Simply put, an LMS automates the administration of training events by registering users, tracking results, recording data from students, and providing reports to management through a central interface over a LAN, intranet, or Internet. It's also a tool that can provide a detailed measurement of critical learning metrics, as well as a way to decentralize administration, accelerate delivery, track effectiveness, and manage your training program. In fact, some industry analysts have stated that buying an LMS is the most important e-learning purchase your company will ever make. With all of the choices in today's marketplace, finding an LMS to meet your needs can be a challenge. Think in terms of administrative functions like group creation, registration, and reporting, course and user management, and student skill assessment and tracking.
Many LMS systems support only one type of learning environment.
You may also want to ask what types of performance support the LMS provides. Integrating an LMS with your company's current systems may require quite a bit of expertise. Some vendors can host your LMS for you. This eliminates the need to install and configure the LMS on your server, as well as the internal IT support, infrastructure, and maintenance that an internally hosted solution requires. Most vendors will let you try their LMS for free, so be sure to ask for a demonstration.