There are many things to consider when purchasing an enterprise Learning Management System (LMS). You should certainly draw up a list of ideal benefits and features and aim to understand your typical learner profile; you should also ensure executive sponsorship and user adoption. These and many more practical considerations are a necessary part of choosing the right LMS. They are necessary but - importantly - they are not sufficient to make an informed choice of system.

This paper deals with an additional set of considerations often overlooked when purchasing learning technologies - the intangibles - and it focuses on two intangibles in particular. First, the way your vendor supports you after purchase is crucial. Without strategic support from your vendor, all you have done is bought some software. With proper support you have valuable help toward achievement of your business goals.

Second, it is vital to include the hidden costs of buying an LMS beyond the initial purchase. There are some costs of ownership that you might not think to consider initially such as maintenance, upgrades, addition of more functionalities, integration, and ensuring scalability. In addition, it is important to consider how your LMS fits your existing processes and systems and to be ready to make some adjustments to your process in order to avoid costly customizations.

"The right LMS is a vital part of any organization; the wrong one is a drain on its resources", says CERTPOINT CEO Ara Ohanian. "It's crucial to understand LMS intangibles in order to find both the right LMS for your workplace - and the right vendor to support you."