate extended enterprise capability. Bridge Advanced Video (the Learning Experience Platform we offer)<\/a>\u00a0is focused squarely on the learners\u2019 experience, both in delivery of content and capturing it from the learners. It prioritizes something different than PeopleFluent Learning. In the most extreme, there are LMSs that attempt to \u2018disappear\u2019: Some LMSs are even delivering content directly in the context of Salesforce or Slack (systems from other domains).<\/p>\n

And all of that is prologue for\u2026 why would LTG buy another LMS company?<\/h2>\n

LTG lacked options for customers on one end of an important continuum.<\/p>\n

The Open Source Software \u27a1\ufe0f Proprietary Software continuum is a binary one for many buyers. The reasons vary.<\/p>\n