Ugh it’s so confusing. Say a small business is tasked with finding a learning platform for their company. Maybe LMS shows up in searches, is that what we need? Wait, we are training so to speak, what’s this TMS thing? LMS vs TMS vs LXP (huh?) – help me!
Some General Definitions for LMS, TMS and More…
You can want and need a platform for onboarding your new employees without being an expert in EdTech (Education Technology). Or without knowing everything about an LMS (Learning Management System). And why am I seeing TMS (Training Management System) here?
Hmmm, training and learning, well those make sense. Sometimes we train our customers how to use our products. Then they are learning how to use our products. The “MS” – Management Systems. I suppose that sounds like how something works. So how we do our training might be a TMS, and how users learn from our courses might be an LMS?
Training and Learning are Two Sides of the Same Coin
It’s often like this in business. We see things from our side, the knowledge of what we do or sell. Then we need to understand our customers, help them with what they need to learn to get the most out of something. From this we see the business side of what we are trying to train, and the individual learner side.
A TMS manages your system from the point of view of what YOU need to do. Especially if you have instructors leading classes, you need to book instructors and rooms for training and manage this all over the country, or even the world. It provides in-depth reporting and analysis of your system. It’s the administrative tasks to set up your training.
An LMS is the set-up that helps you make your courses (in some systems, the authoring tool is built in, in others it is a separate system) then makes them available to your users wherever they are. Your new employees onboarding, your customers learning how your new product works – they take a course on an LMS. It could be self-paced training, from wherever they are.
What Your Small Business Likely Needs is an LMS
You have some videos and webinars already that show employees how to fill in the expense forms, and customers how to use your products. Maybe some written instructions that you need to make more lively. You want to be able to set up a simple course, maybe using one of the old videos. And maybe reinforce learning of the essential elements by adding in a simple quiz the user takes after watching the course.
Sound like your situation? Our video LMS helps you set up your courses in a simple and secure manner on our platform. It then guides you from set up through making your first course.
So, Do I Have to Choose Between an LMS and a TMS?
Excellent question! No, you don’t. An LMS and a TMS can complement each other, especially for a very large-scale need and with instructor-led courses. If you have to manage the heavy logistics of in-person trainings with finding qualified instructors and booking rooms all over, you likely have to have a TMS in addition to an LMS.
But doing some in-person training — like booking your warehouse space to perform an annual Expense Form review — doesn’t mean you need a TMS. You can still use an LMS such as uQualio to prepare content that complements the in-person instructor training and manage this from your company. And while an LMS may not report on everything about your training logistics, platforms such as ours still provide plenty of analytics. Reporting helps you know who has received training, how long certifications are valid, user course ratings, and so much more to continue to improve your training.
Then Why is the Headline LMS vs TMS vs LXP?
Yeah, we knew you’d see that. We acknowledge that this is confusing. But LXP is a thing, seriously. It means Learning Experience Platform. It personalizes the learner’s experience a bit, including connections to additional sources of information for those who may need or want it.
We mention LXP because in this field, there is no one thing that an LMS cannot also be in a TMS or an LXP. As everyone in our industry has access to smarter AI tools and we share our knowledge with each other, all these platforms have the potential to have many helpful characteristics.
We’re a Video LMS with a Little TMS and a Side of LXP!
Just like people, we’re all a little or a lot different from each other, but we also have things in common. Don’t let all the abbreviations or acronyms scare you. Our mission is to make learning accessible to all.
LMS vs TMS vs LXP – Remember You Get to Decide, Choose, Learn
You are the customer. Whether you become our customer or not, we want to help you navigate getting the video eLearning system – or whatever you wish to call it – that will work for your needs. You may see several names for this, but:
- Write out the features you know you need, explaining them however you need to.
- Know which features you absolutely must have, and those that would be nice but aren’t crucial.
- Have an idea of how many Active Users you may have (those who will be specifically invited to a private course). You do not pay for Public Users.
- Take advantage of any free trials for your LMS; most have them, and we have a 14-day free trial as well.
- Consider setting up a demo with any LMS company when you have explored options and narrowed your selection down. Talking with a few platforms can help you learn more about options you didn’t even consider. Many platforms offer a demo, including here, where you can scroll down to our Let’s Meet box to talk with us.
