Reports from your LMS are good for viewing detailed lists of activity or perhaps a summary of data, but most people find them limiting. If you want to look at different segments of your learning population or different courses, you’ll probably have to get a completely new report. This takes time and costs money. Reports are also relatively flat. Today’s managers want a quick and versatile way to view the data. Is viewing report data alone really a sufficient basis for making important decisions within an organization? My answer is probably not.

Enter Business Intelligence (BI). BI basically involves collecting data about a business and then turning it into useful information that, when used correctly, can be highly beneficial to the business. Effective BI is most useful for managers and decision makers because it allows them to make more informed decisions to help the business meet its’ objectives. However, as you have probably discovered yourself, the reality of this is often more complex than the theory; and, getting your information technology (IT) group to prioritize a BI initiative for learning seldom materializes.

It comes down to adage: You can’t manage what you can’t measure. Why is the “manage” in learning management system if you can’t measure the results and the business outcomes of the training? Learning analytics takes learning management reporting one step further and integrates the essential components of business intelligence. Today’s software is extremely dynamic and flexible. Users can view the data in the most general ways possible and, with the click of an icon, they can use the same data in more specific ways. For example, they may want to compare the results of training from a prior quarter to the intended performance factors one or two quarters later.

By integrating learning and business data, learning analytics allows decision makers in an organization to make highly informed decisions, decisions that can dictate where and how you spend your limited learning resources. And it comes without the hefty price tag and complexities of a full blown BI initiative. Two main priorities for every business are working out the most timely and cost-effective ways to do things. When it comes to enhancing your LMS reporting, learning analytics is your answer to accessing useful and relevant data in the most efficient way possible.