If you are currently searching for the best LMS, you are well aware of the benefits of LMSs and that is half the battle won. In a digital world, whether you are in a corporate or an academic situation, an LMS is the only way to effectively deal with the learning and development needs of your employees/students.
An LMS provides a centralized, cost-effective, automated and comprehensive end-to-end solution to the problem of training, skilling, assessing, reporting, tracking, recording, and compliance monitoring. It is customizable, scalable, and offers personalization. Rich analytic capabilities are in-built for better insights-based decisions.
With so many benefits, it is no wonder that the global LMS market which was valued at $8.76 billion in 2019 is expected to grow to $38.10 billion by 2027 with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 19.7% during the forecast period, 2020-2027 (Fortune Business Insights, 2020).The growth is riding on the back of pandemic triggered changes in the education ecosystem, exponential growth of mobile phone usage, improved internet connectivity, widespread adoption of e-learning and MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses), changing user preferences towards anytime, anywhere personalized learning experiences and emerging technologies like AI and ML.
In choosing which LMS works best for one's needs, new entrants or those seeking to upgrade their systems are confronted with the dilemma to either opt for an Open Source LMS or adopt a Hosted LMS. The latter is also referred to as Cloud-based or Web-based LMS. While both have their pros and cons, cloud-based LMSs have an edge in offering better value and functionalities per unit cost.
Ultimately, however, the selection decision will rest on which system best addresses one's specific needs.
To make the right choice, the first step is to understand and list out your requirements and expectations from an LMS. The system that has featured at a price point that finds a close match with your needs is the one that will fit the bill. Some common and desirable capabilities of LMS are:
A review of some of the leading cloud-based LMSs currently popular in the market will provide better insight and help to make an informed decision. The list is illustrative and in alphabetical order. The features are given and other information are extracted from the respective sites of the listed vendors:
GYRUS LMS: GyrusAim LMS is a cloud-based, AI-driven fully automated LMS platform. It has over 30 years of experience in this field attracting over 500+ customers across 18+ countries.
DOCEBO Learn LMS: With a client base of 2000+ top rung brands, Docebo's AI-based eLearning Suite is a name to reckon with in the e-learning industry. Their powerful engine enables customer-specific configurations with gamification, audit trails, and certifications. Their e-commerce feature enables the delivery and selling of online courses to multiple external audiences with a single LMS solution.
ABSORB LMS : Catering to the training needs of 120 industry verticals, irrespective of size, this cloud-based, scalable LMS provides an engaging learning experience to users. It is also optimized for mobile devices in tune with current consumer preferences. It not only enables training but also has the feature of selling online courses through their fully integrated LMS e-commerce module.
LEARNUPON LMS: With 24/7 worldwide support and a people a focused platform, LearnUpon LMS has 9M+ users, 60M+ courses delivered and $70M worth of training sold via e-commerce storefronts, the trust in LearnUpon LMS is apparent.
TALENT LMS: TalentLMS provides a fully customizable easy to manage cloud-powered training platform which already serves 70,000+ teams worldwide.
The features of the above top-rated LMSs drive home the point that almost all platforms offer functionalities that will meet the expectations of a trusted and efficient training system. The bottom line, of course, is that the L&D objectives of the enterprise must be fulfilled.
Most vendors offer demos and free trials and buyers should take the benefit of this facility for shortlisting and then committing to a purchase. GyrusAim Cloud even encourages enterprises to take a short personalized tour with a sales specialist to facilitate making such investments based on informed decisions.