Is your LMS up to date?
This seems like a pretty obvious question, but what a lot of organisations don’t understand is that owning an LMS is a bit like owning a car. There is a constant stream of maintenance required to keep everything in tip top shape.
I speak with training organisations everyday and one of the constants is how many tell me their Learning Management System doesn’t work like it used to – or worse – doesn’t work at all.
In some cases this is because it was never set up correctly. But in most cases it’s because the LMS has not be maintained.
In the world of computer’s it’s a moving feast.
Both hardware and software evolve at a rapid pace, and if you’re not keeping up, you’re falling behind.
There are lots of reasons why keeping your LMS up to date is critical. Here is 3 of the biggest.
Security
Any piece of software has vulnerabilities to hackers and your Learning Management System is no different. With all the tracking and to-ing and fro-ing between your users session inside the LMS and your server, it may even be worse.
When first developed, all known vulnerabilities are closed. But once in the public domain, people use the software on different systems and in different ways, and new ‘holes’ in the security are identified.
Further, full time hackers will spend time trying to break the code – so they can find a new way in.
When your software developer learns about a new vulnerability, they will release a ‘patch’ or update which will close the hole. When these notifications are made it’s critical that you (or your programmer) install the updates.
Stability
Your software is made up of many lines of code. all designed to work together to achieve your desired outcome. But over time, things change. You put new and different programs on your computer that make it operate differently.
The updates for security change things slightly and performance changes.
All of these changes affect the way the system works.
Sometimes this will ‘break’ the program completely. But more often than not, it just stops ‘pieces’ working. Have you ever said to yourself ‘it used to that’?
Performance
With all the changes above, your code gets bigger and heavier the longer it’s been around.
New technology is changing all the time. Hardware gets faster. Operating systems improve the way they read the code. Your web browser improves and changes how it presents your site and programs.
Even if you’re not updating your hardware and software, your users are.
This means they get faster machines and expect faster performance.
Keeping your LMS up to date is a full time job. It’s similar to maintaining a car.
Not only do you need to service your car several times a year (changing the oil and filters), you also need to put fuel in weekly and even occasionally change the tyres. Sure, you can get away with little to no maintenance for a while, but sooner or later it will grind to a complete stop.
Your Learning Management System is no different. It needs regular maintenance and attention to remain reliable and to continue to serve it’s purpose.
If your LMS is due for a service or not quite working as it used to, now would be a great time to have someone (like OTrain) take a look at it.
OTrain provides a fully hosted, managed and supported Learning Management System that is set up correctly from the start and maintained for you along the way. With our dedicated team of programmers and developers, we take care of everything so you can take care of the training. Our team are experts so you don’t need to be.
To learn more about OTrain, and our hosted Learning Management System (OTrainU) visit our website at www.otrain.com.au or call us on 07 3040 3310.
About the Author
OTrain founder and Managing Director Shane Ridley
Shane Ridley is the Founder and Managing Director of OTrain. With a background in Workforce Development, Shane has been involved in everything from staffing and developing workforces in Greenfield sites to working with 100 year old companies. 1 man operations to multinationals.
A serial entrepreneur, Shane has also successfully started and grown 5 businesses, on 3 occasions taking them from concept to $1M+ in revenue.