Switching LMS Platforms in 2026: A Practical LMS Migration Checklist

Step 1: Write down why you are leaving

This sounds obvious, and it is one of the most important steps.

Before evaluating replacements, document the problems you are trying to solve.

• Reporting takes too long.
• Administrators need too much training.
• Course creation is cumbersome.
• We are paying more as our learner population grows.
• Managers cannot easily see what they need.
• We perform too many assignments manually.
• Our existing content is difficult to reuse.
• The system does not fit our blended-training model.

Why does this matter? Because six months into an LMS project, feature comparisons distract you from the reason the project started. Your replacement should be evaluated against the problems that made you look for one.

Step 2: Inventory what you actually have

Do not begin with “we have about 200 courses.” Look deeper.

• Active users, inactive users, administrators, managers, instructors.
• Groups, departments, locations, job codes, custom user fields.
• Courses, programs, learning paths.
• SCORM packages, PowerPoints, PDFs, videos, documents.
• Assessments and question banks.
• Certificates, historical completions, training expirations.
• Instructor-led sessions.
• Reports and scheduled reports.
• Automations, integrations, single sign-on, data feeds.
• Custom branding.

That inventory becomes the foundation of your migration plan.

Step 3: Separate what must move from what should not

An LMS migration is also a cleanup opportunity. Do you really need:

• The course nobody has launched since 2019?
• Six versions of the same PDF?
• Inactive accounts from ten years ago?
• Outdated question banks?
• Old reports nobody uses?

Migrating everything simply because it exists recreates the same clutter in a newer system. Classify each item:

1. 1Must migrate.
2. 2Should migrate.
3. 3Archive.
4. 4Retire.

Your future administrators will thank you.

Step 4: Protect training history

For many organizations, historical records matter more than the courses themselves. You may need to preserve:

• Who completed training, and when.
• Their score.
• Certificate information and expiration dates.
• Credits or training hours.
• Instructor attendance.
• External qualifications.

Before choosing a new LMS, ask exactly how historical records can be imported and represented. Do not assume every platform stores training history the same way.

Step 5: Test SCORM instead of assuming

If your organization has a significant SCORM library, test representative packages. Do not simply ask whether SCORM is supported. Ask:

• Which versions?
• How is completion handled?
• How are scores recorded?
• What happens to suspend and resume data?
• How are attempts represented?
• How does the course behave in the learner experience?

Then actually launch several representative packages during the evaluation. A checkbox on an RFP is not the same thing as compatibility with the content you have already built.

Step 6: Map people and organizational structure

Your current LMS might call something branches, audiences, organizations, groups, teams, departments or domains. The replacement may structure populations differently.

Do not reproduce the old architecture blindly. Ask instead:

“What was this structure trying to accomplish?”

Perhaps “Branch 14” existed solely so a regional manager could see certain employees. There may be a simpler way to achieve the same business outcome in the new system.

Migration is an opportunity to preserve the business rule without preserving every old configuration decision.

Step 7: Reevaluate your assignment logic

Document what actually drives training in your organization.

• Who gets assigned what, and why?
• When, and how often?
• What happens when someone’s role changes?
• What happens when training expires?
• Who gets reminders?
• Who can make exceptions?
• Who can see the results?

Those answers are more valuable than screenshots of your current assignment screen. They describe the training logic your replacement platform needs to support.

Step 8: Rebuild reports around questions

Do not automatically recreate 75 reports because the old LMS had 75 reports. Ask stakeholders what they actually need to know.

• Who is overdue?
• What expires in the next 30 days?
• Who completed onboarding this quarter?
• Which locations are below compliance targets?
• Which assessments have high failure rates?
• Which employees still need instructor sign-off?

Then determine the simplest way to answer those questions in the new system.

Step 9: Define permissions before launch

Write down what each role actually needs.

• A learner needs their training.
• A manager may need their team’s training.
• An instructor may need their sessions and learners.
• An administrator may need broader control.
• A custom role may need something in between.

Do not give everybody administrator access because granular permissions are inconvenient to configure. Your migration is an opportunity to clean up access as well as content.

Step 10: Pilot before the full move

Select a representative population — not only your easiest learners. Include:

• A manager.
• An instructor.
• An administrator.
• A new learner.
• Someone with historical records.
• Someone with recurring training.
• Someone using representative course formats.

Then test the real journey.

1. 1Can they log in?
2. 2Do they see the correct training?
3. 3Can they launch it, complete it and resume it?
4. 4Do they receive the correct result?
5. 5Can their manager see the right information?
6. 6Does the report reflect what happened?
7. 7Does the certificate behave correctly?

Real workflows expose problems that configuration checklists miss.

Step 11: Plan communication

Even a better LMS is still a change. Tell learners:

• Why the platform is changing.
• When it changes.
• How they log in.
• What happens to existing training.
• Where their history lives.
• Where to get help.

Tell managers what will be different. Tell instructors what will be different. Tell administrators much earlier.

Step 12: Do not recreate the complexity you are trying to escape

This may be the most overlooked part of an LMS migration. Organizations sometimes leave a complicated system and then painstakingly recreate every complicated workflow inside the replacement.

Ask, of each one:

• Do we actually need this?
• Could the workflow be shorter?
• Could a sensible default replace five settings?
• Could a dynamic group replace manual maintenance?
• Could content be reused?
• Could a report answer the question more directly?
• Could automation remove the repetition?

Switching systems is your opportunity to simplify the operating model, not just change the logo at the top of the screen.

Coming from another LMS?

Organizations migrate to and from Cornerstone OnDemand, Docebo, Absorb LMS, TalentLMS, Litmos, 360Learning, LearnUpon, Moodle, TOPYX, D2L Brightspace, SAP SuccessFactors Learning, Workday Learning, Canvas and many others. Each of those platforms is built around different priorities, and no system is right for every organization.

The platform you are leaving matters less than understanding why you are leaving it.

Radplicity is being built around a specific philosophy: comprehensive without the complexity. Keep the serious LMS capability. Remove as much unnecessary work as possible.