Why are we thinking of migrating to a hosted platform?
CSM will have to purchase S/W and H/W to continue into 2016 as a self-hosted LMS college. Additionally, LMS environment is growing at CSM and we need to upgrade our infrastructure, resource, and staff.
How did we come to the decision of three LMS hosting platforms?
Several options were brought to the table during a meeting with the VP's in November 2014. After reviewing all the options, DLF was given the approval to migrate our LMS to a hosted environment. We identified three LSM products that would likely fit our needs the best.
Decision Points
What Next?
The project’s investment of time and cost is significant, as are the risks of disruption from selecting the wrong solution. Before we start the evaluation there are several factors we should identify as milestones in the project:
1. Organization and Timeline – Create an LMS Task Force consisting of students, faculty, and staff to assist with each milestone of the project. Define stakeholders. Develop a time-line that which provides ample time to make the transition if needed from one LMS to another.
2. Needs analysis – Ask stakeholders what they like most about the current Blackboard LMS, and what they would most like to see improved. Ask IMT about any technical standards or constraints they need to consider. Will the solution meet our expecting rapid growth in the coming years? Training and documentation how much will this involve?
3. LMS Requirements – Functional, technical, and cost.
a. Functional – Outcomes, surveys, early warning, portfolios, ease of operation.
b. Technical – Security, accessibility, system administration, data base, Colleague integration, migration from other LMS.
c. Cost – Managed or not managed, IT positions needed to support LMS.
4. Product evaluation – Have a list of requirements for the vendors. Attend a product webinar and requests a demonstrations. Request an account “Sandbox” area where we can thoroughly test the product. Request ballpark licensing costs; inquire about their product’s support, accessibility and security regulations.
5. Selection - Negotiate the best pricing and terms by three products. Send a request for proposal (RFP) to each vendor asking for pricing quotes, implementation timeframes, support options, and hosting options.
A thorough needs analysis engages stakeholders throughout CSM including DAA and DSI helps to create a big-picture view of LMS needs. Clearly defined and documented requirements capture those needs and form the basis of our product selection criteria. Getting bids from three vendors whose products appear to be equally good candidates for CSM positions us to get the best terms and/or features for our money. Although this process may take time and effort, it helps ensure that we make the optimum decision and end up with as LMS that is best suited to our needs.
CSM will have to purchase S/W and H/W to continue into 2016 as a self-hosted LMS college. Additionally, LMS environment is growing at CSM and we need to upgrade our infrastructure, resource, and staff.
- Blackboard has outgrown its original intent
- Scope is too large to manage with current operation
- Physical and data security
- Self-Hosting
- Hire dedicated staff with expertise
- Upgrade/expand H/W and S/W
- Hosted LMS
How did we come to the decision of three LMS hosting platforms?
Several options were brought to the table during a meeting with the VP's in November 2014. After reviewing all the options, DLF was given the approval to migrate our LMS to a hosted environment. We identified three LSM products that would likely fit our needs the best.
Decision Points
- Hosting is more reliable?
- Handles growth?
- Less down time?
- Initial costs – long-term costs?
- Smooth transition?
- Interoperability, cost effective, scalability and sustainability
- Migration of old courses and users
- Retain the old DNS listing
- Export/Import speeds compared to local-hosted system
- Overlap: Still-functioning self-hosted environment, while the Bb Hosting
- Can we maintain the old environment for archive purposes (CSM legacy files)
- Maintenance windows
- How much space in the course by default
- Analytics and outcomes assessment
What Next?
The project’s investment of time and cost is significant, as are the risks of disruption from selecting the wrong solution. Before we start the evaluation there are several factors we should identify as milestones in the project:
1. Organization and Timeline – Create an LMS Task Force consisting of students, faculty, and staff to assist with each milestone of the project. Define stakeholders. Develop a time-line that which provides ample time to make the transition if needed from one LMS to another.
2. Needs analysis – Ask stakeholders what they like most about the current Blackboard LMS, and what they would most like to see improved. Ask IMT about any technical standards or constraints they need to consider. Will the solution meet our expecting rapid growth in the coming years? Training and documentation how much will this involve?
3. LMS Requirements – Functional, technical, and cost.
a. Functional – Outcomes, surveys, early warning, portfolios, ease of operation.
b. Technical – Security, accessibility, system administration, data base, Colleague integration, migration from other LMS.
c. Cost – Managed or not managed, IT positions needed to support LMS.
4. Product evaluation – Have a list of requirements for the vendors. Attend a product webinar and requests a demonstrations. Request an account “Sandbox” area where we can thoroughly test the product. Request ballpark licensing costs; inquire about their product’s support, accessibility and security regulations.
5. Selection - Negotiate the best pricing and terms by three products. Send a request for proposal (RFP) to each vendor asking for pricing quotes, implementation timeframes, support options, and hosting options.
A thorough needs analysis engages stakeholders throughout CSM including DAA and DSI helps to create a big-picture view of LMS needs. Clearly defined and documented requirements capture those needs and form the basis of our product selection criteria. Getting bids from three vendors whose products appear to be equally good candidates for CSM positions us to get the best terms and/or features for our money. Although this process may take time and effort, it helps ensure that we make the optimum decision and end up with as LMS that is best suited to our needs.