What common mistakes do UK companies make when switching LMS providers?

The most common mistakes are leaving too little time before the old contract ends, forgetting to export training history and certificates, moving every old course without a clear-out, and skipping a pilot. Most problems come from the data and the people, not the software. Plan the move backwards from your notice date, agree who moves what, test with a small group, and keep the old system readable until you've checked the records.

The common mistakes, and how to avoid them

1. Missing the notice period on the old contract

Many LMS contracts renew automatically unless you give notice, often months before the end date. Find your notice date first and plan everything backwards from it. If the timing is tight, ask your current provider for a short extension or read-only access while you check the move.

2. Not exporting training history and certificates

Your completion records are often a legal or regulatory record, for example for health and safety, safeguarding or financial services training. Before you leave, export:

• every learner's completions, with dates, scores and pass/fail
• certificate and expiry dates, so refresher training isn't missed
• classroom and event attendance
• any uploaded evidence, such as signed policies

Ask the old vendor for these as a spreadsheet (CSV or Excel), and check them before the old system is switched off.

3. Moving every course without a clear-out

An LMS move is the best chance you'll get to tidy up. Archive courses nobody has opened in a year, merge duplicates and retire out-of-date content. You'll move less, test less and give learners a cleaner catalogue.

4. Assuming every course will "just work"

SCORM courses usually move well between systems, but test a sample from each authoring tool you use (Storyline, Rise, Captivate and older content) before you move them all. Content built inside the old vendor's own tools may not export in a standard format at all. Find those courses early, as they may need rebuilding.

5. Leaving sign-in and HR links until last

Single sign-on and HR feeds need your IT team's time, and their diaries fill up. Book them in at the start. Agree how new starters, movers and leavers will flow into the new system, and test it with real records.

6. Skipping the pilot

A pilot with real users finds problems that a demo never will, such as a course that won't resume or a report that doesn't match. Fixing them with 30 people is far easier than with 3,000.

7. Under-communicating with learners and managers

People notice when their login page changes. Tell them what's changing, when, why it's better for them, and where to get help. Managers need their own briefing, because they'll get the questions.

8. Switching off the old system too soon

Keep read-only access to the old LMS (or a full data export) until you've checked that records match in the new one. Agree this in writing with the outgoing vendor.

How long does it take to migrate training content to a new LMS?

There is no single answer, as it depends on how much you move and how clean it is. As a planning guide:

• Users and groups usually take days, not weeks, if you have a clean spreadsheet or an HR feed.
• SCORM courses move fairly quickly once a sample has been tested, because they are re-uploaded rather than rebuilt.
• Training history takes longest to get right. Exports from the old system rarely match the new system's format exactly, so allow time to map, import and check.
• Integrations (SSO, HR, reporting tools) depend mainly on your IT team's availability.

For most organisations, the timeline is set by two things: the notice period on the old contract and how quickly your own team can check the data. Build in a buffer of a few weeks before the old system closes.

Installation is not the same as implementation

Setting up a new LMS (installation) is quick: with a hosted system, your site can be ready within days. Getting it working properly across your organisation (implementation) is the real project: connecting sign-in and HR data, moving courses and history, setting up reporting, training administrators and managers, and launching to learners.

For medium and large organisations, 8 to 12 weeks from signing to full go-live is a useful benchmark to plan around. It can be considerably less for a single site with clean data and standard needs, and more where you have complex integrations, several organisations or regions, or years of training history to move. Ask any vendor for a plan built around your scale and requirements, not a one-size-fits-all timescale.

How to structure a pilot before buying

1. Pick a real group. One department or site of 20 to 50 people, including a few sceptics and at least two line managers.
2. Use your own content. Load three to five of your real courses, including your oldest SCORM package.
3. Connect your own sign-in. Test SSO with your identity provider, not demo accounts.
4. Write the success criteria down first. For example: everyone can log in first time, completion data is accurate, managers can see overdue training without help, and admins can run the monthly compliance report alone.
5. Set a fixed length. Four to eight weeks is usually enough to cover a reporting cycle.
6. Agree the terms. What the pilot costs, whether that comes off the contract, and what happens to the data if you don't go ahead.
7. Review honestly. Score the pilot against your criteria, not against how the demo felt.

How to roll out a new LMS across 200+ employees

Weeks before launch

• Name an owner for the project, and a champion in each department or site.
• Set up the structure: departments, locations, job roles and managers.
• Import users, or connect the HR feed, and check the reporting lines are right.
• Load and test courses, and import training history.
• Set up assignments, reminders and refresher rules for mandatory training.
• Run the pilot and fix what it finds.

Launch

• Send learners a short message: what's changing, the date, how to log in and where to get help.
• Brief managers separately on their dashboards and reports.
• Train admins before go-live, not after.
• Launch in waves (for example by site or department) if you have more than a few hundred people, so the help desk isn't flooded on day one.

After launch

• Watch the first week's logins and support tickets closely.
• Compare compliance figures in the new system with the old export.
• Ask for feedback at 30 days and fix the top three issues.
• Only then close the old system.

Switching checklist

• Notice date on the old contract found and diarised
• Full export of users, completions, certificates and evidence received and checked
• Course list cleaned up: keep, update, retire
• Sample of each course type tested in the new LMS
• SSO and HR feed tested with real records
• Pilot run against written success criteria
• Learners and managers told what's changing and when
• Admins trained
• Records in the new system checked against the old export
• Old system closed, with read-only access or a full export kept

How Open eLMS handles this

If you're moving to Open eLMS, here's what we can offer. Ask us to show any of it in a demo.

• Users. Admins can import users from a spreadsheet (CSV or Excel), matching your columns to Open eLMS fields. A scheduled file feed from your HR system can add new starters and disable leavers automatically, keeping their training history, and the Open eLMS API can add users and assign learning.
• Training history. Past training results, including completion dates, status and scores, can be imported from a spreadsheet so your records come with you.
• Courses. Re-upload your SCORM 1.2 and 2004 courses, including packages from Articulate Storyline, Rise and Adobe Captivate. They are tracked in full: completion, pass/fail, score, time spent and resume. PowerPoint decks and videos can also be turned into trackable learning.
• Updating courses later. Upload a new version of a course and switch it live, with the option to carry existing completions across.
• Sign-in. Single sign-on with Microsoft, Google or other identity providers. Our support team works with your IT administrators to set it up and test it.
• Getting live. Your branded Open eLMS site is usually set up within a day or two of signing. Full implementation takes longer and depends on your organisation. For medium and large organisations, 8 to 12 weeks is a sensible benchmark, but it can be much quicker for a straightforward rollout, or longer where there are complex integrations, many sites or a lot of history to move. We have run implementations of every size and shape. On Enterprise plans, onboarding is run as a project, with a plan, milestones and progress you can see, plus live training for administrators and managers, online or in person.
• If you leave. Learners can take the work they've submitted with them using Pack and Go. Your SCORM courses stay in a standard format you can use in any LMS.
• Content to fill gaps. Over 4,500 editable SCORM courses in 28 languages, and the Open eLMS Learning Generator to turn your documents into new courses with AI.
• Security. ISO 27001 (certificate 373282021), ISO 9001, ISO 20000, Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus. ICO registration ZB031013. A 99.9% uptime SLA.
• Pricing. Per user per year, published on our pricing page.

Planning a move to Open eLMS?

Tell us what you're moving from and when your contract ends, and we'll walk you through a realistic plan in the demo.

• Book a demo
• Email sales@openelms.com
• Call +44 (0)203 929 2051