Why are LMS vendors so unhelpful?

Why are LMS vendors so unhelpful?

Why are LMS vendors so unhelpful?

For a while now, I've been pondering the answer to the question Why are LMS vendors so unhelpful? I don't think anyone in our industry disputes that idea pretty much everyone across the board agrees that customer service is a problem for LMS vendors.

Just the other day, we were talking to a LMS administrator for a large defense contractor because we provided him our compliance training course files to install on his LMS. When I asked for his candid assessment regarding his relationship with his LMS vendor, he replied, "Let's just say this. I put in a support ticket and I never get a call back." I can't tell you how many times I've heard this refrain.

After giving it a lot of thought here's my answer to this question. Most of the LMS vendors are structured as a traditional technology company, meaning they produce a technical application that solves a general business problem. Similarly, the organizational design of their workforce follows the traditional technology workforce, e.g., for customer service they have customers submit a support ticket and they'll troubleshoot an issue on their own system. Here's the problem most HR technical systems are self-contained touch a limited amount of people. Your payroll and HR systems of record affect a small team of database administrators. In contrast, the LMS affects every person in the company and a variety of third parties as well. You may have 20 different desktop and browser configurations that will impact how the e Learning Management System serves up courses. You may have 50+ third party content vendors, webinar providers and trainers that need to interact successfully with the Learning Management System. The LMS is a much more complicated endeavor because so many different types of people use it every week. And, is a learner's desktop or browser configuration a problem with the LMS? If a LMS administrator isn't technical and tries to copy and paste the manifest file into the LMS instead of uploading the course files into the system is that a LMS problem? Of course not. It's a specific customer business issue, not a system issue. So, what happens? Customer service is not responsive since it's not "their" issue.

We realize there are some strategies customers can utilize when selecting a LMS vendor. Essentially, when you select a LMS vendor, you should insist on a partnership relationship one where you have a point person and a support team to help you as opposed to an anonymous customer service ticket procedure. And, if you experience an issue or problem, a training partner should be willing to help you trouble-shoot in order to be successful, for an additional fee and even if the issue doesn't stem from the vendor's LMS.

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