Used to its full potential, an LMS provides a decision support system that can be used to help an organization execute on its business strategy and manage organizational change. Here are a few ways that organizations are using LMSs to deliver business value:

New Product Rollout:

Enabling the speed to market of new products may be the most compelling business use of an LMS today. The goal is to ensure the quality and consistency of the sales message delivered to customers. By using an LMS to track the delivery of new product information and training to the sales force, for example, a sales manager can make sure that the sales force is getting exactly what they need to be effective.

Mergers and Acquisitions:

A KPMG study reported in "The Economist" noted the difficulty that many organizations have in delivering shareholder value after a merger or acquisition. More than half of the corporations studied actually destroyed shareholder value. Reasons often cited by experts include the lack of adequate attention paid to integrating employees and their competencies across the two organizations, pre- and post-merger. In the past, many of these things have been handled informally. By using an LMS, though, an organization can move from an informal integration process to a formal one.

ERP Implementation:

Not unlike a corporate merger, an enterprise-wide ERP implementation (or re-implementation) can be one of the most demanding events that an organization must go through. An ERP implementation touches every business process and can distract employees from performing their core functions and responsibilities. Thus, speed and quality of implementation are key issues.

Compliance/Regulatory:

Some organizations use LMSs to help manage the process of regulatory compliance. Often, the goal is to manage risk and avoid the liability consequent from noncompliance, and LMSs are well-suited for this purpose.