Implementation & Onboarding

Configuring Acorn PLMS correctly during implementation is essential to creating a learning environment that reflects your organisation's identity and meets your specific operational needs. This guide walks you through the key configuration areas: platform branding, role-based access control, system integrations, and content structure setup.

Understanding Configuration Scope

Platform configuration in Acorn PLMS encompasses all foundational settings that define how your system operates. Your configuration choices directly impact user experience, security, content delivery, and reporting capabilities. Whether you're setting up a single learning programme or managing multiple departments, understanding these core configuration elements ensures your platform supports your learning strategy effectively.

Branding and Organisation Identity

Your platform's visual presentation reinforces your organisation's identity and creates a consistent learning experience. During configuration, you can customise:

• Logo and colour schemes to match your corporate branding guidelines
• Platform naming and terminology to align with your organisational language and culture
• Custom domains and URLs for a branded learning portal experience
• Email templates and communications to maintain consistent messaging across learner touchpoints

These branding elements ensure that learners recognise your organisation's presence throughout their learning journey and build familiarity with your learning environment.

Managing Roles and Access Control

Roles define what users can do within Acorn PLMS. Your organisation likely requires different access levels for administrators, learning managers, instructors, and learners. During setup, you should:

Define role hierarchies that reflect your organisational structure. Common roles include: - Platform administrators (full system access) - Learning and development managers (programme and user management) - Content creators and instructors (content authoring and delivery) - Learners (access to assigned content and progress tracking) - Reporting users (analytics and compliance reporting access)

Configure granular permissions for each role to control access to specific features, content libraries, and administrative functions. This ensures users have the tools they need without unnecessary access to sensitive areas.

Establish approval workflows where appropriate, such as requiring manager approval before learner enrolment or content publication processes. These workflows embed governance into your platform operations.

Proper role configuration protects your organisation's data, ensures compliance with information security policies, and enables efficient management of your learning operations.

System Integrations

Integrating Acorn PLMS with your existing business systems creates a seamless operational ecosystem. Common integration scenarios include:

Human Resources Systems (HRIS) – Synchronise user data, job roles, and organisational hierarchies to automate learner enrolment and keep platform data current.

Single Sign-On (SSO) – Enable users to access Acorn PLMS using their existing corporate credentials, reducing friction and improving adoption.

Learning Record Stores (LRS) and data warehouses – Export learning data for analytics, compliance reporting, and integration with enterprise reporting tools.

Content repositories – Connect to existing content libraries to streamline content deployment and ensure version control.

Communication platforms – Integrate with email, messaging, or notification systems to keep learners informed about programme updates and deadlines.

When planning integrations, work with your IT department to ensure compatibility, security, and compliance with your organisation's data governance policies. Document all integration points and data flows to maintain operational transparency.

Structuring Content for Your Platform

How you organise content directly affects learner navigation and programme success. Your content structure should reflect:

Learning programmes and curricula – Organise learning into coherent programmes aligned with business objectives or competency frameworks.

Course hierarchies – Structure courses into modules and lessons that support logical learning progression and knowledge retention.

Content libraries – Categorise reusable content assets (videos, documents, assessments) for efficient retrieval and consistent updates.

Metadata and tagging – Apply consistent naming conventions and tags to improve searchability and support reporting on learning outcomes by subject, competency, or business unit.

Assessment and certification pathways – Define how learners progress through assessments, when they qualify for certification, and how credentials are tracked and reported.

Consider your organisation's learning model—whether you're delivering instructor-led training, self-paced e-learning, blended programmes, or compliance-focused courses—and structure your content to support that model effectively.

Advanced Content Considerations

While Acorn PLMS supports standard learning content formats, you may want to explore options for enhanced interactivity. Custom HTML5 packages and SCORM-compliant content can provide interactive simulations and immersive learning experiences, depending on your content design specifications. If you're considering advanced content formats, consult with your implementation team to confirm compatibility and technical requirements.

Next Steps After Configuration

Once you've completed core configuration: 1. Test all settings in a staging environment before going live 2. Train administrators and content creators on configuration tools 3. Document your configuration decisions for future reference and staff onboarding 4. Plan regular reviews to ensure settings continue to align with evolving organisational needs 5. Monitor user adoption to identify whether configuration changes could improve the experience

Proper configuration creates the foundation for successful learning delivery. Take time during implementation to get these elements right, and your platform will support your organisation's learning objectives effectively.

Data Migration: Migrating Users, Course Completions, Transcripts, and Historical Data Data Migration Overview

Moving from a legacy learning management system to Acorn PLMS is a critical phase in your implementation. Your organization's historical data—including user accounts, course completion records, transcripts, and learning history—represents valuable institutional knowledge that should be preserved during the transition. A well-planned migration ensures data integrity, maintains compliance records, and provides your team with continuity in learning analytics and reporting.

This guide walks you through the data migration process and helps you understand what to prepare before moving your data into Acorn.

Planning Your Migration

Assess Your Current Data

Before beginning any migration, conduct a comprehensive audit of your existing learning management system. Identify all data types you need to transfer:

• User accounts and profiles – employee IDs, names, contact information, department assignments, manager hierarchies, and custom user fields
• Course completions – completion dates, scores, time spent, and assessment results
• Learning transcripts – comprehensive records of all training history for each learner
• Historical data – enrollment records, compliance certifications, learning paths, and archived course information
• Custom metadata – organization-specific fields, categorizations, or tracking codes used in your legacy system

Document the structure and format of each data type in your current system. This information is essential for mapping your legacy data to Acorn's data structure.

Define Migration Scope and Timeline

Decide which historical data is essential to migrate. While you can migrate years of historical records, consider your organization's actual needs:

• Do you need complete learning histories, or only recent years of data?
• Are certain user accounts or departments lower priority?
• What compliance or regulatory requirements mandate keeping historical records?

Establishing clear scope prevents migration delays and helps your team focus on data that provides genuine value. Plan your migration timeline to align with your broader Acorn PLMS implementation schedule.

Preparing Data for Migration

Data Format and Structure

Acorn PLMS accepts data in structured formats that align with standard learning management practices. Work with your Acorn implementation team to understand the specific data format requirements for your migration. Typically, migrations involve:

• CSV or Excel files for bulk user imports and historical records
• Standardized field mappings between your legacy system's data labels and Acorn's field names
• Date and time formats that are consistent across all records
• Unique identifiers (such as employee IDs) that allow Acorn to match users with their historical data

Data Cleaning and Validation

Before migration, clean your source data to ensure quality:

• Remove duplicate user records and consolidate accounts where necessary
• Standardize formatting for names, emails, dates, and other fields
• Validate that all required fields contain appropriate data
• Identify and resolve incomplete or corrupted records
• Verify that course completion records reference valid courses and users

Data quality directly impacts the accuracy of your learning analytics and reporting in Acorn. Investing time in validation upfront prevents issues after migration.

Migration Process

Working with Your Implementation Team

Your Acorn implementation partner will guide you through the technical migration process. The typical workflow includes:

1. Data extraction – exporting data from your legacy system in the agreed-upon format
2. Mapping and transformation – converting your legacy data structure to match Acorn's requirements
3. Testing and validation – running a pilot migration with a subset of data to verify accuracy
4. Full migration – executing the complete data transfer once testing is successful
5. Post-migration verification – confirming that all data transferred correctly and is accessible in Acorn

Your implementation team will handle the technical complexity, but your organization should assign stakeholders to participate in testing and validation.

Testing Before Go-Live

Always conduct a test migration before your official go-live. During testing:

• Verify that user accounts appear correctly with all necessary information
• Confirm that course completion records and transcripts display accurately
• Check that historical data is queryable and reportable in Acorn
• Validate that learner roles, manager assignments, and organizational hierarchies transferred properly
• Test access permissions and ensure users can view their own learning histories

Identify discrepancies during testing so your implementation team can address them before production migration.

Post-Migration Considerations

User Notification

Inform your learners and administrators about the migration and what to expect:

• Explain when the new system goes live
• Provide guidance on accessing Acorn and viewing historical data
• Share login credentials and any required system setup steps
• Set expectations for any temporary system unavailability during migration

Historical Data Access

Once migrated, your historical data in Acorn remains accessible for reporting and compliance purposes. You can generate transcripts, run learning analytics reports, and track individual completion histories using Acorn's reporting tools. Consider how your organization will use this historical context for ongoing learning management.

Support and Training

Provide your team with training on accessing and interpreting migrated data within Acorn. Your administrators should understand how to:

• View user transcripts and completion histories
• Generate historical reports
• Use data to inform future learning initiatives
• Maintain data governance practices in Acorn

Next Steps

Begin your migration planning by contacting your Acorn implementation team. They will work with you to understand your specific data landscape, create a detailed migration plan, and ensure that your transition to Acorn PLMS preserves your organization's valuable learning data.

Implementation Timeline & Phases Implementation Timeline & Phases

A successful Acorn PLMS deployment requires structured planning and clear milestones. Most implementations span 6–12 weeks, divided into four distinct phases that build progressively toward your launch date. Understanding each phase helps your organisation allocate resources effectively and ensures a smooth transition to live operations.

Overview of the Implementation Journey

Your Acorn implementation follows a phased approach designed to minimise disruption while maximising adoption. Each phase has specific deliverables, stakeholder involvement, and go/no-go decision points. The timeline may vary based on your organisation's complexity, data readiness, and team capacity—but the core structure remains consistent.

Phase 1: Scoping (Weeks 1–2)

Scoping is where you define the foundation for your entire implementation. During this phase, you'll work with your Acorn implementation partner to document your organisation's structure, learning objectives, and capability requirements.

Key Activities: - Map your organisational hierarchy and job roles - Define initial capability frameworks aligned to your business strategy and KPIs - Identify stakeholders and implementation team members - Establish governance, change management, and communication plans - Document baseline metrics for measuring success post-launch - Review existing learning content and third-party integrations

Deliverable: A signed Scoping Document that confirms scope, timeline, resource requirements, and success criteria. This document becomes your north star for the remaining phases.

Phase 2: Configuration (Weeks 3–6)

Configuration is where Acorn's capabilities come to life in your environment. Acorn's Capabilities AI accelerates this phase by enabling you to build customized capability frameworks in minutes rather than weeks. Your configuration team will set up the system architecture, map capabilities to roles, and prepare content delivery.

Key Activities: - Build custom capability frameworks using Acorn's proprietary 600+ capability database - Map capabilities to job roles and learner cohorts using Capabilities AI - Configure user roles, permissions, and access controls - Set up your learning catalog—on-demand courses, live learnings (in-person and virtual), and third-party content - Map learning experiences to capabilities for role-based visibility - Define assessment parameters and proficiency levels - Configure dashboards and reporting templates for real-time training visibility - Prepare Individual Development Plan (IDP) templates - Create personalised development plans for pilot cohorts

Admin Capabilities in This Phase: Your administrators can leverage Acorn's Capability AI Discovery to quickly define job competencies, influence competency definitions with company and department goals, and assign relevant content to defined competencies. You can also use AI-assisted course description generation for faster course development.

Deliverable: A fully configured Acorn instance ready for testing, including capability mappings, user hierarchies, content libraries, and assessment frameworks.

Phase 3: Testing (Weeks 7–10)

Testing validates that your configuration meets business requirements and that users can navigate the system intuitively. This phase includes functional testing, user acceptance testing (UAT), and data validation.

Key Activities: - Conduct functional testing of core features: capability mapping, course assignment, assessments, and reporting - Execute User Acceptance Testing (UAT) with representatives from each department and role - Validate real-time training matrices showing completions, overdue items, and AI-assisted capability mapping - Test role-based dashboards and personalised content recommendations - Verify mobile access and search functionality across the learning catalog - Run data migration and validation checks - Test integrations with third-party content providers and HR systems - Confirm assessment engine functionality and proficiency tracking - Document defects and refinement requests; prioritize for resolution - Conduct load testing to ensure system performance at scale

User Perspective Testing: Learners can search the learning catalog by capability and proficiency. Test that search results are intuitive and that course recommendations align with their assigned roles and development needs.

Deliverable: A signed UAT Sign-Off confirming that the system meets requirements, defects are resolved or deferred, and the system is production-ready.

Phase 4: Launch & Post-Launch (Weeks 11–12 and Beyond)

Launch is the go-live moment when your organisation begins using Acorn to deliver learning, build capabilities, and drive performance conversations. Post-launch support ensures smooth adoption and addresses early issues.

Key Activities: - Execute final data loads and system validation - Activate user accounts and distribute login credentials - Deliver train-the-trainer and administrator training - Launch organisation-wide communications campaign - Go live with pilot cohort or full rollout (depending on your strategy) - Monitor system performance and user adoption metrics - Provide first-week technical support and troubleshooting - Gather user feedback and log enhancement requests - Conduct post-launch reviews at Week 4 and Week 8 - Celebrate early wins and reinforce adoption messaging

Deliverable: Acorn PLMS live and operational, with users creating personalised development plans, engaging with learning content mapped to their capabilities, and managers conducting confident, productive conversations about performance and growth.

Critical Success Factors

Executive Sponsorship: Secure visible support from leadership. Executives should champion the shift toward capability-driven development and emphasise the link between learning and business strategy.

Change Management: Assign a dedicated change lead to manage communications, resistance, and adoption. Help users understand how Acorn enables career pathing, IDPs, and continuous development.

Data Readiness: Ensure organisational data is clean and current before configuration. Inaccurate hierarchies or role definitions will slow the scoping and configuration phases.

Stakeholder Engagement: Involve HR, L&D, IT, department heads, and frontline managers throughout. Their input shapes capability frameworks and ensures relevance to business needs.

Realistic Resource Planning: Identify who owns each phase activity. Avoid splitting attention; dedicated resources accelerate timelines and reduce rework.

Timeline Variations

Your organisation may experience a shorter or longer implementation depending on: - Organisation size: Larger organisations with complex hierarchies may need 10–12 weeks - Existing data quality: Clean, well-structured data accelerates scoping and configuration - Scope of content migration: Integrating large learning libraries extends configuration - Third-party integrations: Connections to HR systems or external content providers add complexity - Team availability: Limited internal resources may extend timelines

Discuss these factors with your implementation partner during scoping to establish a realistic plan tailored to your organisation.

Measuring Success Post-Launch

Once live, track adoption and impact through Acorn's reporting and dashboard tools. Monitor: - Adoption rates: Login frequency, course completions, assessment participation - Capability uplift: Proficiency assessments showing improvement over time - Career progression: Movement through defined capability frameworks and role transitions - Manager engagement: Quality and frequency of performance conversations - Learning ROI: Cost-per-head reporting linked to capability maturity and retention indicators

Regular post-launch reviews ensure your organisation realises the full value of Acorn PLMS in aligning workforce development with business strategy and KPIs.

Project Management & Communication Project Management & Communication

Successful implementation of Acorn PLMS requires clear governance, consistent communication, and coordinated effort across your organisation. This article outlines best practices for managing your implementation project and keeping all stakeholders informed and aligned.

Establishing Your Implementation Team

Your organisation benefits from appointing a dedicated project manager to oversee the Acorn PLMS implementation. This individual serves as the central point of contact, coordinates activities across departments, tracks milestones, and removes blockers. The project manager acts as the bridge between your organisation's leadership, your implementation team, and the Acorn support team.

Beyond the project manager, identify key stakeholders across your organisation including:

• Learning and Development leads – responsible for content strategy and learning design
• Technical administrators – handling system configuration and integrations
• Department heads – representing end-user needs and business requirements
• Subject matter experts – providing input on competency frameworks and role requirements
• Compliance and governance representatives – ensuring regulatory and policy adherence

Clear role definition at the outset prevents confusion and ensures accountability throughout the implementation lifecycle.

Conducting Effective Status Meetings

Regular status meetings are the backbone of implementation communication. Schedule these meetings at a cadence appropriate to your project phase – typically weekly during active implementation and bi-weekly during stabilisation phases.

Structure your status meetings around these key elements:

Agenda items: - Completed milestones and deliverables from the previous period - Current work in progress and any blockers - Upcoming activities and dependencies - Risk or issue escalations requiring leadership decision - Capability or competency framework progress - User adoption metrics and feedback themes

Meeting discipline: - Distribute agendas 24 hours in advance - Assign a facilitator (typically the project manager) and a note-taker - Timebox discussions to respect participants' schedules - Document decisions and action items with clear ownership and due dates - Share meeting minutes within 24 hours - Track action items in a centralised log reviewed at each meeting

Status meetings serve dual purposes: they keep the project on track and provide regular touchpoints that build confidence and momentum across your organisation.

Leveraging Teams Chat for Real-Time Communication

While status meetings provide structured forums, day-to-day implementation work benefits from real-time communication channels. Integrating Microsoft Teams chat into your implementation workflow enables rapid problem-solving and reduces email overhead.

Create dedicated Teams channels for:

• #acorn-implementation-general – project announcements and discussion
• #acorn-technical – configuration questions and technical troubleshooting
• #acorn-content-mapping – learning content and capability framework discussions
• #acorn-user-adoption – end-user feedback and adoption initiatives
• #acorn-leadership – executive steering and strategic discussions

Establish channel norms early: response time expectations, escalation procedures, and what types of communications belong in each channel. Teams chat complements but does not replace formal status meetings – use chat for urgent issues and quick clarifications, reserving meetings for strategic decisions and comprehensive updates.

Developing Stakeholder Communication Plans

Different stakeholder groups require tailored communication approaches. Your stakeholder communication plan should define what each group needs to know, how often, and through which channels.

Executive leadership requires: - Monthly high-level status updates highlighting risks and milestones - Business impact projections (time savings, learning effectiveness improvements) - Budget and resource tracking - Decision escalations requiring executive approval

Department heads and managers need: - Biweekly or monthly updates on how the system will affect their teams - Training dates and adoption timelines specific to their areas - Early access to system demonstrations - Mechanisms to submit feedback on competency frameworks and role mappings

End users (learners and managers) benefit from: - Clear explanations of why Acorn PLMS is being implemented - Hands-on training tailored to their roles - Quick-start guides and job aids - Ongoing support channels (help desk, FAQs)

Your implementation team requires: - Weekly detailed status meetings with technical deep-dives - Access to shared project documentation and decision logs - Clear escalation procedures - Regular feedback loops on what's working and what needs adjustment

Leveraging Acorn's AI Capabilities in Your Implementation

Accelerate key implementation workstreams using Acorn's built-in AI tools. Whether your organisation has an existing competency framework or is building one from scratch, Acorn can ingest your framework or help you construct one using templates or AI assistance.

Take advantage of free AI tools to streamline implementation:

• Job Description Assistant – helps you craft and refine role descriptions aligned to your capability framework, ensuring consistency across your organisation
• Capability or Competency Building Assistant – structures and maintains your organisational capability model efficiently

As users engage with Acorn, the system delivers personalized development plans through AI-driven learning recommendations. These recommendations evolve with each learner's profile, history, interests, and role, matching learning assets to relevant skills and capabilities.

Incorporate these AI-powered features into your stakeholder communication plan. Share early wins with leadership and end users to build confidence in the platform and demonstrate tangible value.

Maintaining Momentum and Accountability

Assign your project manager explicit authority to track timelines, manage dependencies, and escalate risks. Review project health weekly using a clear dashboard or status tracker. Celebrate milestones publicly – successful competency framework completion, first department trained, system go-live – to maintain organisational momentum.

Regularly solicit feedback from implementation team members and early-adopter users. This input informs sprint priorities and ensures the system is configured to meet your organisation's needs.

Strong project management and transparent communication transform implementation from a one-time event into a coordinated organisational effort, increasing adoption rates and accelerating realisation of learning performance benefits.

Sandbox & Testing Environments Sandbox & Testing Environments

Sandbox and staging environments are critical components of a successful Acorn PLMS implementation. These isolated testing spaces allow your organization to validate configurations, test workflows, and conduct comprehensive user acceptance testing (UAT) before deploying to your production environment.

Understanding Your Testing Environment

Your sandbox environment provides a complete replica of Acorn PLMS where you can safely experiment with configurations without affecting your live system. This dedicated space enables your implementation team, administrators, and key stakeholders to validate that the platform meets your organizational requirements before go-live.

During your 6-8 week implementation process, you'll work within these environments to configure modules, test automated workflows, and prepare your team for platform adoption. The sandbox allows you to test all functionalities—from enrollment automation to compliance tracking—in a risk-free setting.

Configuration Validation

Before deploying to production, your administrators should thoroughly validate all platform configurations within the sandbox environment. This includes:

Automated Enrollment Setup: Test your automated enrollment workflows to ensure employees are routed to the correct courses based on predefined rules such as role, cohort, or start date. Verify that your enrollment logic functions correctly across different user segments and scenarios.

Calendar and Scheduling: Validate that your training calendar displays correctly and that filter options work as expected. Test the ability to add company events related to training and educational programs to ensure your calendar serves as an effective planning tool for your organization.

Reminder Configuration: Confirm that automated reminder notifications are properly configured to alert learners of upcoming due dates, overdue training, and incomplete tasks. Test reminder delivery across multiple user groups to verify compliance and timeliness.

Integration Testing: If your organization plans to integrate external platforms, applications, or data sources with Acorn, use the sandbox to test these connections thoroughly. Validate that data flows correctly and that integrations perform as expected before moving to production.

User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

UAT is a critical phase where your end users validate that Acorn PLMS meets their actual business needs. During this phase, conduct the following activities within your sandbox environment:

Administrator Training: Acorn provides dedicated training sessions for administrators during the implementation phase, covering essential platform features and best practices. These sessions are recorded and made available for future reference, enabling you to onboard new team members effectively. Use your sandbox to practice these administrative functions in a controlled environment.

End-User Scenarios: Have key stakeholders and department representatives perform realistic workflows within the sandbox. Test course enrollment, calendar integration with personal calendars (Google, Microsoft, etc.), and receipt of iCal attachments. Verify that students can view upcoming training sessions and add calendar widgets to their home pages.

Dashboard Review: Explore the dashboards that track compliance, engagement, and learning heat-maps within a unified view of employee and talent development. Ensure these dashboards provide the visibility and insights your organization requires for effective talent management.

Feedback Collection: Gather comprehensive feedback from UAT participants about usability, feature functionality, and alignment with organizational processes. Document any issues or enhancement requests for resolution before production deployment.

Testing Automated Features

Your sandbox environment is ideal for validating Acorn's automation capabilities:

Bulk User Import: Test mass enrollment of users to company content, events, and courses. Verify that bulk operations process correctly and that users receive appropriate enrollment confirmations and calendar invitations.

Calendar Integration: Confirm that when students enroll in courses, they automatically receive emails with course details and iCal attachments. Test the ability for users to add these events to their preferred calendar applications.

Workflow Automation: Validate any custom workflows configured for your organization, ensuring they execute correctly and trigger appropriate notifications and actions.

Preparing for Future Growth

Your sandbox environment also serves as a testing ground for future expansion. Acorn is designed with flexibility to add new modules as your needs evolve. Test optional future modules such as:

• Capabilities Module: Enables detailed competency mapping to align employee skills and training programs with organizational goals
• Momentum Module: Enhances performance management by integrating continuous feedback, goal setting, and performance reviews directly within the platform

Experiment with these potential additions in your sandbox to determine their value for your organization before full deployment.

Sandbox Best Practices

Maintain Data Integrity: Keep your sandbox data organized and representative of your production environment structure. Use realistic test data that mirrors your actual user base and organizational hierarchy.

Document Findings: Create detailed records of all testing activities, issues discovered, and resolutions implemented. This documentation supports your UAT sign-off process and provides valuable reference material for future administrators.

Coordinate with Stakeholders: Ensure all relevant departments participate in UAT activities. Different user groups may uncover different issues or requirements.

Test Thoroughly Before Go-Live: Allocate sufficient time in your sandbox environment to test all planned configurations and features. The time invested during sandbox testing reduces the risk of issues in production.

Leverage Support Resources: Take advantage of Acorn's support access via toll-free numbers, email, and chat during your sandbox testing phase. Your implementation team can help troubleshoot issues and answer configuration questions.

Continuous Improvement

Acorn follows a bi-weekly release cycle that delivers regular upgrades and enhancements to the platform. After go-live, you can continue using your sandbox environment to test new features and updates before deploying them to production, ensuring a smooth evolution of your learning management system.

By thoroughly utilizing your sandbox and staging environments, your organization can confidently deploy Acorn PLMS with validated configurations, trained administrators, and satisfied stakeholders ready to drive successful adoption.