Gandhi once said, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
Sounds inspiring, right?
Not if your learning materials aren’t up to scratch.
Then, it sounds like torture.
A good Learning Management System, or LMS, can help you and your employees learn faster.
It can even inspire you to learn for longer. Did you know that professional learners who use LMS social features like Q&As and learning groups watch 30 times more hours of learning content than those who don’t?
So ditch the clunky docs and PowerPoints – discover the best LMS for your industry in this article.
What LMS software is
Feel free to skip this part if you already know your stuff, but here’s a quick recap of what LMS software is and why your business needs it.
An LMS is software that’s used to deliver training programs and education courses.
It might be used by an HR professional to provide on-the-job training or by higher education institutions to enable distance learning. Whatever its context, though, it’s designed to:
- Support in-person learning by offering a suite of digital resources in one system.
- Simplify the user experience – no more switching between loads of different platforms or documents.
- Automate standard processes for overall streamlined learning.
Just think of it as a CRM for learning.
It doesn’t just sound great – the best LMS systems get great results.
Studies have found that students taught using LMS systems perform better than those given other tutoring packages in an education setting.
Meanwhile, 72% of companies that use LMS systems gain a competitive advantage in the corporate sphere.
So we’ve covered what an LMS is and why you should care. Now let’s talk about the different types of LMS out there.
Types of LMS
Free
After “What is an LMS?” the most common question about finding the best learning management system is whether you can get one for free.
One of the most significant barriers to adopting an LMS system is the cost 44% of LMS users say cost is a barrier to their satisfaction with a product.
There are free solutions, and they generally fall into two categories.
The first is the accessible version of paid software. We’ll be talking about specific software down below. Still, many LMS systems, for example, Canvas, offer a free version of their paid product, with limitations on things like:
- The number of users you can add
- The analytics you can get from user data
- The learning features that are available
The second type of free software is open-source LMS software, which deserves its discussion…
Open Source
“Open Source” software means that the code to create the system is freely available online. All you need to provide is the development power to build it and the resources to host it. It’s also super customizable because you’re not buying a set product.
Sounds ideal, right? Not always.
Put it this way: if you found a free recipe for wagyu beef, lobster surf, and turf online, you’d still need to shell out for the ingredients and spend hours cooking it.
In fact, by some estimates, hosting your own LMS can cost up to $25,000 – but we’ll get into this more below.
If you’re looking for an example of famous open-source software, Moodle is probably the best-known. Again, see below for more.
Commercial
Commercial LMS software is the alternative to free and open-source LMS software, where you buy a product from a specific vendor – like us!
There are loads of advantages to this, for instance:
- You can often get great customer support
- The software is usually easier to deploy
- It’s also often easier to use
There are two main types of commercial offerings. Let’s discuss those now.
Installed
Firstly, you have installed LMS systems.
“Installed software” basically means your LMS will be hosted on your servers rather than another company’s like it would be if you used a commercial option.
This can be great if you have the IT staff on hand to handle the demands of scaling your LMS with your business. It’s also a good option if you have super complex needs, as installing your system allows for much customization.
But, as we mentioned above, you take on a lot of the setup and running costs when choosing this option, and those costs can rack up fast.
SaaS
Another option is to use a SaaS – or Software As A Service – solution.
SaaS LMS systems are hosted by the company you’ve bought the software from. If you chose to use Tovuti LMS, that would be us.
We won’t lie; we think SaaS solutions are the best LMS to have because, let’s face it: most growing businesses don’t have the resources to build, perfect, and manage their ideal LMS system.
SaaS solutions have to cater to many different customers, so we have a lot of input on how to improve our product and the expertise and resources to do it.
Plus, when you use a SaaS LMS, accommodating your business scaling becomes the vendor's responsibility. You can sit back and let your software do its thing without stressful server switchovers or tech updates for you.
Cloud-Based
Remember how we said that the vendor hosts SaaS LMS systems? Cloud technology is the primary way we do that.
A cloud-based LMS will be hosted on your vendor’s servers, external to your business. As well as being a weight off your mind, this has the huge benefit that it can be accessed from anywhere, including on mobile.
Don’t underestimate the importance of that last part. 64% of learners believe that accessing training content from a mobile device is essential, so that a cloud-based LMS can be a real advantage.
How to Choose the Best Learning Management System for Your Industry
Now that we’ve covered the different types of LMS software, it’s time to learn how to tell which one is the best LMS platform for your industry.
LMS Considerations for the Healthcare Industry
The healthcare industry is complex and ever-changing; depending on which part of it you work in, you may have different specific needs.
However, there are a few non-negotiable factors that an LMS for healthcare must cater to.
1. Flexibility
A huge number of healthcare employees, including doctors and nurses, are shift workers on different schedules, making the chances that you can deliver the same learning program to all of them at the same time, well, about zero.
This means that learners must be able to access the material at any time and pick up and put down modules as their time constraints require.
This is where asynchronous learning comes in handy.
Asynchronous learning means that learners have the flexibility to take their courses how and when they choose – they don’t all have to be in the same room or online at the same time.
The best LMS software can even optimize for these conditions, for example, with microlearning features: bite-size modules that allow learners to absorb information in short, impactful bursts.
2. Compliance
In healthcare, managers must be able to track which users have completed which courses to ensure that their workforce is up to date with compliance regulations.
Whether the module in question is a health and safety requirement for new starters or training on dealing with protected health information (PHI) to meet HIPAA compliance standards, keeping track is essential to ensure you don’t fall foul of regulators.
This isn’t just a short-term time-saver; it’s a long-term investment. Most organizations conduct HIPAA training annually, so investing in the best LMS system can save you time and money in the long run by eliminating the need to hire a dedicated coordinator or stress out an already overstretched manager.
Your LMS should also be compliant. Always check that your chosen system meets the necessary HIPAA and other requirements.
LMS Considerations for the Financial Industry
On the surface, finance and healthcare seem like polar opposites, but their needs are not as different as you’d think.
1. Flexibility
Flexibility is a key consideration for a finance LMS and a healthcare one. Although most finance workers will work a standard 9-5, there is enormous variability in organizational structures between finance companies.
Maybe you have departments and sub-departments to manage, or maybe you’re a smaller outfit. Whatever your structure, your LMS should allow you to segment and manage your learning modules accordingly, without clunky workarounds or over-complex features.
2. Data compliance and security
The number of financial organizations prioritizing security and authentication increased from 2019 to 2020, and if you’re doing the same thing, you can’t forget about your LMS.
Like healthcare organizations, finance companies deal with highly sensitive data, comply with data regulations, and have strong security measures to prevent theft and fraud. This applies to LMS systems as much as any other software, and you’d be foolish to neglect it.
3. Certification tracking
Nobody likes an audit, especially not when it results in a penalty because your training documentation isn’t up to scratch and half your workforce is behind on their certifications.
Being able to track and see at a glance which of your employees is up to date with their certification requirements is a must. The top LMS systems will have this feature.
This is only growing more important as regulatory change accelerates. Thomson Reuters said that the frequency of regulatory change has increased exponentially in the ten years since their Cost of Compliance report first began.
LMS Considerations for Government
An LMS is perhaps especially important for the public sector. This is for several reasons, including (but certainly not limited to):
- The increasing pressure to keep up with the private sector
- The complex roles and responsibilities included
- The constant need to upskill workers
- The huge workforce involved
Here are the main things to consider when shopping for a government-appropriate LMS:
1. Budget
This one almost goes without saying. Most public sector departments don’t have access to huge learning and development budgets, so finding a high-value solution that doesn’t break the bank is key.
2. Compliance
Unsurprisingly, compliance is essential for government LMS systems. That means compliance with:
- Data protection regulations, for instance, GDPR if you’re operating in the EU
- Accessibility regulations, such as those stipulated by Section 508 of the Workforce Rehabilitation Act
- Employee training requirements
- And much more.
You need a system that will store your data securely and help you manage many different training plans quickly and easily, notifying you when important milestones are approaching.
3. Multi-tenancy
“Multi-tenancy” is a fancy term for adapting your branding across different training programs and learning groups.
Government bodies are enormous and often include silos or external teams that need slightly different training programs. Standardizing the user experience across these groups is important to ensure that everyone gets the same quality of training.
The best learning management systems will have multi-tenancy features that will allow you to apply or adapt your branding between different learner groups without siloing your content or data (like you would if you had to use different accounts for different groups).
This is very important: studies have shown that data silos can impact performance in every department, including Finance, IT, and HR.
4. Reporting
Like in finance, government auditing processes require managers to keep on top of which users are up to date with their professional training.
A good government LMS will be able to show you usage logs to determine which users are up to date and which aren’t and will offer reporting capabilities to show you how well your learners are doing.
Without these features, you’ll have no idea how your employees’ training is going – and if you don’t know, your employees definitely won’t.
LMS Considerations for Consultants
Continuing education has been named one of management consultants' big priorities in 2022. But consultants will work with many, if not all, of the industries listed above. What is actually needed from a consultancy LMS?
1. Flexibility
Consultants work long hours and, as we’ll mention in our next point, are not always tied to the same place. According to some studies, most consultants work up to 80 hours a week!
As in the healthcare industry, flexible learning modules that take the burden of managing learning off the LMS user are essential. This might be by using micro-learning modules or sending automatic notifications to prompt learners to complete courses in time for deadlines.
2. Portability
There’s extensive travel involved in being a consultant, so learners need to be able to access materials from anywhere. Choosing a top mobile LMS can solve this problem, and a cloud-based LMS will usually deliver.
3. Compliance and security
As we’ve mentioned, consultants work across diverse industries, managing big clients and demanding projects.
This means that the best LMS for consultants is one that is compliant with itself, adhering to data security and accessibility requirements, and has compliance training features. This allows consultants to familiarize themselves with the regulations relevant to their projects without jeopardizing client trust.
Top LMS For Your Industry
Tovuti
Not to toot our own horn, but we have one of the leading learning management systems, and we think it’s pretty great.
First of all, we’re a white-label product, which means that we do the hard work of building great software and then let you take all the credit.
Yep, really! You can customize the look of your LMS so that your users will never know that it’s not your native system, making you look great because of how well our system works.
Let us guess why you’re looking for an LMS.
- You don’t have enough time or resources to create training content to your desired standard.
- Maybe you don’t feel tech-savvy enough to create one yourself…
- or your IT department doesn’t want another system to oversee.
- Maybe your organization’s leadership is reluctant to change.
None of these are problems for Tovuti.
We pride ourselves on our flexibility and scalability, catering to SMBs and enterprise clients.
While many top LMS systems will require you to fit your training strategy around their software structure, we can provide our software to your organizational structure and needs.
We offer a marketplace of integrations with existing apps, plus a built-in library of interactive content modules.
These not only make training more fun, but they are an increasing trend in the eLearning space.
With Tovuti, you can quickly create courses using media you’ve already uploaded and don’t need a third-party course-authoring suite.
What does all this add up to? Fast, effective course creation that fits your existing processes and goals, with our top-notch customer service.
Wow, that was a lot to read.
Here’s a simpler view:
Totara Learn
Totara Learn is one of the most-trusted open-source LMS systems out there, with clients including
- US Department of Agriculture
- The UK’s National Health Service
- Deloitte
The key advantage of Totara Learn is its robust reporting. What started as just an LMS system has expanded to include Totara Engage and Totara Perform, engagement, and performance management systems.
Its main drawback is that to implement Totara Learn, you need to work with a Totara Partner to develop it, which can be costly.
Some estimates put the cost of implementing a SaaS LMS at between $4,000 and $40,000.
Here’s a breakdown of Totara Learn’s pros and cons.
Best for: Healthcare, Government, Consulting
Docebo
Docebo is a popular solution for enterprise clients, and it’s particularly well-known for its gamification features.
Gamification is, well, exactly what it sounds like: making learning into a game. Examples of gamification LMS features include
- Challenges to inspire competition between learners
- Rewards when certain milestones are reached
- Leaderboards to encourage learners to track each other’s activities
Gamification can have a significant impact on performance, with some studies suggesting as much as a 60% increase in employee engagement when they’re in use,
However, there are some cons to using Docebo, namely:
- Slow customer support, because support is only available online
- No onboarding process for new starters
- It’s best suited to medium-sized businesses and enterprise clients and is less accessible to small firms
Best for: Healthcare, Finance, Consulting
Moodle
Moodle is one of the best-known LMS brands on the market. It’s open-source and community-driven, with developers all over the world working to fix bugs and improve the system through its forums.
This gives it several key attractions:
- It’s accessible for smaller outfits but also has the scope to cater to large clients.
- It offers both an Open Source and a Cloud-based option.
- It’s simple to use thanks to its clean-looking interface, as seen below.
- It is highly customizable.
- Moodle supports more than a hundred languages, which is helpful in sectors like government and healthcare.
However, the usual drawbacks apply, as you’re gambling a little on how much the overall project will cost and the quality of customer service you’ll be able to receive if you go with an independent development option.
Best for: Healthcare, Government
Summary
Look, no software will guarantee that your people will love their learning and want to do it all the time. Not even if Gandhi tells them to.
But, by choosing the best LMS system, you’re employing a powerful tool to make more of your training programs accessible and fun, and you’ll even get to streamline the less exciting bits. You’ll make a bigger impact, faster.
At Tovuti, we can help you do this. Our system is smooth and scalable, and our customer service reps are the best in the biz. Watch our demo today to get started.
