LMS Collaborator 10 year anniversary: history, challenges, dream team
«How did it all start?» – the question that interests everyone and is asked of all founders.
Perhaps everyone knows the story of the founding of one of the most famous and successful brands of today, which was created in a garage. Now it is a huge and profitable company whose gadgets are used by millions.
Our values intersect with the phrase: “You don’t need to please millions, it’s more important to make hundreds fall in love with your product.” We are constantly developing and we already have our own little story. We’ll tell you a little about it now)
A bit of history
10 years ago, we were new to the business world, but we had a great desire to make a quality product for companies.
But why did the idea to create the Learning Management System come up back in 2013?
Our founders (ed. Myroslav Botsula and Oleksandr Slubskyi) started out in the world of corporate learning. Both Myroslav and Sasha were implementing another LMS at the time. In other words, they were its representatives in Ukraine. Oleksandr notes that at that time, as representatives, they faced a huge number of problems with the implementation and refinement of the system’s functionality to meet customer requests.
The team realized that when you implement someone else’s product, you are the face of the company. When there are problems with the product, the first thing people do is contact the representative, not the developer. At that time, there were many problems and customer issues with the system that needed to be resolved.
Oleksandr Slubskyi (CTO&Co-Founder LMS Collaborator)
«For several years, we have been thinking about creating a high-quality product that would best suit companies and help them solve the problems of employee development and learning. We tried it and uploaded the first code on November 6, 2013. This day became the birthday of LMS Collaborator».
Myroslav Botsula (CEO&Co-Founder LMS Collaborator)
«The current LMSs that were available at the time were focused on “distance learning” at universities. Teaching students at a university and teaching adults are completely different things that require different approaches. We decided to make our system based on the principles of adult learning, flexible, multifunctional, and user-friendly».
How we grew up
The first customers of LMS Collaborator were the Vinnytsia pharmacy chain Conex and the BROCARD company. The main need was to organize high-quality learning that could be managed centrally. BROCARD had the task of implementing product training, and Conex had to train pharmacists. LMS Collaborator helped the companies to solve all the tasks, quickly distribute information and check its assimilation. We continue to cooperate with Brocard and Conex to this day.
«When we start working with a customer, we focus on helping them.
Our customers are never left alone, we are always with them, helping them at every step and suggesting solutions to their problems».
Over the past 10 years, we have released more than 100 versions and updates, helped more than 100 customers implement distance learning, and created more than 300 portals. About 100 thousand people study remotely with the help of LMS Collaborator.
The most popular case among our customers is onboarding. It has become especially relevant since the full-scale invasion, when you need to train new staff safely and quickly. Product learning and personal development plans are also in the top three. The value of human resources has increased dramatically in today’s realities. It is important for companies to support and develop their specialists. Individual development plans, competency assessments, and management by objectives are the tools that help to do this.
We have described many cases in our blog. We invite you to read more about some of them. We are proud that with the help of LMS Collaborator, Ukrainian companies are implementing such incredible projects 🙂
- Organization of training for company executives. The case of Antoshka and their large-scale project School of Directors.
- Challenges of war and adaptation of employees to new conditions. Use of training and communication tools of the learning portal. The case of Kernel.
- Turning learning into an exciting and useful knowledge marathon. Methodology of Yug-Contract.
- Cyclical learning for merchandisers and maintaining motivation through the use of game mechanics. The project of the Territories of Minimum Prices company.
- Automation of newcomer onboarding. The case of Planeta Kino.
- Organization of store audits using checklists. The case of Chystenko.
- Adaptation of business to the war conditions. Organizing retraining of employees, high-quality onboarding and regular learning. The case of Reikartz Hotel Group.
Of course, it was not without challenges. The lockdown, and later the full-scale invasion, turned everyone’s world upside down and made their own adjustments. We have learned to adapt to the new critical conditions and, despite all this, to work and develop together with our customers. And we are grateful to our heroic defenders for making this development possible.
«A significant boost to the system’s development stemmed from the rapid increase in customers and their tasks. We realized that we needed to grow even more, develop our capabilities and functionality to effectively meet the needs of each customer».
«For me, the challenge is what is happening, not what has happened. The most important challenge now is how to do maximum things with minimum resources. How to make a good product, support and develop it with a small team».
LMS Collaborator is evolving, and the functionality is growing based on needs and forecasts. Over the past few years, we have introduced many new tools. Myroslav and Oleksandr recall the implementation of one of the most important functionalities:.
«The most complex functionality is learning paths. We can’t imagine and predict which routes the user will take in the learning path. We need to take into account various conditions for everything to work. It is very challenging. We have been planning the implementation of this tool for a long time. We have managed to make it so that our users are not limited in their imagination and create the learning path they want.
Now LMS Collaborator is like Dungeons & Dragons in the world of board games. You are limited only by your imagination».
About the importance of market development
Over the past 10 years, we have not only grown as a company, but have also put a lot of effort into spreading and developing corporate e-learning.
To develop Ukrainian corporate learning in 2018, we created a separate project called E-learning bootcamp El`Lab. It is a completely independent practical event where we found real professionals and invited them to participate as mentors.
We invite 5-7 teams to participate in the event. Each team consists of 2-3 people involved in corporate learning in the company. For three days, teams work with mentors on the topic of the day. Each day has a different topic. The uniqueness of the event is practice. A team with mentors works on a learning project for their company. Teams with mentors work on new solutions and effective ideas to improve employee learning.
We have conducted 6 practical bootcamps and now we are planning to organize El`Lab#7.(We will meet in the spring of 2024🤫)
We are also happy to support our colleagues and participate in conferences, both in Ukraine and abroad, where we learn about the experience of our colleagues and share our own experience and insights: ELForum, HR Joker, HR Days, HR Rendezvous, DFHR, 38 Kongres Kadry.
LMS Collaborator family
«Our team consists of great people. Everyone is developing and interested in achieving the best. It’s not about “just doing a job”, but about being involved in the result. And in my opinion, this motivates»
Probably everyone will agree that creating a quality product is not only about an idea, but also about people who share common values and strive for the same goal. Of course, over the past 10 years, the composition of our team has changed and the number of people has increased slightly 🙂
Who are the people who are currently working on LMS Collaborator?
Meet our Dream Team, or as we call it “Collaborul’ki”:
Product Development Team
Customer Success Team
Marketing Team
Sales Team
Finance Operation Team
«They are the most interesting and best people I have ever met in my life. I like that no one here is indifferent to what they do. This is the main criterion by which we choose our team».
Birthday congratulations to LMS Collaborator from our customers
And finally…
On our 10th anniversary, we would like to thank you for your trust.
We are happy to be developing a product that helps companies with learning.
It is always interesting to develop, analyze, supplement and concentrate with you.
We are happy that we can develop the Ukrainian elearning market together.
By default, in everything we do, we thank the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
Thanks to our defenders, we are able to develop the Ukrainian elearning market.
We would be very grateful if you could congratulate our company on its 10th anniversary by donating to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces.🧡
