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Top Advantages of Choosing an Open Source LMS for Your Organization

While looking for your learning management system , you will come across a multitude of questions and one of the most important questions is “Is open source the best option for my organization?” However, all the considerations hinge on an important factor that is your budget. Different LMS licensing models bring in different pitfalls and perks. While many companies opt for open source LMS to create and deploy their online training, is it really the best option? Let’s delve deep into the benefits as well as the drawbacks of open source LMS. What is an open source LMS? An open source LMS platform offers you the flexibility to use the best of breed content strategy in order to incorporate the best content and e-learning tools into application. They are preferred by the users as they offer all the features to be programmed and implemented as per your specific needs. Any proprietary LMS needs zero technical efforts and includes the support throughout the software lifecycle and comes with a lot of other benefits. Why should you prefer to use open source LMS for your organization? Ownership of data: An important aspect of security is the ownership of one’s own data. With an open source system, you will always be the owner of your data and your LMS code and if you find your provider or hosting partner not satisfying, you can bring your learning platform in-house or even choose some other service provider. Open source gives you the control of your data, which is not possible in a closed source solution. Fully customizable: Open source LMS features codes that you can easily customize to suit your specific needs, provided you have the programing experience and knowledge. With an open source LMS, you can incorporate your branding, personalize the dashboards, adjust the layout and etc. In short, you can modify aspect of the LMS platform to attain your training goals and for this, you don’t have to obtain permission as it is a free to use system. Retain your customer data and your community: With an open source LMS, you will have more control over the data that you collect from the learners and you can also ensure that the data is handled properly and securely. And in the age of GDPR compliance, this has become even more important. With a hosted LMS, your learners are not actually your own and if you choose to leave the platform, then you won’t be able to port the customer data to your new platform. Active user community for ongoing support Most open source platforms come complete with an online user community where you can ask for advice or any help to improve the functionality of your application and also master the features of the platform. You can also find tips and tricks and ask questions to the community when you encounter any problem or even share the pointers after familiarizing with the tools. The basic key to success is to find the system with an active user community and online support resources like the training.