October 2009

Open Source LMS

During these tough economic times, inquiring minds are taking a serious look at the advantages of Open Source solutions to Learning Management Systems. In the past, no manager wanted to be responsible for bringing free software into the corporate environment, fearing the product would be dangerously buggy, freakishly geeky, or otherwise sub-standard. In fact, suspicions of Open Source ran so high that I was once accused of being a Communist for recommending Moodle in a Petroleum Industry training convention! Today, however, attitudes about Open Source are shifting as corporations tighten their belts.

So what information should everybody know about Open Source LMSs?

First and most importantly, people need to understand that the Open Source business model is fundamentally different from the traditional proprietary-license model. Since the source code for such programs is freely available to everybody, there is no cost for the software or the license to use the software. With the average cost of an LMS for 100,000 users being well over $1 million per year, this is a fact that cannot afford to be overlooked.

Secondly, Open Source software is very good software, with many highly successful examples such as Moodle. Open Source software that is no good quickly dies through lack of use and no community support. Those programs that are good thrive, with armies of developers testing and improving the software. In fact the Open Source model greatly appeals to software developers, as it provides them a platform to showcase their talents.  It’s true that there is no single point of contact for support with Open Source software such as Moodle, but with a user-base hundreds of times larger than the largest proprietary LMS, there are many qualified companies like Praxis who can provide reliable 24/7 support for Moodle.

Finally, Open Source is rapidly gaining acceptance in the corporate world. An eLearning Guild survey conducted in 2007 showed that 18% of respondents in corporate settings were already using Moodle. The percentage is higher now, and still climbing. As a consequence to this shift in Moodle’s user-base, many specific requirements of corporations have been addressed. Over the past two years, for example, requirements from corporate clients have resulted in the development of interfaces between Moodle and SAP as well as similar interfaces with PeopleSoft and other ERP and Human Resources Systems.