Upcoming WCET Webcast: “Why the RFP Process Doesn’t Work in Today’s LMS Market”

I have written several articles (posted here at e-Literate, here at the Delta Initiative website, and as a guest post at WCET) about the significant changes that the LMS market is undergoing, moving from an enterprise-class, mini-ERP, system to a learning platform. The folks at WCET provide a great set of resources for the higher ed community, and the asked me to set up a webcast on the subject, to allow a more interactive discussion. As part of this webcast, I will be joined by Patrick Masson, Chief Technology Officer at UMassOnline. Patrick and his team have created a Needs Identification Framework for Technology Innovation (NIFTI) that is a much more robust approach to technology selection and innovation that the standard RFP process.

The webcast is scheduled for May 22. You can go to the WCET site here for more information or to register.

From the description:

We have seen a great deal of change in the higher education Learning Management System (LMS) market over the past year. One of the biggest changes to the market is that we seem to be moving from an enterprise LMS market, with full-featured monolithic systems, into a learning platform market, with many cloud-based platforms that don’t attempt to have all the features in one system. Key questions arise, however, about how institutions should adapt their technology decision-making processes based on these market changes. Solely relying in a traditional Request for Proposal (RFP) process is no longer sufficient.

This session will take a look at a framework for strategic evaluation of learning platform options along with specific examples from UMassOnline. We will consider how market changes could or should change an institution’s processes for evaluating, selection, piloting and implementing various learning platforms and applications. Presenters include Phil Hill, Executive Vice President at Delta Initiative, and Patrick Masson, Chief Technology Officer at UMassOnline.