LMS Software

Develop your own LMS from scratch or use a white label system?

Published by Nadia Kruger

18 July, 2022

 

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Training and development is an important department in all healthcare sectors regardless of its size. Trained staff mean better performance which leads to better healthcare.

Most healthcare training providers prefer to use a cloud based Learning Management System or LMS. This lets you store all your content in one place, reducing the risk of losing important data, and even making organising it a very easy task. Each e-Learning management team member or other users can then access information, data, or anything else through a cloud storage system.

A White Label LMS is a product customised for your medical training needs, that allows you to add your own branding and usually to also select relevant features.

So the question is: do we develop our own LMS from scratch or use a white label system?

Benefits of a white label system

1. Complete Customisation

With some white label LMS Software, you’re able to customise every aspect of the LMS, from reporting capabilities to the e-Learning authoring tools and deployment methods. For example, you can adjust the layout of the dashboards or the colour scheme. However, sometimes these customisations are limited, for example the software elements are already in place and cannot be substituted.

2. Brand Integration

Many modern LMS solutions  allow you to add your own logo and colour scheme. Building an in-house LMS gives you the power to fully integrate your branding. In fact, you’re able to incorporate your brand identity from day one, instead of having to incorporate it into a pre-made template. Your entire online training program reflects your image on the front and back end, thereby enhancing the aesthetics and boosting credibility.

3. Financial Investment

One of the perks of developing your own LMS is not having to pay for extraneous features. However, developing your own LMS can also incur greater expenses. This is due to the fact that you have to piece together your own software package. On the other hand, most LMS solutions have everything you need to get started, including reporting and content creation tools. You must also consider the human resources involved. In some cases, you may need to hire a dedicated team to develop and deploy the LMS and the online training content.

4. Technical Challenges

There’s always a chance that you’ll have to deal with tech glitches, even if you purchase pre-built Learning Management Systems. However, the risk is higher when you develop it yourself. First you must ensure that all the software elements are compatible with one another. Then there are programming and customisation hiccups to consider. Migrating data to the new LMS is more difficult than expected, or the online training content is only accessible on certain devices, when it needs to be multiplatform-friendly. This leads to numerous rounds of troubleshooting and revisions to alleviate the problem.

5. Additional Maintenance

There are two drawbacks to bear in mind in regard to the maintenance of an in-house LMS. The first is that you have to continually upgrade your bespoke LMS as technology evolves. There may be new software to integrate a year from now, whereas a cloud-based SaaS platform takes care of the upgrades and keeps track of tech trends. The second downside is having to upkeep your own LMS and monitor individual software updates. For example, downloading the latest version of the eLearning authoring tools that you integrate into your in-house LMS, or purchasing new reporting software to provide more detailed analytics for your organization. You must invest the time and resources into ongoing maintenance, whereas this is generally included in the monthly subscription/licensing fees for pre-built Learning Management Systems.

Which LMS approach is right for your organisation? Should you invest in a pre-built system or build your in-house LMS and completely customise the LMS platform? The answer depends on your training needs, e-Learning budget, and in-house talent, as well as the overall demand for resources. Rapid turnaround times may require a pre-made option, while a bespoke solution is ideal for teams who want complete creative control and don’t mind investing time or resources.

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