Research Report

ExpertusONE LMS vs. SumTotal LMS

Five key differences between the ExpertusONE and SumTotal enterprise LMSs:

  1. SumTotal provides a broad suite of HR software; however, ExpertusONE is 100% focused on learning
  2. Only ExpertusONE has an award-winning user interface that’s modern, intuitive, and easy to learn and use
  3. ExpertusONE easily integrates with any third-party application through REST APIs
  4. ExpertusONE has advanced mobile support
  5. No gamification in SumTotal’s LMS and limitations in its social tools

The following comparison is based on client/partner feedback, research and publically available analyst reviews:

ExpertusONE LMS SumTotal Learn LMS
Focus
  • ExpertusONE is 100% focused on learning
  • Implement best practice functionality that can apply to multiple customers
  • Customers can influence the roadmap
  • The overall strategy is to become an HR system (talent management, payroll, content, etc.)
  • Learning is only one module of the whole suite
Product Features
  • ‘Deep learning’ platform with all features and functionality included out-of-the-box
  • Ranked the #1 LMS for 2013 and 2014
  • The most comprehensive platform on the market, both from a features and integrations standpoint
  • Analysts point to the platform’s significant challenges/lackings:
    • No gamification
    • Limited mobile functionality
    • No eCommerce promo codes and discounts
    • Poor event management
User Interface (UI)
  • One of the best UIs: user-friendly, intuitive, and easy to use
  • Users need no training; admins need only limited training
  • Recently updated UI
  • Still needs improvements, however, to be truly modern
Third-party Integrations/ System Openness
  • Natively built for the cloud (SaaS)
  • Open system based on new technology standards (LAMP) and RESTful APIs
  • Can integrate with many systems and applications
  • Historically mainly deployed on-premise; hosted is just recent
  • Older technologies/capabilities for APIs (.Net); make SaaS management more complex
  • Unclear if APIs will be further supported as a result of the 2014 SkillSoft acquisition
Continuity/ Stability
  • Privately owned company with a stable capital structure
  • Founders still lead the company today
  • One-product company with a clear strategy and roadmap
  • Multiple ownership changes and acquisitions resulted in a large legacy base of products to support
  • Recently acquired by Skillsoft; results in uncertainty for product support/ roadmap and LMS support
Cost
  • Competitive pricing due to focus on learning, SaaS model benefits, and ease of administration
  • Expensive pricing due to broader HR suite offering
  • Higher administrative overhead due to solution complexity
Customer Base Growth
  • Double-digit customer growth
  • Lost ground in the European market with the biggest customer attrition among TM/LMS enterprise players