7 reasons why organizations choose open source elearning platforms (LMS)
Expert organizations face today’s challenges with an eye on tomorrow’s opportunities. This translates into a workforce that is constantly learning and evolving, ready to take on immediate cultural, economic or market changes.
As learning plays a crucial role in organizations, e-learning platforms (LMS) have become increasingly important in the development of employee competencies in highly diverse and constantly changing corporate environments.
However, when it comes to choosing an LMS, most companies are torn between adopting an open source or closed source (proprietary) platform. In this article we will look at seven reasons why an open source LMS is a safer and smarter choice for forward-thinking organizations.
Total control over your LMS
Apple iOS or Android?
Regardless of which operating system you choose, the constant rivalry between them perfectly explains the arguments against closed source software.
Apple software is restrictive. Their devices do not work well with non-Apple designed systems and third party applications and plugins cannot be used. Android software, however, is open source, which means that applications and plugins can be customized because the source code is visible.
As a good example of what single vendor lock-in entails, moving from Apple to Android is often a rather problematic experience.
Supplier lock-in is the situation that occurs when the cost of switching to another supplier is so high (or so inconvenient) that you are trapped or forced to stick with the original supplier, even if you are not satisfied and it does not really meet your needs.
Fortunately, choosing an open source LMS means avoiding the chains of dependence on a single vendor. If you are not satisfied with a platform, you are free to choose another one or develop your own e-learning platform internally.
Increased levels of protection and security
With an open source LMS, anyone from anywhere in the world can view the source code. This puts at your service a large community of users, developers and internal programmers who can detect all possible problems and security flaws.
The LMS code is under constant collective supervision. You will enjoy a secure LMS, as the level of security is not limited by the company’s budget or staff.
3. Control your data
With a closed source LMS, the LMS provider has the power to raise prices, drastically change key features at their own discretion, or even charge you extra for retrieving your own data in case they decide to switch to another solution.
In contrast, with an open source LMS, you have control over your own data and how you want to use it. If you experience rapid growth and need to adapt your training programs, you can quickly migrate to a higher capacity LMS and take essential user and content data with you.
4. Faster performance upgrades
Due to the tendency of vendors with proprietary systems to prioritize commercial interests over community interests, have fewer people paying attention to the code, and have longer average distribution lead times, they tend to take longer to release updates.
In contrast, the transparent and community-oriented nature of an open source LMS makes the release of updates and identification of vulnerabilities much faster.
5. Customize and create authentic, tailor-made learning experiences.
What if your online training management system needs a powerful search engine?
What if you need to adapt and automate specific manual tasks?
Implementing these functional changes would incur significant costs with a closed source LMS provider.
By opting for an open source LMS solution, such as Totara Learn, you will not have to suffer financial impacts when making changes. Your team and a group of Totara partners will have full access to modify the source code and therefore adapt the LMS to the specific needs of your organization.
6. Protect your economy and avoid the risks of a proprietary LMS.
Choosing an open source LMS will allow you to avoid costly software licenses and closed contracts.
If you need a customized solution, you will have access to plugins and extensions. If all this does not meet your needs, you can create your own solution, either independently or with the support of partners. And finally, you get all the efficiency and flexibility of LMS features tailored to your organization’s needs at a much more affordable total cost of ownership.
7. Leverage expertise and talent with an easy-to-integrate LMS.
Training is essential to face today’s challenges and take advantage of tomorrow’s opportunities. Your LMS plays a critical role in your organization’s level of readiness. However, an elearning platform is not a total guarantee of your workforce’s future performance, as learning and development is only one part of the employee experience.
Engagement and performance are other components that interrelate and influence to shape the daily experience of top-level employees.
Totara’s Talent Experience Platform (TXP) brings together these three facets of the modern employee experience (performance, engagement and development) under one powerful and comprehensive solution. And the good news is that all of this is now available. To get started, contact us today.
