Open Source LMS: The Burden of Being Free
Recently, I delivered a presentation to Pensacola ASTD on Open Source Learning Management Systems (LMS). During Q&A, I was asked why Open Source LMS is not more widely accepted in corporate America. A simple question, without an easy answer.
Why does “free” Open Source LMS software lose out to commercial systems that require upfront capital $$ plus ongoing maintenance and support? Is it because commercial LMS software is so much better and receives high scores for usability and customer satisfaction? Nope. In my experience, most companies struggle to gain user acceptance of their LMS strategy and meet their Return on Investment (ROI) goals.
Is it passed over because the feature set of commercial systems outshine Open Source? Hardly. Both Open Source and commercial systems generally have far more features than most organizations need, and their users can digest.
So what keeps Open Source LMS relegated primarily to the University campus when the Fortune 50 consistently choose from a handful of commercial vendors?
My hypothesis is that Open Source loses because it is never seriously considered by selection committees. Why is the “no-cost” option left off the table? Because there is no “advocate” for no-cost options. Ironically, Open Source LMS is disadvantaged specifically because it is free.
Selection committees, and the process they follow is designed to engage with, and solicit information from vendors. They push the burden of information collection and exploration to the vendor. Open Source software does not fit this established paradigm.
To understand why, let’s review a typical selection process.
- Process begins with a business need articulated by an executive sponsor
- Needs are translated into Functional and Technical Requirements
- Selection team is assembled and a Request for Information (RFI) is issued to relevant vendors
- RFI is followed by a Request for Proposal, (RFP) that leads to vendor presentations, deliberations, demos, dinners and maybe some departmental haggling on budget
- Vendor is selected, and big bucks are remitted.
At each stage of the process, there is an advocate that motivates and drives progress. Internal advocates are the project sponsor and stakeholders that comprise the selection committee. External advocates are software salespeople and their respective company executives. There is often interplay between advocates and various camps emerge that approximate reality TV. Usually one vendor has the “inside track” based on a personal relationship among executives or committee members. It’s a corporate drama filled with intrigue.
How does Open Source fit into the process? It stands on the sidelines with no sales manager, no executive, no learning conference “guru”, and most importantly no sales staff to respond to an RFP. Open Source LMS may have a rich feature set, standards based architecture, and low price tag, but it lacks an advocate. Without this role, there is no one to engage with the selection process and provide information and reassurance to decision makers.
Free software simply does not generate the incentive structure that makes the wheels of the corporate selection process go-round. In addition, there is always a perception that free equals inferior.
So, how do you ensure Open Source gets the consideration it deserves in your selection process? To leverage the benefits of Open Source, you must establish an internal advocate. Selection committees must be flexible to keep Open Source on the table even though there is no company entity to respond to an RFP. This may require designating a member of the team to compile and represent relevant information on Open Source options to compare against commercial products.
I am not suggesting that Open Source is a solution for every organization, or a majority of organizations. However, even when you believe your organization will ultimately choose a commercial vendor, keeping Open Source on the table is a powerful tool for negotiation and accountability.
Educate yourself and your committee on Open Source tools and use this knowledge to challenge license fees and support costs. A wealth of information on Open Source is a few clicks away. There is an established community of experts that can be accessed through online forums. You may be surprised to find that information is more readily available on Open Source LMS than comparable commercial options with dedicated sales representatives.
Increasingly, basic LMS capabilities are a commodity. Ask vendors to demonstrate why and how they add additional value that justifies the extra cost. If nothing else, you will ensure the committee has fulfilled its responsibility for due diligence. If you fail to consider Open Source, your vendor sales representative will thank you, but a tremendous opportunity for your organization will be lost.
Are you using Open Source LMS? How did you arrive at your decision? Did Open Source factor into your LMS selection process?
May 20th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Your hypothesis makes complete sense: Its a mindset: – products that are free simply seem “less valuable”.
Most companies in search of an LMS find themselves researching commercial vendors who have lots of advertising and marketing dollars. These companies come upon sales reps that are well trained, who know clearly that if the companies were to discover the virtues of free open source LMS, their chances of getting an expensive signed contract would be significantly reduced.
Now that more companies understand Open Source LMS, it is my opinion that the future of incredibly expensive commercial LMS products is limited.
Organizations who’ve found themselves with bulky systems that they’ve made limited use of are anxious to move on to free open source where they can choose the aspects of the system they want and the reports that are relevant to the way they do business. Most of the reports available to these companies are never utilized! You are simply buying an expensive system that’s not worth the money.
Do we need advocates for free Open Source LMS? Well…We need to change our concept of products and services available online that don’t cost money. Not an easy switch for some people.
However, if you are concerned with your company’s bottom line you surely need to discover ways to do business in the most cost effective way. Free is very cost effective and may leave additonal resources available for other things. How I wish I knew then…what I know now…
One question I’d like to hear more about: how important is it to have someone in your organization dedicated to your LMS – open source or commercial?
June 1st, 2010 at 7:15 pm
Not knowing what you don’t know seems like the biggest issue with Open Source systems. As such the selection decision comes down to how much companies are willing to pay for risk reduction.
If I were tasked with implementing an LMS for a Fortune 500 company, my first step would be to go through the RFP process to find a vendor that will ensure a successful deployment. Price and flexibilty would be factors, but the factor that I would weight the highest would be whether or not a vendor has demonstrated that they have successfully integrated and maintained LMS solutions with companies comparable to my own.
Open source systems have the benefits of being customizable and potentially cheaper (once implemented), but estimates surrounding cost and implementation timeframes are difficult to quantify — especially with the unknowns of introducing an unproven technology into an established IT environment.
That being the case, if a vendor offering an Open Source solution was unable to show me demonstrated success, I would go with an off-the-shelf solution that would allow me to benchmark, and therefore better estimate costs, deployment timeframes, maintaince requirements, FTE requirements, Technical Specifications, etc.