Axis LMS

Axis LMS is a learning management system made by Atrixware, LLC, a company based in Williamsburg, Virginia, whose copyright line runs from 1997. The home page pitches it as a way to "Deliver & Track Online Training and Stay Compliant," and says it lets an organization "deliver online and virtual learning and training through a scalable, easy-to-use LMS." It is built for organizations that train more than one audience: employees, customers, channel partners, association members, and people who buy training from the organization itself. The site says Axis LMS "is loaded with hundreds of features," and the solutions menu groups them by audience (employee, customer, compliance, channel and selling training) and by industry, from associations, construction and education to franchises, government, manufacturing, non-profits and small business.

Plans by organization size

Atrixware sells three plans, each described by the size of organization it is meant for:

• Axis LMS, "Our most customizable and flexible learning platform for organizations of 150 to 100,000," where a buyer chooses just the features it needs for training employees, customers or both.
• Axis LMS for Government, for government organizations of up to 100,000 employees, covering training for employees and contractors and including Gold Secure LMS Hosting for Government.
• Axis LMS Lite, "Designed for organizations of 25 to 100 employees," which "gives you all the essentials to create, manage and track online training." The site adds that Lite suits organizations "just getting started, selling training to small audiences, and seasonal operations."

The pages publish no prices; the main button is "Get a Quote." A buyer can also start a free trial or create a free demo account to try the tools before talking to sales, and can call toll-free on 1.866.696.8709 or email sales@atrixware.com.

Building and delivering training

Courses are built with a drag-and-drop interface, and existing material can be reused: the customer training page lists videos, PowerPoints, Word documents, SCORM and AICC files among the formats it takes. Training can run online or as virtual classroom sessions. Learning Paths chain courses together, and the testimonial on the home page from Bruce Tallerby credits Learning Paths together with the Certifications and Continuing Education features with letting his organization "automate compliance across multiple departments across our entire organization." For content a team does not want to write itself, Atrixware offers ready-made course content packs and libraries with 25,000 online course titles that can be added to a system.

The AI feature, as the features menu describes it, gives administrators tools that make writing and creating content and communications faster. Communication tools are described as automated, real-time and collaborative, and the associations page adds forums where learners can hold discussions and post questions. Branding gives control over every aspect of the user interface, so a training site can match the organization's own website.

Tracking, certification and reporting

Continuing education is one of the features Atrixware stresses: Axis LMS tracks CEU credits, certifications and re-certifications, and learners can generate their own transcripts and add certifications earned elsewhere. Member and user management works through automated rules and group assignments, for example by membership level, and the system can send reminders when a certification is due for renewal. Course access can be limited to specific roles, departments or geographic locations.

Reporting covers both on-demand and automated reports. The associations page describes customizable data fields and personal report building, and the customer page describes tracking customer performance and participation against program ROI. For engagement there are leaderboards and eLearning badges, and course suggestions point learners to further modules based on their course history and popular trends.

Customer and member training

For customer education, the site's case is that a branded training site adds value to a product and helps customers use it fully. Customers can self-enroll in a program or follow courses the company recommends, access is open to the customers the company selects, and they can study on desktop or mobile. Axis LMS integrates with the CRM or contact management system the company already uses, so customer records stay in sync without re-entry. A customer quoted on that page, Tyler Karlsen, says that after rollout "we vastly improved our customer engagement, and many of our clients have thanked us."

For associations and non-profits, the platform connects to an association management system (AMS) through an API or SSO, holds a continuing education catalog alongside external certification training, and supports offline training: learners can download the videos and documents the association chooses and use them without an internet connection. The mobile experience runs in the web browser, so no app download is needed. Jessica McMillan, quoted on the associations page, says Axis LMS kept her members "in compliance with regulatory requirements" and "virtually eliminated the need for employee travel, saving us well over 60% on our training costs."

Selling training

E-commerce is included as a standard feature. The features menu describes selling training to individuals and selling seat licenses for business-to-business sales, and the associations page says an organization can "Easily sell courses, content, or memberships." Courses can be promoted through tailored descriptions, bundled discounts and coupon codes, and an organization can set customized pricing for distinct learner groups.

Integrations and security

The integrations section lists user data synchronization from systems such as ADP, Salesforce, BambooHR and Zoho; an Integration Builder that the site says connects to more than 5,000 systems, covering CRM, HR, email and e-commerce tools; a REST API with published documentation; webhooks that push real-time events to other apps; and SAML single sign-on through services including Salesforce, Okta, Azure and Ping Identity. Atrixware also offers to build custom integrations.

On security, every Axis LMS system includes data redundancy and backups, administrators can configure security settings, and the site publishes a security overview of its data center. It says Axis LMS supports end users' rights as data subjects under GDPR, and that it "can be used to comply with the relevant parts of the FDA 21 CFR Part 11 as they pertain to an LMS."

Clients and free tools

The success stories on the home page include an international clinical research organization with more than 40 locations, a Florida training company for mental health and social work, and a trade association representing nearly 1,000 members in Pennsylvania. A third testimonial, from Emmy Morillo, reports "higher contract value averages" among certified partners.

Atrixware also publishes free planning tools: an Employee Training Cost & LMS ROI Calculator, a Training Business Growth Calculator for organizations moving a training business online, a 2-minute LMS Readiness Quiz and an LMS comparison guide. A help center, YouTube videos and free webinars support customers.

Who it suits

Axis LMS suits organizations that train several audiences from one system and need to prove it: an association tracking members' CEU credits and selling courses, a company running compliance training across departments, a regulated life sciences team that needs 21 CFR Part 11 support, or a software or service business onboarding customers through a branded portal tied to its CRM. Lite gives organizations of 25 to 100 employees a starting point, and the main Axis LMS and the government edition scale to 100,000.

It suits less well a buyer who wants to compare published prices before a sales conversation, since every plan is quoted, or a very small team below Lite's 25-employee starting point.