Having a corporate LMS (Learning Management System) may seem like a tempting idea, but at the same time quite complex.
A fact that many entrepreneurs are unaware of, is that the technology to have a teaching platform personalized already exists, is easily accessible, complete and requires low investment cost.
Functions and benefits of an LMS for your company
An LMS is a software that allows hosting of content and offers several features related to teaching and learning.
Its main function is to host teaching material, guarantee its security and access only for authorized persons, and provide resources of a true virtual classroom.
A good LMS is developed to offer all this and more, because the more complete it is, the better it will perform as a learning tool.
For use within a company, where it will serve to train employees, the LMS must have the following features:
Customizable platform
To maintain the corporate identity, the interface of your LMS system must be customizable, allowing you to insert logo, colors, images and all the visual elements that represent your company. In addition, it should enable the creation of distance learning courses that may change and be improved over time.
Ease of use
The tools for creating online courses must be simple to understand and use, allowing all managers to create courses and online training intuitively. The same requirements apply in the learning process. The student should have the same facility to use the platform.
– Benefits of Corporate Training for Companies
Learning objects
The software must support the use of different resources, such as texts, images, videos, audios, among others, that can be used to attract attention and facilitate the understanding of the content by the employee / student.
Processing power
LMS must be able to support the continued use of audiovisual content, hyperlinks, pictures, animations, graphics and other multimedia elements that require high processing power, storage, memory, and infrastructure / network speed.
Access on mobile devices
This function allows students to access the learning platform from anywhere through mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. Such functionality enables learning at any time and place, a great advantage of distance learning.
Communication resources
A good LMS platform offers communication resources such as chats, emails, phones, forums, integration with Skype and other technologies. Thus, it is easier for students to consult their instructors in case of doubts and for them to monitor their learning and evolution.
Assessment tools
Fundamental to any teaching method, the eLearning platform must have assessment resources. This process can be done not only through tests, but also through satisfaction surveys, quizzes and other parameters of the courses.
– 4 tips for preparing a satisfaction survey for online courses
What’s better: hiring a ready LMS or developing your own?
The distance education market in the world has taken a leap in recent months due to the covid-19 pandemic, which made it impossible for classroom education.
Many educational institutions have been forced to improve their teaching methods and seek new technologies to continue the education of their students.
– How online education can support school education
Other than that, professionals from different areas joined online education in search of new opportunities to generate income and work from home.
Whether selling online courses or training employees, the advantages of investing in distance learning have never been clearer.
However, when it comes to creating an online course, most people think about lesson planning and production methods, but are slow to realize that an elearning platform to host the content is needed.
– What is an eLearning platform
This is where the first big question arises: invest time and money to develop an exclusive LMS for your company, or outsource this service, using a ready-made teaching platform?
To answer this question, let’s understand a little more about the advantages and disadvantages of each option.
Advantages and disadvantages of developing an LMS
The idea of having your own LMS platform can be very tempting and, many people who are starting in the distance education business, start looking for information on how to create their own platform.
But, the reality is that most of these people do not know how to make a correct survey regarding the advantages and disadvantages of developing and implementing their own distance learning platform.
This analysis is extremely important for the best possible investment to be made, always aiming to optimize results and maximize profits, but without compromising the quality of online courses and corporate training.
One of the great advantages of producing your own LMS is the possibility to customize it the way you prefer.
Another differential is to present your product on a platform shaped to specifically meet the needs of your business. That is, the software will be developed to provide all the functionality you have in mind.
Therefore, as main advantages, we can mention:
- Total customization of the platform according to what you want;
- Your business will have an exclusive online teaching platform.
On the contrary, one of the main disadvantages of producing a LMS concerns the high costs of software development and maintenance.
The investment required to produce the platform is high and maintenance, in addition to being costly, can be quite a headache.
You will need to invest monthly in renting servers, which are usually expensive, and to maintain an IT team to solve problems that usually happen in this type of product.
In addition, if you want to start your online course today, this is certainly not your option. Developing a complex system like an LMS, with all the necessary features and functionality, can take many months.
It is important also to remember that the model developed has not yet been tested on the market, that is, it is possible that flaws appear that may take time to be repaired, which interferes both in the functioning of your business and in the satisfaction of its users.
In this way, we can list the following disadvantages:
- High platform development costs;
- High software maintenance costs;
- Long development period;
- Model never tested on the market.
To obtain a more concrete budget, do research on what costs you will have to start the project and maintain it.
Advantages and disadvantages of hiring an LMS
A LMS in the SaaS modality is considered today the best alternative for those who do not have many resources to develop their own system or need greater agility in the market.
– 7 frequently asked questions about SaaS
One of the biggest benefits and advantages of using a platform in the SaaS model is the low investment cost.
All the high costs mentioned above, such as development, hosting and maintenance, do not exist, since they are borne by the company responsible for the service.
Another advantage is that most SaaS platforms offer the possibility to fully customize your virtual environment, allowing you to maintain your business identity.
The layout and other functions are also easily configured, requiring no IT knowledge to perform such tasks, since it is all very intuitive and easy to use.
In addition, a third-party elearning platform already has a model that has been tested and approved by other institutions, so the probability that your students will not adapt is very small.
Thus, the advantages of outsourcing the hosting of your online course are:
- No investment in infrastructure, maintenance and updates;
- Teaching model tested and approved;
- Time and money savings with system developers;
- Ease of configuration of functions and layout;
- Specialized technical support.
As disadvantages of using a LMS platform in the SaaS model, we can mention the restriction to the source code and the inability to include a new functionality without first consulting the server provider.
A distance learning platform that works on the SaaS model, is a software like Coursify.me, with functions and resources for creating and selling online courses, in which you pay a monthly fee to enjoy all its features and can charge payment of your students.
– Learn how to sell courses online
This monthly fee usually varies according to your needs and your course objectives.
At Coursify.me, for example, we have three plan options: Starter, Pro and Business.
The values vary with the advanced resources that each plan has, but, to give you an idea, the Starter plan is free.
Complete eLearning platform, Coursify.me is the ideal solution for those who want to create, sell and advertise courses on the internet.
Serving companies and professionals in more than 60 countries, the platform is a dynamic and customizable Learning Management System.
– Whats is a Learning Management System
To know more, visit our website, test the platform and start creating online courses right now.