Does your current LMS meet your requirements? If you’re expecting more from your learning platform, there’s a good chance you’re not the only one in your organization.
Although B2B software buyers surveyed in the 2024 G2 Buyer Behavior Report expect tech spending to increase in 2025, C-Suite execs demand more from their investments than before. As a result, they’re vetting potential purchases more strictly than ever, resulting in longer buying journeys. In addition, 57% of execs expect a positive ROI within three months of purchase.
It’s never been more important to show the value of your learning and development efforts. And to secure your budget, you need the right platform.
If you’re thinking about making the switch, read below for signs that your current LMS is falling short, the must-have features that will deliver long-term value, and steps to take for a smooth transition.
Signs It’s Time to Switch From Your Current LMS Provider
If you recognize any of these signs, it could be time to consider moving on.
1) Limited L&D Features and Functionalities
Businesses evolve and objectives change, and if your current platform lacks the features, scalability, and customization to keep up, it may no longer be suited to your training requirements.
If that’s the case, you’ll want a platform that can handle current and anticipated business needs without compromising speed, reliability, or performance.
Signs it’s time to switch include:
- Infrequent updates
- A lack of integration with systems and applications
- Inability to train customers and partners
- Limited support for learning profiles and learning paths
What to look for instead:
- Regular product updates and maintenance
- A roadmap for future growth
- Support for a variety of content types and learning scenarios
- Responsive courses
- The ability to train external learners, customers, and partners
- Support for increased user numbers
- Up-to-date skills insights and taxonomies
2) Poor Customer Support
Think of your LMS vendor as a partner in achieving your goals. The best providers will take the time to understand your needs and be available to offer support and recommendations to make the most out of the platform.
Signs it’s time to switch include:
- Slow response times
- A lack of training and support resources
- No dedicated point of contact during onboarding and implementation
- Additional cost for customer and technical support
What to look for instead:
- A vendor that’s quick to respond to your needs
- A dedicated point of contact
- A library of self-service resources for admins, authors, and employees
- Customer testimonials and industry awards that showcase customer service
- Customer and technical support available via multiple channels (e.g., phone, live chat, email)
- 24/7 customer support
3) A Lack of Data and Analytics
LMS reporting and analytics are essential for teams to make strategic decisions and to ensure your people are up to date on their training. If your current provider lacks robust data and reporting capabilities, you could be missing out on valuable metrics to steer your strategies.
Signs it’s time to switch include:
- No support for customizable dashboards
- Insufficient data to calculate ROI
- Inability to personalize reports
- Inability to automate the sending of reports
- Inefficiencies with tracking compliance
What to look for instead:
- Data visualizations
- Automated reporting
- Configurable dashboards
- Real-time analytics and reporting
- Flexible data configurations
- The ability to export data
- Learner and manager dashboards
- The ability to integrate reporting and analytics from other sources and platforms
4) Low ROI
Your execs want to see the return an LMS is generating. Using a platform with strategic L&D features can help you maximize the impact of training and leverage upskilling and reskilling insights.
In addition, if your organization uses multiple systems for training, upskilling, and performance, consolidating everything into one platform that handles all of your training and employee development requirements may cut costs considerably.
Signs it’s time to switch include:
- Loss of productivity
- Failure to meet goals and deadlines
- Excessive platform downtime
- Overpaying for the features used
- Additional costs for add-ons
What to look for instead:
- Goes beyond mandatory training and gives features to create employee development and skill building programs in one platform
- A vendor with a proven record of client success and customer retention
- Upskilling and reskilling capabilities
- Employee development plans
- Access to ready-made course content libraries
EXPLORE THE L&D METRICS THAT MATTER | ‘How to Prove the ROI of Learning & Development: Unlocking the Metrics That Matter’
5) Compliance and Data Risks
Using a vulnerable system or one that doesn't adhere to data protection regulations can leave your organization open to security risks. Switching to a more reliable LMS provider keeps your information secure.
When looking at safeguards to protect your organization, you'll also want to think about your compliance training needs and the LMS features that can help mitigate risk.
Signs it’s time to switch include:
- Lost customer or employee data
- Missed compliance deadlines
- Compliance risks or fines
- Infrequent security updates and patches
What to look for instead:
- Built-in data and security safeguards
- Adherence to safety regulations
- Compliance tracking and enrollment
- Industry-standard security and privacy certifications
- A guaranteed average uptime
- Frequent platform security updates
6) Difficult to Use and Administer
If your solution is difficult to use and takes time to learn, it's likely to cause frustration for admins, IT teams, and learners.
Signs it’s time to switch include:
- Low user engagement
- Excessive time needed to build, assign, and administer courses
- Inability to reuse premade content such as templates and assessments
- No support for personalized learning
- Not mobile responsive
- Limited roles and user groups
- Insufficient course search, filter, and tag options
What to look for instead:
- Automated administration
- Easy-to-use and intuitive UI
- Quick to learn and onboard new users
- Understandable, configurable dashboards
- Flexible content creation and course design
- Dedicated manager dashboards
DISCOVER MORE SIGNS | ‘3 Signs It Might Be Time For a New Learning Management System (LMS)’
How to Convince Execs That You Need a New LMS
If you’re ready to make the switch, follow the process below for a stress-free LMS migration.
Step 1) Define the Issue With Your Current LMS
You'll already know that a learning platform is a sizable investment and that to get buy-in from your execs, they’ll want to see numbers. Start by establishing what's not working—what gaps or challenges exist with your current setup, and what impact this is having on your business.
Then, connect these pain points to your business goals to show how a new solution can address issues and add value. To make the case, you'll want to gather evidence to show how your current solution fails to meet your goals and how an alternative solution could improve performance.
Step 2) Assess the Requirements for a New Platform
Make a list of requirements for a new platform based on the most used features within your current setup and any needs you've identified. These features will help you set clear, actionable goals to measure improvements and ensure the migration meets its intended purpose.
At this stage, it's helpful to engage stakeholders across different departments, such as HR and IT. Gathering their input ensures your platform selection aligns with broader business needs.
FIND OUT MORE | ‘Finding the Right LMS Fit: A Buying Guide for Mid-Market Buyers’
Step 3) Develop a Migration Plan and Timeline
Enlist an LMS migration team and assign responsibilities. Draw up a detailed plan that outlines each step of the migration process, including a realistic timeline that reflects the complexity of your requirements.
This plan will keep your migration process on track and ensure clear accountability and communication. It will also clarify expectations with vendors during the evaluation and implementation process.
You should account for the following roles and responsibilities:
- A project manager in charge of the migration process
- An IT specialist to manage migration and provide technical support
- An L&D admin in charge of LMS course data
- A training admin to handle learning needs
MORE TIPS TO PARTNER WITH IT TEAMS | ‘IT Professionals: Here Are 3 Ways a Consolidated HR Infrastructure Addresses Tech Overload’
Step 4) Scope and Plan for Data Migration
Moving existing information to a new system with minimal disruption or downtime requires a clear inventory of your current L&D data and your eLearning content. This step is crucial to understanding what exists in your LMS and what needs to be migrated to a new platform.
Make sure your data is in a standard format that's easily accessible and shareable. If it's been a while since this data has been reviewed, you should also take time to remove inactive, outdated, or duplicated resources and standardize data fields and descriptions.
Create a spreadsheet to cover what content and user data needs to be moved, including:
- Profiles and roles of employees, managers, authors, and admins
- Active and completed course enrollments
- Courses, training programs, learning paths, and content libraries
- Tags and categories added to courses and programs
- Learner data, including certifications, due date, expiration date for required learning, and assessment scores
- Integrations between your LMS and other systems
Step 5) Find the LMS That Meets Your Requirements
According to a buyer behavior report compiled by Gartner, decision-makers consider a vendor's willingness to support the integration process and collaboration the most important factors when selecting a solution.
It's crucial that your new LMS vendor offers the capabilities you consider essential and can meet your migration timeframe. Take time to evaluate vendors and compile a list for decision-makers to review.
As you make your selection, you'll see which vendors can offer the features and support to fill existing gaps.
FIND OUT WHAT TO ASK DURING SOFTWARE DEMOS | ‘The 10 Most Important Technical Questions to Ask LMS Vendors’
Step 6) Execute the Data Migration Process
Migration is a collaborative effort with your LMS vendor that involves successfully importing content and data from your existing system and integrating other platforms and applications.
Your IT stakeholder will be heavily involved in this step, and your provider should be checking in regularly as they transfer data, test systems, and troubleshoot any issues.
During this step, backing up data and testing user processes and workflows in the new system is crucial in terms of mitigating risk and checking that the platform is configured correctly.
Step 7) Launch and Evaluate Your New LMS
Ensure a smooth transition and encourage user uptake by informing employees about upcoming changes. If you're creating training programs to familiarize employees with a new platform, check what resources your new vendor already has available to support you.
Capturing learner feedback can help to evaluate the success of your migration based on your original goals and address any issues in the moment.
WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU CHOOSE AN AWARD-WINNING LMS | ‘The Importance of Software Onboarding When Buying an LMS: 5 Ways Bridge Sets You Up for Success From Day One’
Simplify Your LMS Migration With Bridge
Bridge LMS gives you access to a wealth of training and employee development capabilities that help you achieve your training goals and illustrate ROI. Contact us or take a self-guided tour to learn more.
