In the last few years, the Corporate Learning Management System (LMS) has transitioned from being an optional Corporate IT system for a few large companies, to a foundational and even critical Business Operations and Management System for all medium to large enterprises. As companies are required to do more with less, deal with ever increasing regulatory compliance, fight to get a competitive edge and most of all maximizing the value of the enterprises most critical asset, the employee, having a quality Corporate Learning Management System has never been a higher priority.

No longer can companies send an email with attached document out to a targeted internal or external audience and call that "meeting the training need of the organization". Corporate Training, e-Learning, is now a discipline that calls for a managed process of systemic accountability. It must include performance reporting and outcome based testing. The core functionality of a Learning Management System is not that complex. It must be able to distribute training materials to a targeted audience, facilitate on-line display and testing of those materials and report back to the user and appropriate management reporting on the completion status and results.

While the basic function of the Learning Management System is strait forward, the complexity is in the specific detail required in each of these core areas. For example, in assigning learning materials. Is it push or pull (catalog) based? Do you assign classes by role, title, hierarchy or individual basis? Do you want email notifications? Due dates? In the area of testing, do you need manual grading, attachment submission capability, custom grade scales, multiple attempt vs single attempt testing? The complexity is always in the details and unique features your organization requires. All Learning Management Systems have a core set of 30-50 features that facilitate those three primary functions listed above. It is normal to have some specific requirements on added functionality or special configuration of a core function, but try to avoid going "feature crazy". Don’t let complexity drive up costs or tarnish an otherwise good user experience.

Don’t forget about the content, and don’t confuse the Learning Management System with "the content". The LMS is really a Management System Tool that is only as good as the content it delivers. Some content you may want to deliver by way of your LMS may be generic between companies, such as general sales training or Sarbains-Oxly (SOX) compliance training or code-of-conduct (HR) or Management training, but the majority of your content will most likely be custom; such as new product training or contract management training or new hire training. Make sure your system is SCORM compliant. It is the set of international standards for content interoperability. This way, you can use externally created content as well as internally created custom content with SCORM compliant authoring tools. (Please talk to your Competentum representative regarding content creation options.)

The newest requirement of a Corporate Learning Management System, while not part of the LMS functionality, is it’s IT System Interoperability. Custom stand alone expensive in-house developed applications may have been acceptable projects in years past, but today, the requirement is tight integration with the rest of the institutions IT and back office systems. The system must be adaptable, configurable and supportable as part of the overall IT structure and systems architecture.

Given the above overview of "What is a Learning Management System?", ShareKnowledge^TM has some noticeable strengths for corporate institutions. Because it is based on Microsoft SharePoint, ShareKnowledge^TM delivers best in class IT integration within a very comfortable and familiar user experience. In addition, it’s feature/functionality is very customizable and extensible without unnecessary complexity. Being fully industry standards based, ShareKnowledge^TM is designed for the institution that needs a high quality solution with minimal deployment and support costs. ShareKnowledge^TM is not just about e-Learning, it is Business Management tool that drives optimization, efficiency and cost savings throughout your institution.