SumTotal Systems Reviews

“Review

Pros

I find the interactive training sessions easy to follow, and the quizzes are interesting. It is easy to track my team's training progress!

Cons

Need more training courses are available on mobile.

“Experience of using

Pros

SumTotal has a lot of features and covers all needs with a really big capacity.

Cons

The interface is too complex. I do not see any opportunity to make it easier.

“A Paradigm Shift in the eLearning Era!

Pros

SumTotal has many unique features and complies with various industries. The Global Search function allows me to search all entities, including navigation links, people, training objects, and communities. The Extended Enterprise Learning feature is excellent for large organizations that want to sell their courses to external stakeholders or the public. The Learning Administration feature offers complete front-end administration and configuration capability, so it can be managed internally after implementation, saving the organization a lot on AMC.

Cons

There are a few features that are evolving over time. Once these features are improved, they will become my most likable feature. SumTotal has a Content Library with all the courses available for users, but many times, I get lost in the Library. I need to know the exact course category to utilize this feature effectively. Reports need to be improved further and should be more user-friendly for customizing. These are not drawbacks, but features that are in progress.

“Great potential for the future of SumTotal Learning

Pros

What I like most about SumTotal is its clean, intuitive, and almost minimalistic front-end interface, which makes the user experience much better. I really appreciate the high level of customization, allowing each student or teacher to adjust the app to their needs without any problems. The cost of this app is noticeably lower than that of similar apps. I am familiar with SumTotal Learning, as we use it as our LMS program at the university. The process to get everything up and running was slow, but we loved the result. It is not as easy to use as we would like, but it is still great software.

Cons

Sadly, this app is not perfect and requires a lot of improvement. Navigation is not the best, and I end up spending a lot of time clicking on different pop-ups. The reporting system is undeveloped and useless for now. Some other features also do not work as they should, leading to miscommunication between professors and students. Plus, the tech support is not helpful and non-responsive, so most of the time, I am alone with software problems.

“Easy and Simple LMS

Pros

Customizing the LMS page for my company looks great, and everything is presented nicely in an easy-to-use format.

Cons

Every time I open a document in the program, it opens in a new window and redirects me 2 to 3 times. It's tedious, but not broken.

“Meet the most robust LMS

Pros

If you are dealing with a big organization, SumTotal is the way to go. I worked for GE as an LMS Administrator, migrating all courses from their existing Plateau LMS to SumTotal LMS, and this is one of the most robust LMS systems I have ever seen. It is easy to use (though it takes some time to get used to) and has a plethora of functionalities to cover all your training activities. Just go for it if you don't mind the license cost. Customer support is excellent.

Cons

The license cost is too high. It will kill me. Only a few organizations will be able to manage it. Sometimes, tickets take a long time to close, but I understand that there are multiple business units working with one ticketing system available. I can imagine the crowd.

“Worst customer support

Pros

It can do many useful things, such as coordinate in-person trainings, offer online courses, and report on various items. The advanced reporting feature, while initially difficult to use, is invaluable for a larger organization with many different courses being taken at any given time.

Cons

It is incredibly difficult for me to use and administer, and the customer support is just dreadful. I cannot emphasize that enough. I have to follow up many times to get a resolution on any support ticket I open. Usually, it takes at least 2.5 weeks to close the simplest ticket, and that only happens when I remind them to respond every few days. It is frustrating because I know the system has pretty good features and capabilities, but without an intuitive design and satisfactory support, it becomes quite a burden to administer and use.

“Old database style LMS, not use friendly

Pros

It is stable and offers the basic LMS hosting options. There are many configurable options to customize the learning experience.

Cons

This system is based on an old-school database LMS, and in my opinion, it is clunky and requires an LMS admin to use. It is not turn-key and easy like some others.

“I have used many providers. SumTotal Learn is the most robust when it comes to functionality.

Pros

Reporting in SumTotal is extremely powerful and flexible. I love the many options for sending automated reports. The course catalog is easy to use, though it can be overwhelming for learners when there are hundreds of options. However, SumTotal's ILT-specific features make it easy for learners. Automation is very easy, I just need to know how I want things to operate, and the system does the job for me. Integration with Skillsoft is a dream. It's very flexible with roles and permissions. Many systems try to simplify permissions by reducing options, but I find that limits my capabilities. SumTotal breaks down the permissions, allowing for flexibility. Their price is unbeatable. Customer support is amazing now; years ago, it wasn't that great, but they have revamped it significantly and are now very helpful and responsive. They communicate updates fantastically, holding monthly webinars to discuss enhancements. They do a great job of communicating the progress of these enhancements and what they will do. Many vendors say features are coming but never provide details.

Cons

The interface reminds me of Peoplesoft, which is not a dealbreaker for me, but I think SumTotal could overhaul the site to make it more tablet-friendly. They don't offer a built-in video player, but when working with my implementation specialist, I learned it's better to publish videos in SCORM files for tracking purposes. I wish SumTotal would build on the bulk import features for online classes. They are releasing new features, but I just want more.

“Proceed with Caution

Pros

I appreciate the Assignment Automation feature in SumTotal.

Cons

This software have a lot of bugs, glitches, and downtime.