How To Measure Your Per-User LMS Budget
Finding the right LMS is usually a matter of trial and error. You vet vendors, take test drives, and get recommendations from your online network. However, you can simplify the process and take some stress out of the equation by doing prep work in advance. Namely, getting a free LMS consultation. An LMS specialist will create a list of top choices based on your specific needs. Including industry, the number of users, and budget. But you must have a clear idea of how much you’re willing to spend to ensure that this list is as targeted as possible. These tips can help you calculate a more accurate per-user LMS budget before your LMS consultation.
7 Tips To Add Up The Per-User LMS Expenses
1. Factor-In Setup Costs And Ongoing Maintenance
You might be paying for the number of users enrolled in your course. But there are other underlying costs at-play. Such as how much it’s going to cost to set up the system and ongoing maintenance. While some vendors simply charge per-user, others may tack on an additional sign-up fee. Then, there is the not so small matter of the upkeep bill. For example, how much do you need to pay to upgrade the system or purchase add-ons? How much will custom content development set you back? Are there any updates you’ll need to purchase that aren’t included in the package? These are all base expenses that you must account for when calculating your LMS budget.
2. Take A Tally Of Current Active Users
Some LMS vendors will charge for every user enrolled, even if they don’t actively access the platform. While others will only charge for users who are actively participating in your online training program. Meaning, they login in at least once during that calendar month. Thus, it’s wise to get a tally on both accounts. How many employees do you need to accommodate? How many are on your permanent payroll? Seasonal hires? Does everyone need to access training resources each month? Or do some, like external partners, only use training resources quarterly?
3. Account For Your L&D Team
It’s not just the front-end users you need to think about. The back-end users also count as part of the user tally. For example, content developers, LMS admins, and other members of your L&D team. There may even be occasional collaborators who need to be added to the per-user LMS budget estimate. All these contributors still need a login username and password. Which means they all fall under the definition of LMS user and must be accounted for.
4. Consider Your Annual Revenue And Overall Training Expenses
Now you have a better idea of how many users you have and have deducted setup and maintenance costs off the top of your budget. It’s time to determine how much you can actually allocate to a new LMS and online training based on your annual revenue. What percentage of your revenue should you allocate to L&D? How much of that can be used for solely LMS expenses?
5. Leave Some Wiggle Room For Staff Expansion
You might not plan on a surge of new hires in the near future. However, you never know what tomorrow might bring for your organization. There may be an upswing in sales and you suddenly need to onboard 20 new sales team members. Or you decide to expand into a new market, only to discover that you’re at your LMS user cap and budget. Always leave some room in your per-user LMS budget for expansion to avoid overage fees. That said, to get the most accurate estimate you need to have realistic per-user expectation costs. For instance, you probably won’t need to account for a surge of 100 additional users this quarter if rapid growth isn’t in the forecast.
6. Evaluate Your Current LMS Costs
What you currently spend on your LMS will give you a good indication of how much to allocate per-user on your new system. This also offers you the chance to reevaluate your budget and see if there are any expenses to eliminate. In fact, you may be able to use the same per-user estimate as before during your LMS consultation. Especially if there haven’t been any significant changes since you purchased your last platform.
7. Get Input From Your Team Before Crunching The Final Numbers
It’s wise to look at every aspect of business operations before arriving at your final per-user numbers and request a free LMS quote. Get input from your team, such as department heads, LMS admins, and other key players. They can help you plan ahead for future growth and give you a more accurate headcount. They’ll also be able to tell you what to look for in your new system, which is another crucial component of the LMS consultation. After you have a more holistic view of your LMS requirements, add up your users and tabulate your overall budget. Then run the numbers to see how much you can comfortably spend per-user.
Conclusion
Setting a realistic budget and identifying in-house resources ensures that your LMS consultation aligns with your needs. It’s important to account for all fees, even the hidden ones that often get overlooked. You must also look at the big picture when it comes to revenue, current staffing needs, and future growth. Then get feedback from your team before you come up with your final per-user estimate. But it all starts with a base budget of setup fees and maintenance costs that go on top of your user expenses.
You have your personalized LMS recommendation list and you are ready to make your selection. Is there a way to use an online LMS directory to research your top LMS choices and find the LMS that offers the best value for money? Read the article LMS Consulting Follow-Up: 8 Tips To Use An LMS Software Directory To Research Your Top LMS Choices and discover the top tips to use an LMS software directory after LMS consulting to choose the ideal platform for your organization.
