Are you looking to digitalise your training strategy? That’s a good place to start.
But the question soon arises: should you choose a TMS (Training Management System) or an LMS (Learning Management System)? At first glance, these two training tools look very similar. However, they have very different uses, functionalities and purposes. And this choice is not insignificant. It has a direct impact on how you manage your resources, monitor skills and engage your learners.
In this article, we’ll help you to see the difference between LMS and TMS functionalities, so that you can choose the solution best suited to your HR, pedagogical and business needs.
TMS vs LMS: two systems for training, but not for the same purposes
Let’s start by defining the two tools.
The TMS is a training management system. It handles all the administrative tasks: registrations, invitations, budget management, schedules, attendance sheets and reporting.
The LMS is a learning management system. It hosts learning content, enables the progress of learners to be monitored and offers interaction tools to improve engagement.
In short, the TMS manages the logistical organisation, while the LMS drives the learning experience.
The LMS: perfect for enriching the learning experience
The LMS is often the first tool implemented in a digital learning approach. It enables you to :
- Distribute training content (videos, quizzes, SCORM modules, podcasts, etc.)
- Offer personalised courses, in particular with adaptive learning
- Monitor learners’ progress in real time
- Integrate engagement levers such as gamification, microlearning and immediate feedback
- Manage skills assessments and offer certifications
The LMS can also be used to carry out skills assessments, certify learning paths and track learning data.
It is a solution designed to make training more fluid, accessible and engaging. It is aimed primarily at learners and trainers, and helps to develop emerging skills on an ongoing basis.
The TMS: ideal for structuring and managing training organisation
The TMS is a tool designed for training managers, HR departments and administrative teams. It facilitates training planning and the management of internal processes.
Here are some of the key features of a TMS:
- Planning sessions (face-to-face, distance learning, hybrid)
- Managing registrations, invitations, attendance sheets, etc.
- Manage the training budget and track costs
- Manage a training catalogue
- Monitor regulatory obligations and the training plan
- Generate comprehensive activity reports
- Manage certificates, hot and cold assessments and monitor compulsory retraining
- Create sessions directly by trainers, with management of available places
- Send automatic notifications (invitations, reminders)
- Provide detailed reports, useful for strategic management
- Provide for electronic signatures (as part of the roadmap
The TMS is therefore a real dashboard. It enables your teams to optimise the training budget, automate administrative tasks and comply with legal obligations.
LMS and TMS: in opposition or complementary?
Today, many companies no longer choose between the two. Instead, they are choosing to connect their LMS and their TMS to create a fluid, high-performance ecosystem.
Here’s how it can work:
The TMS manages an employee’s registration for a training course
The LMS then gives them access to their online course
The results from the LMS are automatically fed into the TMS reports.
This type of integration enables you to :
- Centralise data
- Eliminate double entries
- Monitor learner engagement from start to finish
- Optimise training costs and ROI
It’s the ideal choice for organisations that want to reconcile educational performance with administrative efficiency.
How do you choose the right solution?
There is no single answer. The choice between an LMS, a TMS or a combination of the two depends above all on your internal priorities.
- Are you looking to improve the learning experience?
An LMS is the right place to start. It allows you to offer interactive, engaging and personalised content, while tracking learners’ progress and involvement in real time. It’s the ideal tool for enhancing the educational impact of your training courses.
- Do you first need to structure and automate your administrative management?
If so, turn to a TMS. It centralises your processes, simplifies logistical tasks and helps you manage registrations, plan sessions, monitor budgets and ensure compliance. It saves your training teams a considerable amount of time.
- And what if your challenges are both educational and organisational?
The most effective approach is to connect an LMS to a TMS. This gives you the best of both worlds: optimised training management and an enhanced learning experience. By integrating these tools, you can streamline the learning process, centralise data and maximise your training ROI.
You now have a clear vision of the differences between TMS and LMS, and of their respective uses. These tools do not meet the same needs, but they often complement each other. By combining them intelligently, you can both enhance teaching effectiveness and simplify the administrative management of your training courses.
MOS Chorus: the all-in-one solution
This is particularly the case with MOS Chorus, our all-in-one platform that combines the key functions of an LMS and a TMS in a single environment. With this integrated solution, you no longer need to connect two different tools: you can centralise all your training processes in a single platform. It’s the perfect solution if you want to increase efficiency while simplifying your digital environment.
If your priority is to reconcile the learning experience and training management, without complicating your information system, a tool like MOS Chorus could be a strategic alternative to consider.
Would you like to find out more? Our digital learning experts are here to help.
Do you still have questions? Do you need help with your own use case?
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