We’ve enjoyed following the blogosphere as gurus declared the LMS dead and raved that it was “no longer the center of learning” — only to see SumTotal Learn become the single point of entry for any learning. APIs(application programming interface) and Experience API (or Tin Can) opened the entire world of learning up to SumTotal customers.

SumTotal 18.1 isn’t the leap forward that 17.2 was. At our first look, it appears to be improvements in those features and some new tools to make admin easier and learning more accessible.

Here are just a few of the highlights:

• It’s now easier to address one of the most pressing problems business face today. SumTotal Learn is now integrated with Harvard Business Publishing, making the entire spectrum of leadership development courses available.
• The new Library is now easier to manage with permissions to manage and organize taxonomies. Administrators can now associate multiple activities to a single topic and associate entire topics with audiences.
• Users can now manage skill matrices, and administrators can connect one skill to another to develop learning paths.
• Your administrator can assign permission to update statuses for all open child activities from the parent activity roster.
• Learners now have a calendar view for searching for activities, and you can put the calendar on their dashboards using the calendar widget.

Of course, these features come complete with the admin tools to manage them.

Getting Ready for the Update

A little preparation can help you make the most of the coming updates. Here are three suggestions to help you start your planning.

Tune up your data files. Before the update is an excellent time to clean up your records. Take this opportunity to archive old content and clean up user records. Check your support records to see if there are issues you need to address before the update.

Prepare your test scripts. Review changes in your organization, processes, and configurations. Document any changed workflows to make it easier to record and edit new scripts.

Evaluate new features to assess how they can help you improve service. For example, if you have beenconsidering investments in leadership development, HBR integration may be just the opportunity you need.

As always, if you have questions, please contact us.

Chasma Place, is an independent source for solutions that will help you keep pace with changes in the way your people work without ripping and replacing your existing systems.