Almost a year back, the LMS was under fire from many corners and questions were being raised about its very future. Experts around the world were contemplating if the LMS will survive. Not just did it survive, but today, it has successfully evolved to adapt itself to the changes in the learning ecosystem.

This is evident as we look at changing role of LMS in Training Companies. From a time when its main purpose was to deliver core training activities, to today when social and informal learning components have become de facto the default features, the Learning Management System has come a long way since its inception. It has grown and continues to grow and offer the right set of tools both for formal and informal learning. We have captured this entire journey in an eBook: LMS in Training Companies – Then & Now.

There is no better way to start a morning than to find not one, not two, but FIVE emails with congratulations written all over them. Earlier today, we received emails from Brandon-Hall Group letting us know that our best value LMS – UpsideLMS – has won 5 Brandon Hall Excellence in Technology Awards (2010) awards. Last year, under the same awards, UpsideLMS had won 3 awards (across different categories). The only LMS to have won these many awards.

As in the previous year, this year too, UpsideLMS won awards in all the categories it was submitted in. In every category, Brandon-Hall announces Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners and UpsideLMS’s tally, for this year, stands tall and impressive with a list of 2 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze.

Customer Complaints, how to avoid the traps makes for an interesting read; especially so because it looks at the LMS sales process purely from a customer’s perspective. The issues highlighted are quite pertinent and yes, I think, there is a high probability that an organization looking for an LMS (new or changing) would have encountered one or more of these traps. Some may actually have fallen into these traps unknowingly.

It’s the time of the year when the air carries the happy jingle of Santa’s bells and the world celebrates the dawn of a new year! For us at Upside Learning, it marks a time to look back on the days gone by and celebrate the awards we won, heights we scaled and hurdles we overcame. But more than these, it marks a time to celebrate the relationship we share with you – our readers. It is a celebration that goes beyond the professional ties and the business conversations; beyond departments and designations; beyond regions and religions.

After the recent recognition of Upside Learning as one of the top 20 Learning portal companies in the world by trainingindustry.com, Sébastien FRAYSSE of lms-selection.com interviewed us and put it up here on his blog with the title LMS Vendor interview: Upside Learning.

In his post Sébastien highlights what is part of our core philosophy – innovation – “Upside Learning is a very innovative vendor”.

This year has been truly remarkable for UpsideLMS.

First, there were the 3 awards from Brandon Hall Awards for Excellence in Learning Technology, then it was Brandon Hall, chairman of Brandon Hall Research, naming UpsideLMS amongst the ‘Five Emerging Learning Management Systems (LMSs) to Watch’ in Chief Learning Officer (CLO) Magazine, and now its TrainingIndustry.com featuring Upside Learning in its inaugural ‘Top 20 Learning Portal Companies List’. We are on a roll and how!

Following the recent release of UpsideLMS Version 4.0 we have now introduced a reseller program for the product and related services. We invite independent organizations and individual professionals to the program. We aim to expand our reach to markets and customers needing reliable eLearning solutions.

Looks like a season for Awards; and as a vibrant community, it was about time LearnTrends joined in. Tony Karrer, Jay Cross and George Siemens have announced the first-ever LearnTrends2009 Innovation awards. They say “The awards will recognize products, projects, and companies that represent significant innovation in Corporate/Workplace Learning and Performance.” I like the idea, a focused award for innovation.

Today we reach a significant milestone as we release UpsideLMS Version 4.0 – a comprehensive, fully-featured learning management system delivered on a robust, scalable and reliable architecture. It’s extremely satisfying for me personally as the chief architect of the system since its first release.  Here I am sharing a quick overview of what’s new in Version 4.0 and I encourage you to take a tour OR a trial and let me know of your thoughts on the latest version of our product.