Should Small Businesses and Startups Invest In LMS Software Solutions for Programming Purposes?

It’s 2022, and finally, you have decided to kickstart your small business. But you can’t determine whether you should invest in LMS software solutions for programming purposes. The short answer is—you should. 

According to research about LMS stats, data, trends, and predictions, the current number of LMS users is estimated to be 73.8 million. Almost 87% of these active users are utilizing online LMS programs. 

In this post, we’re going to discuss the important things you need to know about LMS and how this can effectively make training or learning faster and more efficient. Moreover, we’ll discover collaborative software tools and other software solutions for business to make your daily operations seamless and streamlined. 

What Is LMS for Small Businesses? 

LMS or learning management system allows organizations to host and track their company’s learning and training content, such as webinars and other online courses.

Online training and learning content is a convenient and effective strategy to train people. This is easily accomplished by using LMS. Other small organizations may prefer using email learning content with their staff or store. They can put it on a shared drive and everyone can have access to it. This can work temporarily. 

Eventually, though, you will need a business management software that can track the people who underwent which training and those needing more specific training that will be assigned to them. This is where LMS or learning management systems come into the picture. LMS does not only host e-learning but automates the processes of assigning users. Finally, it tracks and reports their progress as well.

LMS Badging and Certification

Many learning management platforms today have badging and certification features. Every time a learner completes a task, they earn a badge. This is a great way to incentivize learners and makes for a fun and engaging learning process. 

Your chosen software for small businesses must be a dedicated LMS system that hosts e-learning lessons. You can create lessons using content authoring software, which you can import into your company’s LMS. Other LMS also allows you to create these lessons within the platform itself, making hosting and creation super convenient for administrators. 

LMS Tracking and Reporting

Another crucial aspect of learning management software is the tracking and reporting of learning. Businesses need to have proof that learners indeed took the course. Thus, your LMS should provide the administrators reports showing who has and who has not yet taken these required training. 

There are LMS platforms that allow users to customize reports and the system, in turn, will generate them for them. This is an essential feature because every business has a unique need specific to them. Not all standard reports can possibly fulfill this requirement. 

LMS for Coding Bootcamps

So what if you need to train your people for programming or coding for your business? Your software for small businesses must have a remote programming/coding boot camp integrated into your platform. And an LMS system that immerses students in a coding environment that allows them to learn faster. Here, they will also learn a lot of business software examples as models for their future projects.

Gone are the days when you needed to spend a fortune or go to prestigious colleges and universities to learn programming and JavaScript coding or become software engineers. 

Learning Management System (LMS) for Your Online Programming/Coding Bootcamp

What are the things to consider then when choosing the best learning management system for online programming/coding boot camp for your company? We give you the top 5 for those. 

User Experience

Your LMS shouldn’t be a hindrance to your learner’s experience. On the contrary, it should be able to enhance it. It is a means to an end, thus, the user experience must be a top consideration when choosing LMS. 

Administrators should be spending less time teaching their people how to use the software. Their focus should be on learning the lessons or participating in the training at hand. Your LMS learning curve must be at a bare minimum so that your staff can use it without having to constantly ask for help. No delays or obstacles must be present that could cause further confusion or frustration. 

Integration

Another important factor to consider with LMS, and with end-to-end business management software is integration. This ensures an optimal user experience for its learners. 

Your LMS should integrate smoothly with your other platforms so data is able to migrate back and forth faster. So find out if your LMS vendor has built an integration bridge. If not, you may have to hire a third party who will build it for you. 

Propriety VS. Open-Source Software

Understandably, an open-source LMS is a lot cheaper. But this is difficult if you do not have in-house experts that could configure your open-source LMS. This can make it more expensive in the long run. 

Some companies initially chose an open-source LMS. However, their experience convinced them that it is better to have an LMS that is specifically built for their needs. Open-source LMS may surprise you with plenty of unforeseen challenges which you may not be prepared to fix. 

Configuration

Is your LMS flexible enough for configuring your business needs? For instance, does your staff feel like they’re still on your site even if they’re already using the LMS- because they should? Configuration must be made so that the display matches your company’s branding and website. 

Catalog and Ecommerce

You should be able to host your eCommerce functionality and remote learning catalog on your LMS. This will depend on your company’s needs and capabilities. For instance, eCommerce in some LMS platforms runs through external, third-party systems like Stripe, PayPal, or Shopify. This will require additional integration for implementation and management. Unlike in TopClass where eCommerce is already built-in. 

How Collaboration Software Is Added to the Mix

Now, what does collaboration software have to do with this? A lot! Even if you have the best online programming/coding boot camp with amazing LMS, if you don’t have efficient collaboration software, you’re still going to encounter many problems. 

So get the best collaboration software that you can afford. These business applications will allow your team members to work together on various projects and activities. They consist of tools for document exchange, conferencing, effective communication, and real-time assistance. All of which diminishes collaboration obstacles that are common in remote as well as decentralized teams. So find a collaboration software showing software solutions aforementioned above. 

LMS Software for Programming + Effective Collaboration Software = A Successful Business

Now that you know the importance of LMS software for programming plus effective collaboration software, it’s up to you to find those that will suit both your needs and your budget. You can opt for the open-source or the cheaper alternatives just until you get the hang of it. But as your business grows and expands, so do your needs. Don’t forget to choose and invest wisely.