Blackboard Learn vs SuccessFactors LMS

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Our analysts compared Blackboard Learn vs SuccessFactors LMS based on data from our 400+ point analysis of LMS Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

SuccessFactors LMS Software Tool

Product Basics

Blackboard is an educational management tool used commonly in K-12, higher education, online education and corporate training. It’s cloud-based and has several add ons including Learn, Open LMS, Classroom, Predict, Intelligence, Ally, Collaborate and more. All have different specialties that add to the primary online education functions.

The core product, Blackboard Learn, includes course management, mobile accessibility and insights into data and analytics. Upgraded versions have more robust facilities, including advanced web conferencing, virtual classrooms and more in-depth reporting.
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SAP SuccessFactors Learning is an HR solution with LMS, talent management, payroll support and other capabilities. Some functionality mentioned below is available through additional modules offered through the wider company. The wide range of HR capabilities include benefits administration, compensation planning, employee lifecycle management, payroll, performance management, time tracking, succession planning and more. Customizable reporting and analytics make more effective measurements and actionable insights possible for users.
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$9,500 Annually
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$2.17/User, Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
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Product Assistance

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Product Insights

  • Mass Communications: A message can be written and then sent via social media, email, voice message, SMS or push notification to everyone who needs to see it.nbsp;
  • Student Retention: It provides data on incoming and outgoing students, which helps with the development of student retention strategies. Some functions within the dashboard are also specifically geared toward targeting at-risk learners. 
  • Accessibility: Not only does it allow for accessible file formats such as semantic HTML, audio files, ePub and electronic braille, but it can audit content sent out by instructors and return with annotations to improve accessibility. It is also fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. 
  • Parental Involvement: Parents get access to see how students are doing and address potential problems early in the process. 
  • Multiple Translations: Over 15 different languages are available, including Arabic, English, Chinese (both simplified and traditional), Dutch, Russian, Korean and more. 
  • Implementation: Through a partner program, users can get help with implementation through technical support and strategy analysis. 
  • Accreditation Tracking/Documentation: The assessment and accreditation solution makes institutional reporting automatic, helps provide documentation where needed and streamlines evidence collection. 
  • Partnerships: More services are available for buyers who use partner programs. This support may be technical, marketing or strategic and varies depending on the different levels of partnership.  
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  • Improved Experience for Employees: Provides more detailed feedback and an open line of communication between employees with flexible surveys, dashboards varied by role or reporting and planning tools. This allows leaders to better bridge the gap and cater better to their needs.
  • Better Tech Adaptation: Demonstrates where different technology may better serve the staff in their day to day lives. It also provides tools so users can express themselves when management institutes new technologies to ease implementation burdens. After using new software, management can reach out to those who may be struggling more.
  • Greater Employee Engagement: Actively measures employee engagement and gathers feedback on compensation and benefits plans. This allows workers to feel they have more input leading to greater employee buy-in and a more productive office.
  • More Effective Processes: Saves time and money across the organization through automation and analysis of traditionally manual processes, reducing frustrations for employees and HR alike.
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  • Integration: It can be integrated with other essential educational programs such as Student Information Systems, lunch systems, online grade books and others to make collecting data easy. 
  • Collaboration: Through web conferencing and virtual classrooms, students, peers and coworkers can collaborate on projects and content creation. 
  • Mobile App: The app, which is available across several devices, offers mobile-friendly content that’s been adjusted to flip less on a phone screen. Learners can access tests, quizzes, notes and more. 
  • SaaS: It’s a software-as-a-service or cloud-based product. This means the hosting is online and not local. 
  • Templates: When instructors create courses, they can choose from several pre-made templates and customize as needed. 
  • Strategic Planning: Extra services include strategic planning, which comes with market research, help to develop a comprehensive strategy, deployment support and more. 
  • E-Commerce: It allows users to buy or sell courses, training materials and other content. This can be used as a revenue source or to find more information for a program. 
  • Sales Training and Development: In addition to its uses in K-12 and higher education, it helps with the training of employees to keep them in compliance or certified in a corporate setting. Individual workers can be tracked, and areas of improvement can be easily identified. 
  • Registration: It manages learners throughout the enrollment process and can help them sign up along pre-defined learning paths or prerequisites. 
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  • Learning Management: Provides training and learner experience to aid in employee development and better company-wide compliance. Information from experts makes the courses more engaging and relevant and can be delivered within the workday.
  • Talent Management: Helps leaders find, develop and keep the right staff. Tools include an ATS, cross-boarding, employee lifecycle administration, new hire paperwork, onboarding, performance management, recruiting, talent sourcing and more.
  • Employee Lifecycle: Allows administrators to fix gaps in helping employees develop or guiding them through the hiring process, with tools including:
    • Analytics, custom dashboards and reporting, and event-based triggers to manage employees from start to finish with the company.
    • Feedback after onboarding and offboarding to give deeper insight into the process.
  • Performance Management: Provides employees with the criticism and praise they need to become better at the job. Capabilities include:
    • Career planning, evaluations and reviews, goal management features and individualized reporting.
    • Feedback and analytics so workers and leaders can deliver praise and identify opportunities for improvement.
    • Premade questions for performance reviews, report designs and workflows.
    • Identification of at-risk employees who may be struggling in their position.
  • Succession Planning: Prepares candidates for leadership roles in case of sudden staff shake-ups and for in-house promotions.
    • Defines career path for employees, helping them think about further development.
    • Gets employees more invested in the company
    • Coordinates talent reviews with other factors, making it easier to identify candidates who might be overlooked
  • HR Capabilities: Handles the administration of benefits, payroll, time tracking and other important HR management issues.
    • Benefits: Design benefit packages and take employee feedback to gauge satisfaction. Helps provide clarity to employees about coverage and gives data to HR management to select the best plans. An intelligence engine allows administrators to run simulations based on budget and get employee feedback on their priorities, improving employee and leadership relations.
    • Payroll: Enables leaders to make and implement the best possible compensation and rewards programs. It automates, standardizes and streamlines accurate payment for employees and tax administration for employers.
    • Attendance and Finance: Keeps track of employee hours and transfers them into the payroll program, as well as helps the management team handle all other matters of finance in the organization.
    • Other HR: Manages compliance, organization management, employee profiles and more. Products include compliance, document generation, employee case management, HR ticketing, knowledge management, permits and visas.
  • Reporting and Analytics: Customizable reports measure the most important metrics for success to provide actionable, data-driven insights. Metrics include employee engagement, the effectiveness of HR processes, onboarding programs, technology gaps and more. It also helps with employee retention and workforce planning. Data can be exported and given to employees and other key stakeholders.

  • Limitations

    At the time of this review, these are the product limitations according to user feedback:

    • Difficult to learn
    • Has similar functionality to other solutions
    • Reporting isn’t as customizable as desired

    Suite Support

    mail_outlineEmail: There’s no general-purpose support email, but it’s likely that users can get help from representatives through email.
    phonePhone: Users can reach support for American products and services at +1 (800) 872-1727 and can get to the SAP Business One response center at +1 (888) 227-1727. For help in other countries, a full list is available on the support site.
    schoolTraining: It offers a multitude of training and support. Some training is available through paid courses; however, they do offer some free training as well. Customers also get access to additional resources such as certifications, microlearning, podcasts, videos, virtual events and whitepapers.
    local_offerTickets and Live Chat: Users can access live chat on the website 24/7 and send support tickets through the online portal.

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Product Ranking

#6

among all
LMS Software

#20

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LMS Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Blackboard Learn
SuccessFactors LMS
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AI-based Capabilities Assessments Collaboration Compliance Content And Course Management ECommerce Learning Delivery Mobile Capabilities Platform Capabilities Reporting And Dashboard User Management And Gamification 14 82 100 100 91 0 68 78 87 100 91 0 25 50 75 100
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User Sentiment Summary

Good User Sentiment 1521 reviews
Good User Sentiment 277 reviews
79%
of users recommend this product

Blackboard Learn has a 'good' User Satisfaction Rating of 79% when considering 1521 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

76%
of users recommend this product

SuccessFactors LMS has a 'good' User Satisfaction Rating of 76% when considering 277 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

4.9 (18)
4.7 (11)
3.9 (789)
3.3 (12)
4.1 (456)
n/a
4.2 (54)
4.5 (77)
3.8 (204)
3.5 (177)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Blackboard Learn and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Compliance.

Compliance Award

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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Grading: A total of 80% of users who mentioned the grading capabilities felt it worked well and saved them time.
Effective Communication: Over 70% of users who mentioned communications features were thrilled with the discussion boards, messaging, live classrooms and other features.
Great Customer Support: More than two-thirds of reviewers who mentioned the customer support had good experiences with the staff.
Easy to Use: Users felt that the UI worked well in over 50% of reviews.
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Sophisticated Performance Management: Over 90% of reviewers that discussed performance management loved the features and said it was better than other solutions.
Useful for Work: Users who referenced the system’s usefulness found it helpful in over 70% of reviews.
Good Functionality: Over 70% of reviewers mentioning this topic were happy with the various features of the program.
User Recommendations: Users who discussed recommendations and the software said they would recommend it in over 70% of comments.
Excellent Recruiting Tools: Over 70% of reviewers who talked about the talent acquisition features felt they worked well.
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Poor Mobile Function: Around 75% who mentioned the app said they had issues with the design, especially on mobile.
Issues with Features: Over 41% of users said there were holes in the functionality of the integrations, grading features and said there was too much text on the website.
Steep Learning Curve: While many said the UI was easy-to-use, over 40% of those mentioned it said it took a long time to learn.
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Difficult to Learn: Users found the solution hard to adapt to with a steep learning curve in over 80% of reviews that discussed it.
Poor Administration Tools: Over 80% of reviewers who mentioned the management and administration features felt they were hard to use.
Mixed Reviews for Customer Service: Reviewers that discussed customer service had a nearly 50-50 ratio of good to bad experiences.
Mixed Reviews for Ease of Use: Users who talked about navigation and the UI were almost evenly split on whether or not they felt it worked well.
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Blackboard is an online learning solution used most commonly in educational institutions. As one of the biggest players in the market, its users appreciate its features, useability, grading functions and the different channels of communication. The most common complaint was that it’s hard to learn. However, many said it was easy to navigate after getting over the initial learning curve. Though many people liked its features, there were gaps and additional functionalities wished for in almost every category. Its lack of accessibility was also an issue for some users. This solution is good for institutions looking to implement a standardized learning solution. However, it’s important to compare it to its big competitors as some complained it was generic or too similar to other systems. Still, this can be an extremely efficient platform for online and blended learning.

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SAP SuccessFactors Learning is an LMS and HR management solution. By far and away, the best-reviewed feature was professional development especially for its goal management and career plans. A 2019 PCMag review went as far as to call it the “Cadillac” of performance management. Reviewers were pleased with the features, found it useful to their career and would recommend the system to others. Last, reviewers were pleased with the recruiting tools and felt it aided them during talent acquisition. The useability and customer service for the product had very mixed reviews with an almost equal number of people reporting good or bad experiences. Reviewers who had used learning systems before and had smaller businesses had more positive things to say than new LMS users and large business employees. On the flip side, users felt it was particularly difficult to learn and said they ran into problems during the implementation process. While reviewers were pleased with the learning management overall, they didn’t like the administrator’s abilities, feeling it was lacking and not customizable enough. This may be a good fit for small and medium-sized businesses that are particularly interested in performance management. Do a thorough check of an organization’s requirements before choosing.

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