LMS Migration Services Australia
Move to Moodle with a team that has handled hundreds of migrations, so nothing gets lost along the way.
A Premium Certified Moodle Partner of 20+ years, Catalyst IT support universities, training providers and enterprise level companies with their education technology needs across Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Canada.
Why organisations are hesitant to move on from their current LMS
For many organisations, the barrier to switching has less to do with the current LMS and more to do with the perceived cost and risk of making a change. The real concerns tend to fall into a few clear categories:
Getting used to something new
For most organisations, the biggest concern is how long it takes staff and students to settle into a new system once the move is done.
Integrations that quietly stop working
Reporting tools and other connected systems often rely on integrations built up over years. If those connections aren’t mapped properly before the move, they can break without warning once the new system goes live.
Disruption during the move itself
Every migration involves some kind of outage window while systems are switched over. Organisations want to know how long that window will be and how it’s planned around teaching and assessment periods.
While all of these are fair concerns, your bigger and long term organisational goals, including your teaching and learning strategy, are more important than a temporary inconvenience. In addition, with the right technical partner, an lms to lms migration can be a lot more straightforward and less disruptive in reality than in perception.
Why Moodle, and why Catalyst IT
Flexibility that extends beyond a list of features.
- Easily integrate with existing business and education systems
- Extend functionality without restrictions
- Support different departments, faculties and pedagogical approaches
- Accommodate multiple organisational structures
- Develop custom workflows
- Customise your analytics and reporting
- Choose how and where the platform is hosted
- Choose who manages your platform and how much involvement your managing partner has
- Have pricing and supplier (technology partner) flexibility
- Have full access to your LMS
- Have control of upgrades and enhancements roadmap
Enable your teaching and learning strategy
Moodle with Catalyst offers unbeatable flexibility in all the key aspects of your education technology strategy – from integrations and customisations to hosting, access, and even pricing.
With other LMS, you have to shape your teaching and learning strategy around what an LMS platform allows. Turning the usual LMS relationship on its head, Moodle adapts to how your organisation already works. It’s open source foundation also means you can shape and extend the system without waiting on a vendor’s roadmap, or paying for a licence tier, just to unlock a feature you need today.
Control your data
Moodle also gives your organisation more say over where its data lives and how its platform evolves, which matters for universities and government agencies with specific data residency and governance requirements. Because the platform is open source, moving away from it later is never as locked in as it can feel with a proprietary system.
Take advantage of the best technical team
Catalyst IT has spent more than two decades working exclusively with open source software, and with Moodle in particular. Our team includes some of the largest contributors to the Moodle core codebase in the world, so we’re often improving the platform itself rather than just building around it. Clients also get access to more than 2,000 Moodle plugins, backed by local support from a team that understands the platform inside and out.
Have the freedom to choose what works for you
Moodle’s modular design also means functionality doesn’t have to be lost in the move from another LMS to Moodle. Where a plugin or feature is unique to your current platform, our team can usually rebuild or replace it, often working from nothing more than screenshots of how it currently behaves. That flexibility is one of the clearest advantages of moving to an open source platform like Moodle – you can make it yours and maintain it as suits you.
Switching platforms can feel like a daunting project, but with the right partner it is far more straightforward than most organisations expect.
Migrating from your current LMS
No matter which platform you’re currently on, the path to Moodle follows the same proven approach. Here’s what the move looks like depending on where you’re starting.
Moving from Canvas to Moodle
Canvas is a proprietary platform, which means Instructure controls the pricing and the roadmap, not you. Moodle offers a genuinely open alternative, with the flexibility to shape the platform around your teaching model instead of the other way around. Our Canvas to Moodle migration moves your courses, users, enrolments, grades, assessments and historical records across, so your team isn’t left rebuilding everything from scratch.
Moving from Blackboard to Moodle
Like Canvas, Blackboard is a proprietary system with licensing and customisation limits that can hold back growing institutions. Moodle’s open architecture removes those constraints, giving your team the freedom to build the platform your learners actually need.
Moving from Open LMS to Moodle
Open LMS runs on Moodle’s open source code, but it is sold and supported as a closed subscription product. That means locked upgrade cycles and a limited list of approved plugins. Moving to Moodle directly with a certified partner like Catalyst removes those restrictions and gives you access to the full plugin marketplace and complete control over your upgrade schedule. Moodle with a partner like Catalyst offers greater technical depth and flexibility, as well as local expert support.
Moving from another LMS
Whatever platform you’re currently using, the underlying challenge is usually the same: a system that no longer flexes to match how your organisation teaches and learns. Get in touch and we’ll talk through what a move to Moodle would look like for your setup.
LMS to LMS migration process:
How the migration works
We keep our process structured and predictable, so your team knows what to expect at every stage.
- Discovery and audit: We start by understanding how your current LMS supports your organisation, including course structures and integration needs.
- Data migration: Course content and user data are carefully mapped and moved across, with checks in place to catch issues before they affect learners.
- Build and configure: Your new Moodle environment is built and configured to match your requirements, including any integrations your organisation depends on.
- Testing and training: We test the platform under realistic conditions and give your team the chance to review everything before it goes live.
- Launch and support: Once you’re ready, we manage the cutover and stay on hand to support your team and learners as they settle in.
LMS migrations that keep delivering
A trusted partner is a must when it comes to LMS to LMS migrations. Learn more, download our whitepaper – Why Cloud Migrations Fail and How to Make them Work.
Catalyst IT has successfully completed hundreds of LMS migrations for universities and training providers across Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Canada. We make the process seamless.
In addition, our hosting Clients get the benefit of our 24/7 Follow The Sun support model.
What our clients say:
Frequently asked questions:
Will my existing courses and content transfer over?
Yes. Course content and user data are mapped and migrated as part of the process, with checks in place before anything is considered complete.
Will I lose any functionality when I move to Moodle?
Not usually. Moodle’s open, modular design means our team can typically rebuild or replace any features unique to your current platform, often using nothing more than screenshots of how they currently work.
How do I migrate Moodle to a new server?
If you already run Moodle but need to move it to a new server, our team manages the entire process for you. We handle everything involved in how to migrate Moodle safely, including testing and a planned cutover window, so your courses and data arrive intact.
What do Catalyst’s LMS migration services include?
Our LMS migration services take you from initial discovery through to ongoing support after go live, with a fully documented process at every stage. Catalyst has been recognised as Moodle’s Global Partner of the Year and APAC Partner of the Year, which is why organisations consider us a top rated LMS migration services provider.
What happens to our data during the move?
Your data is handled under strict security protocols throughout the migration, and nothing is considered complete until it has been checked against the original system.
Will there be downtime during migration?
We plan migrations to minimise disruption wherever possible. The exact amount of downtime depends on your system size and setup, which we’re happy to walk through during a consultation.
How much does an LMS migration cost?
Cost depends on the scale and complexity of your current environment. Book a free consultation and we’ll give you a clear picture of what’s involved for your organisation.
How long does an LMS migration take?
Timelines depend on the size of your Moodle site and how much course content and integration work is involved. We’ll give you a realistic timeframe once we understand your setup, which is something we cover in a free consultation.
Book a free migration consultation
Book a free migration consultation with Catalyst IT and find out how straightforward moving to Moodle can be.
Established in 1997, our open source software services provide our clients with technical resources to achieve their business goals.
