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Model approach M
ind Click says it has a passion for creativity and openness. What does it mean by this? In short, bespoke e-learning that ignites the brain coupled with end-to-end Totara LMS customisation.
Mind Click was set up in 2010 to help frustrated organisations move their
stagnating e-learning to a brighter future. In essence, it connects organisations with learning technology in innovative ways to maximise their knowledge potential. But Mind Click quickly discovered that richer e-learning was not enough. Every second customer was shackled by a legacy LMS that was under-used, under-loved and over-priced. So Mind Click offered Moodle as an open source delivery platform with complete customisation. Move on one year to 2011. Something was stirring down in New Zealand where there were rumours of the imminent release of a ‘corporate’ version of Moodle. Mind Click leapt at the chance to partner with Totara LMS, an open source distributor of Moodle, whose distribution was predicted to be a game changer in the LMS space. Sam Morgan, Mind Click director, said:“We jumped at the opportunity to be involved with Totara. At the time we were working with a client who was looking for a highly customised LMS. Most of this work had already been integrated into Totara.”
Peter Williams finds out the benefits organisations get from Mind Click’s partnership with Totara LMS
Features already built Mind Click visits customers and can demonstrate a version of Totara LMS which has many of the features they are looking for. The company was one of Totara’s early partners with the relationship continuing to develop year on year. Mind Click’s Totara knowledge has grown significantly – not only in deep knowledge of the platform but also in interoperability and LMS migration, all key considerations for the enterprise organisations they work with.
Quality technical support is critical for such a customisable solution but Mind Click also appreciates the input of the Totara core developers and global community. This comes into play when working on common problems and gaining consolidated feedback on new features. Three years into its Totara LMS partnership, Mind Click has gone from having one support person, to now having a full time development team made up of ten people, including three in-house PHP developers and five support, which means they are adding rich new functionality to the Totara code base.
Learning curve Totara LMS has been a key part of the Mind Click journey. When the company started offering an LMS consultancy service, it sped up the learning curve to offer insightful advice to organisations with an endless variety of requirements and legacy issues. In parallel, Mind Click has increased its level of service – it now offers 24/7 Totara support.
Commissioning bespoke e-learning is a lot smoother compared to purchasing an enterprise LMS – and so it should be. The LMS decision process is longer still if there is a legacy LMS that must be migrated from. What Mind Click has established is that Totara often slots in with a bespoke service offering, as part of building a relationship with a customer.
Clear feature priorities Totara LMS has clear development priorities which allow partners to see what is coming and they can then plan their own internal development accordingly. This permits Mind Click to make developments which won’t necessarily be incorporated into the core product, Sam said: “Taking those two development paths in parallel gives us a really
strong product.” In short, the development team at Mind
Click likes the open way that Totara shares its plans. Totara releases a new version every six months, each one typically including a major new feature and improvements to the existing feature-set. For example, recent versions have seen the introduction of performance management functionality and open badges, with which Mind Click can optionally upgrade their customers. Sam said: “Totara’s development priorities have given us the confidence that
what we’re building isn’t treading on Totara’s toes, indeed it is complementary.” Mind Click has been able to rebuild the classroom module to tie it to
28 e.learning age september 2014
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