Chosen your LMS and wondering what’s next? Here’s how to migrate your LMS seamlessly and what our process looks like.
We’ve created a whole guide to LMS migration that covers the steps you need to take before you choose your new LMS provider.
But what if you’ve already picked your provider?
Well, that’s where we come in.
We’ve cut the frills to give you the simple and clear outline of what a BuildEmpire LMS migration looks like so you know exactly what to expect, and when once you migrate your LMS with your chosen provider.
Let’s get started.
⏰ TL;DR
We don’t know what LMS provider you’ve picked. But to help you be aware of what’s expected in an LMS migration, we’ve listed out the 5 key phases you’ll follow when you migrate your LMS with BuildEmpire.
Hopefully this gives you a good indication of what’s coming next in the process.
What is LMS migration?
LMS migration is the process of moving courses, users, training records and more from a legacy LMS to a new one.
Just like changing any platform or technology, it can help to improve user experience, increase engagement and ensure better compliance.
Related: Full guide to LMS migration
The process of LMS migration is often feared due to concerns about time taken, costs and potential loss of data.
But as long as you’re with the right LMS provider then you should get a transparent view of how long and how much it will take.
Related: Migration your LMS with BuildEmpire
💡 Pro Tip
Are you a Totara LMS user? We offer free migration for current Totara LMS users so if you’re looking for a new Totara partner then we could be the right choice for you.
Start simple Totara migration
What actual LMS migration looks like
There’s a fair few blogs out there that outline the step process for migration, but we wanted to give even more detail.
After all, it can feel like a daunting prospect so the more info you have, the more you might feel like you can make a change to your LMS!
We generally operate via 5 core phases:
Phase 1: Discovery and migration planning
We’ll begin with a migration workshop with a dedicated project team who work with you to understand your existing platform, how you use it, pain points and what functionality matters most to you.
This will help us identify a clear path forward enabling us to:
- Map all configurations, learning structures, permissions & hierarchies.
- Audit usage of your plugins or identify unsupported functionality
- Assess legacy customisations, and determine their future with the new platform – replace, retired or rebuilt.
- Review any integrations with third party platforms, single sign on, APIs or reporting workflows.
- Define responsibilities, contacts and sign-off processes.
This phase ensures no surprises later in the migration process and provides a clear outline for what is expected from all parties.
Phase 2: Infrastructure & environment planning
With a backup of your current platform, we’ll start looking at how your LMS works.
From there, we can start building the core environment in our platform to ensure that nothing is lost from your legacy LMS.
Throughout this stage, we will keep you in the loop so you know exactly how the platform is coming along and what we’ve been working on.
Phase 3: Data migration & validation
Migration is carried out by our dedicated, experienced and knowledgeable technical team and the process is carefully staged and validated to maintain data integrity and is tested by our team and yours.
We will look at moving across:
- All users on the platform
- Organisational hierarchies, audiences, roles, and permissions
- Courses, learning assets, SCORM content, assessments, and completions
- User profiles, custom fields, and historical learning records
- Supported plugins and applicable configuration settings
At this stage, we will complete thorough testing to make sure that everything works as it should.
Phase 4: Go-live
We’ll agree a go-live date together that suits our schedules and that will minimise business disruption, but this can be easily rescheduled if unexpected business reasons arise.
Key activities in this stage include:
- Final data backup & migration
- UAT by client to ensure final data is correct
- DNS configuration completed to change domain to new platform
- New platform is made live and available to all learners
Don’t worry though. We keep the existing platform online to ensure a rollback option exists if the new platform is not ready.
We’ll also make sure that our technical and project team are booked out for the full day to ensure smooth migration & risk mitigation.
Post-migration
We won’t just set your LMS and forget it.
Following go-live, we provide a dedicated Hypercare period to ensure a smooth transition. This period is usually 30 days or so and includes:
- Daily system health and performance checks
- Direct access to senior developers and engineers
- Weekly check-ins with nominated client stakeholders
- Rapid resolution of post-migration issues
After Hypercare, support transitions into our standard operating model, which includes monthly tactical service meetings, quarterly strategic platform reviews and ongoing advisory support covering performance, accessibility, UX, continuous improvement and proactive monitoring of platform uptime.
How to successfully migrate your LMS
Successful migration of your LMS isn’t just about moving content. It’s picking up functionality and improving it so that your learning experiences actually drive results.
With the right strategy, tools, and support, you can avoid disruption, improve engagement, and future-proof your training ecosystem.
If you’re ready to make that transition without the usual headaches, now’s the time to see what’s possible.
Book a demo with BuildEmpire LMS and discover how a tailored, scalable solution can transform the way you deliver learning.
No. When you migrate with BuildEmpire, we will work with your existing provider or your team to get a backup of your current site. We will use this as a foundation to begin initial creation of your new platform, allowing us to shape it to ensure maximum engagement.
On migration day, all we need is the final backup of your site. This will allow us to bring over the up-to-date data and prepare your new platform for launch.
No. For migration day, we recommend expecting the platform to be unavailable for the whole day. We’ll schedule this in with you at a time that has the least impact for your team, our team & your previous supplier if they’re needed.
On migration day, your old platform will be disabled to ensure there is no loss of data. Once the final backup has been restored, we’ll hand the platform over to you for final testing to ensure you’re happy with everything before unlocking access & releasing the new experience to your learners!
If you are using custom plugins or code that we do not support, you will lose access to that, but we will discuss this as part of your migration plan, highlighting alternatives which may include using other plugins or even custom build solution if it’s business critical.
Migrations vary in complexity based on the the amount of content, volume of users, number of completion records and specific technical requirements, so it’s not possible to give an exact timeframe for completion. However, we aim to complete the process within a matter of weeks and will always establish a realistic timeline with you during the kickoff meeting.
If you are migrating from Totara and we are able to obtain a full copy of the database from your current partner, migration is typically free. If you are migrating from a different system, the cost is dependent on the scope of work involved in the transition. We will always be transparent and provide a clear breakdown of any migration costs at the proposal stage.
