Buying an LMS: The Complete Feature Checklist to Make the Right Choice

“Which LMS should I use?” or "Which LMS features are most important?" are questions you may be contemplating. Whether you are buying an LMS for the first time or merely looking to replace your old, outdated LMS, you know the importance of doing your homework and finding the right one for your organization. Hopefully, we can help you think through what you need today and what you might need in the future with our LMS feature checklist.

So, how do you zero in on the features you want that will work best for your organization? And how do you compare the different offerings "apples to apples" to be fair? Once that’s done, how do you make a rational choice of LMS?

Start with Your Learning Ecosystem...

A good first step is to think about your learning ecosystem as a whole. (Our blog post “What is a Learning Ecosystem?” can give you some good background.)

For example, think about the people that will need to use the system. What do your admins need in terms of course building, tracking, and reporting? How do your learners feel about your current system? When, where, and how do they want to access training materials? This will help you think about which LMS is best for your people.

You should also consider content. A new LMS is nothing without the best training content available. Our blog post “How to Buy eLearning Content for Your LMS” can be especially helpful in this regard.

What content you will need, and how learners will seek out and interact with that content, will depend on your organization’s learning culture. We describe the four main types of learning culture in our whitepaper on the topic. The features you need in an LMS, and so which LMS is best, may well vary depending on which learning culture you have. Are you looking for training compliance or employee development?

Your learning and development decisions should be made with your corporate strategy in mind. How will this technology help your organization meet its strategic goals?

Once you are clear on those things—what your people want, what content you need, and what your learning culture is like—you can finally begin considering what tools are available to meet those needs.

It’s time to consider features and technology.

Comprehensive LMS Features Checklist

To be clear, you might not need all of these features in your LMS day one. You might only need some. That’s why there is no single, distinct answer to the question “Which LMS should I use?”

It’s important to know what features are out there and available, especially when comparing different systems and their pricing.

I’ve divided the LMS comparison checklist into four parts: Features for admins, features for learners, features that help both, and important considerations that go beyond mere technological features.

P.S. Feel free to bookmark this post or download this handy PDF of the entire LMS checklist.

LMS Administrative Features

Classroom scheduling and registration management

• Can admins create courses (instructor-led, virtual, or classroom) with multiple sessions so users can self-enroll?
• Can attendance be tracked in the LMS?

Content management

• Is it easy to create groups of employees based on common attributes such as department, level, or tenure in the company, and easily assign courses for their specific needs?
• Can you easily assign deadlines and due dates?

Automated reporting

• Is it easy to set up and schedule reports?
• Can they be automatically emailed?
• Is standard reporting included?

Data security

• Is all data communicated over a secure (HTTPS) connection?
• What data is being recorded?
• Is that data encrypted?

Content options

• Does your LMS vendor also offer off-the-shelf content? Is it microlearning? Is it award-winning?
• Do you have company-specific topics where you need to create custom content? Does the LMS vendor offer these capabilities as well?

Competency management

• Does the off-the-shelf content match with validated competencies (for example, the Korn Ferry competencies)?
• Can you create your own competency track?

Authoring tools

• Can you easily create your own content?
• Are there professional editing tools (to add special effects, edit out the “ums and ahs,” etc.)?
• Do the tools work with or without a webcam?

Student materials storage

• Is it unlimited? Or is there tiered pricing?
• What formats/file types are accepted?

SCORM-compliant formats

• Is the LMS SCORM compliant?

Data import/export

• Can you import and export data easily? Is it a turnkey process?

Survey tool

• Does the LMS offer access to a survey tool?

Exam editor

• Does the LMS allow you to create exams and follow-up quizzes?
• Does the LMS allow you to add in custom exam questions?
• Can you change scoring requirements as needed?

Hidden pricing

• What features would incur additional charges?
  
  

LMS Learner Engagement Features

Mobile learning

• Is the LMS equally accessible on any device?
• Does the LMS allow for “just-in-time learning” 24/7/365?
• Are all features accessible on mobile?
• Can learners access content at the moment of need? For example:
  • Can a warehouse worker access a video on safety procedures from the warehouse floor?
  • Could a salesperson on the road (in the airport or in their car) review training on objections or DISC selling tips?
• Is the content formatted for use on any device?

Training reinforcement

• Does the LMS offer training reinforcement?
• Can it generate reminder quizzes and email notifications?

Social learning

• Can learners choose who they want to follow?
• Is there a leaderboard?
• Can they see recent activity from those in their network?

Self-directed learning

• Can learners search and take courses not assigned to them, for enrichment?
• Can they self-enroll into Tracks, live and virtual classroom sessions?

Slack Integration

• Can learners use a dedicated Slack channel to search for courses, find course requirements and due dates, or see which training reinforcement quizzes they need to take?

LMS Features for both Users and Administrators

Intuitive user interface

• How many clicks does it take a user to find and access the content he or she wants? Is it less than five?
• Can your users and administrators figure things out without days and days of training?

Intuitive course catalog search

• Can learners and admins easily search topics, tracks, videos, and materials?
• Do the search results include search terms in the title and content that meet the context of the search word?

Personalization/customization

• Can the homepage and login screen be easily customized with branding and images?
• Can the dashboard be easily customized? (For example, can users and admins drag and drop elements, or resize elements, as needed?)
• Can admins leave customized personal messages on the main dashboard for learners? (For example, can they leave a reminder to everyone to complete that much-needed compliance training?)
• Can admins personalize the welcome email users receive when being added to their company’s account?
  
  

Going Beyond LMS Features

Vision for the future

• Is it obvious that the LMS can scale with the growth of your company?
• Can features be turned on or off to allow for a phased roll out?
• Does the LMS provider have plans for improvements?
• Are there additional charges for features launched during the contract but after the initial implementation?

Support

• Does the LMS provider offer personal support at no additional charge?
• Does the support include implementation? (Or is there an additional charge?)
• Do they offer an LMS implementation checklist?
• Does the support include…
  • A personal learning consultant, assigned to your organization, that knows your name?
  • Technology/bug reporting?
  • Consultative services (such as course recommendations)?
  • Implementation support?
  • Ongoing training?
• Is there a “marketing tool kit” to help you launch the program to your learners?
• Can it also be used periodically for promoting new courses, etc.?
• Is support included in the price tag? (How much of it is included?)

Even More Help for You

Yes, that is a long LMS checklist. If these features are high on your list, check out our own HSI LMS. It's also important to know that with HSI, when you buy our off-the-shelf content, we include our HSI LMS with authoring tool, at no additional charge. That should help the pricing conversation.

You should still do your due diligence. Comparison shop. Figure out which features are important to you, your admins, and your learners, Then search technologies that incorporate those features well. It's tough to find a fair "apples to apples" comparison, but this checklist should help.

Additional Resources

• Customize Your LMS to Drive Learning Engagement
• How to Buy eLearning Content for Your LMS (And Not Regret It Later)
• LMS Implementation: A Concrete and Tactical Guide

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on November 30, 2018, and has been updated for freshness and comprehensiveness.