The Most Valuable Part of Your Learning Management System (LMS) Isn’t the LMS at All … It’s the Data

by Don Hazelwood August 12, 2025 As I mentioned in my previous post, I am not out of Education Technology, not by a long shot. Education and technology are core to who I am and who I will continue to be, even as I dive into learning a new skill.

For quite some time, I have been thinking about a powerful decision making asset which has been overlooked and under utilized. In this post I would like to examine the data your LMS is producing every minute of every day, why this data is being overlooked, and what can be done about it.

As an LMS administrator, distance education advocate, or decision-maker in online learning, you already know your LMS is central to your mission. But here’s the truth: the most important part of your LMS isn’t the brand, the hosting, or the feature set.

It’s the data.

Data should be central to everything we do. And while this isn’t an AI article, I’ll say this: AI and your data are going to be inseparable in the future of education. More on this in a future post.

Why LMS Data Is Irreplaceable

Every click, submission, registration, and interaction your users make is captured in your LMS database. This data can not be replaced, replicated, or bought. You can, and do, switch platforms. You can change hosting providers. But if your historical data is lost, you can’t simply purchase this valuable data your LMS has generated over the years.

Let’s consider what your historical LMS data contains:

• Your program’s registration trends over time

• Enrollment details containing the “who took what, and when” information

• Demographic insights which is the who, where, and when of participation

• Engagement patterns showing how, when, and where learners interact with content

And this is, as they say, just the tip of the iceberg. Whether your focus is education, workforce development, or military readiness, your LMS data is more than a goldmine. It is a priceless strategic asset.

The Problem with Leaving Historical Data in Your LMS

Here is the problem. Most institutions simply leave historical data sitting in the LMS. While this may feel like the smart decision, it’s really not working for you.

Your LMS isn’t built for deep historical analytics. It’s designed to deliver, manage, and track learning. It’s not to serve as a long-term decision-making tool.

Your LMS performance will start to suffer as your production LMS grows bloated with years of records. And when your LMS slows, your learners suffer,  your instructors and trainers suffer, and if your end users are suffering, your program suffers. Your costs are going to rise year after year as storage needs increase, yet the value you’re getting from your hosting provider remains the same. Too often, “archiving” just means stuffing your data into a static zipped folder and sticking it on a finely tuned, high-cost platform. You pay for the space and the platform without any additional benefit.

This is not a strategy. This is a digital filing cabinet you are renting space in.

Let’s Imagine a Better Way

What if your historical LMS data could be:

• Securely stored yet easily accessible on your terms

• Integrated with your business and learner analytics tools to deliver actionable insights for program and learner success.

• Audit and accreditation-ready, serving as both backup and compliance asset

This isn’t just possible, it’s the future of LMS data management. It’s about unlocking the potential of your LMS's data from something currently gathering digital dust into a powerful driver for decision-making, efficiency, and program growth.

If your LMS data is critical to your mission, and you know it is, let’s talk.