The market for corporate training and education (including onboarding, leadership development, and compliance) is well over $240 billion around the world, and as much as 14% of this goes into technology. A variety of small and large companies are chasing this $20+ billion market and the war is hotter than ever.
At the core of this market is the 20+ year old learning management system. These platforms, which were created as the system of record for training administration, are vital. Companies need these systems to administer, track, and report compliance – so they are not going away. Once considered a key employee-driven system, however, they have now become “systems of record,” so their strategic value has dropped. And as new systems that take over the learning experience grow, the LMS market is under attack.
The hottest new part of the market are Learning Experience Platforms (LXP), which I believe I named about four years ago. These are intelligent learning portals that use a variety of approaches to making all forms of learning content (articles, videos, courses, podcasts) easy to find for employees. Once considered a layer that sit on top of the LMS, these are now becoming integrated systems of record too. The two biggest players in this market today are Degreed and EdCast.
Degreed, the company that has grown the fastest, acquired its smaller competitor Pathgather and recently acquired Adepto, moving into the market for talent mobility and integrated talent management. EdCast, by contrast, has moved into the market for enterprise knowledge and skills management, releasing a variety of features to integrate the platform into Microsoft, Salesforce, ServiceNow, and other workplace environments. Both are growing at double-digit rates and have a large market opportunity ahead.
Both understand the need for LMS functionality, so both are building out LMS features as well. Just as Cornerstone and Skillsoft moved from LMS into LXP, both Degreed and EdCast are getting into LMS functionality quickly. Why? Because customers just don’t want two systems of record.
Remember, also, that LXP platforms are not “content” systems at all – they sit above the content. So there is a new breed of LXP coming, which lets you publish and index video, transcribe and translate content, edit, coordinate, and amplify video and slides – all within the LXP. Companies like Shell and Comcast use these types of platforms for an entire Capability Academy of self-authored learning. (This is the type of tech Microsoft is now embedding into Teams.)
Not to be left behind, Workday, SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft (LinkedIn) are also entering the market. Workday’s new Skills Cloud (which I will write about separately) is an aggressive new technology that could upend the market completely by embedding intelligent skills inference into everything you do in Workday. SAP is now partnering with Percipio, and has a robust LMS and wide variety of learning tools (SAP Jam and EnableNow) of its own. Oracle is building its own new learning platform. And Microsoft (LinkedIn) announced they are also building an LXP. With Microsoft’s massive success with Teams (and Project Cortex) I believe Microsoft could eventually become one of the biggest players in the market, but that is yet to come.
I believe these program management systems are becoming critical to the future because they are the core of your Capability Academy, which really makes up the core of deep skills development.
Surrounding these core systems there are a massive number of other tools as well. Vendors like STRIVR Labs (the leader in immersive learning and VR), Filtered Magpie (the leaders in learning search), and a wide variety of tools for video management, assessment, and content development continue to grow. In my last research study I found that the average L&D department has 22 different vendor platforms, so all these matter to a degree. While off the shelf content is a huge and growing market, your ability to build and deploy internally authored programs is still the most important thing you do.
On the core LMS side, the market has not slowed down at all. SAP, Oracle, Workday, and Infor all have home-grown LMS platforms, and each is evolving rapidly each year. In many ways the future of the LMS is “embedded into the core HR system,” so I would not be surprised to see this market become integrated into ERP in many large companies.
That said, there are a vast number of learning features needed in the LMS (managerial approval, resource management, development planning, competency management, compliance reporting, certification, badging, e-commerce, training credits, and more) so there will always be third party vendors. So I suggest companies use the LMS they have, and just negotiate the best price you can so you can spend money on the “experience” layer systems which are more important to end-users.
In the early days of the LMS market companies like Saba, SumTotal, and Plateau essentially took over the market and created a category for others to follow. Today the learning platform market is so big and broad, it’s hard to find a vendor with the market power and vision to be called the “leader.” In fact I talk with many vendors who believe they can “lead” in this market, and I usually advise them “just go out and find your niche, the market is big enough for many good companies to grow.”
Where is all this going? Let me give you a few insights.
Vendors like Degreed, EdCast, 360 Learning, NovoEd, and big vendors like Workday and Microsoft are becoming very important. You really have to select an LXP, a program management platform, and an LMS that scales and fits your needs.
VR and Immersive Learning have the potential to change the landscape. STRIVR and others (even Microsoft) are reinventing how we interact with content, and they are platform companies too. I urge you to do a pilot or more in this area in 2020, you’ll be surprised how robust this solution can be.
Think about Learning in the Flow of Work as a serious effort, and look for products that seamlessly plug into your other systems. I do believe we are not far away from a world where a learning recommendation will “pop up” in Outlook, Salesforce, Teams, or Slack, whenever you need help. for example, lets you “ask the JBA” any question you want about HR. That type of interface is working and available now, so depending on what productivity tools you have, make sure these integrations are in your plans.
Buy an LMS from a company that understands your future. There are more than 200 LMS vendors out there, and I think they fall into two categories. Those which are robust, full-featured systems often embedded into your core HR system. And then the smaller, more limited vendors that specialize in certain markets and niche industries. Before you decide where to put your energy, decide if the vendor seems to understand your particular needs. If they do, they’ll likely grow in the direction you want.
About Cyberwisdom
As a leading provider of talent development overall solutions and mobile learning in the Asia-Pacific region and Greater China, Cyberwisdom not only provides platform technology, but also has the largest customized course design and development team in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as more than 1,200 independent copyright ready-made general courseware.With extensive experience in the e-learning industry, we is committed to providing a full range and leading mobile learning solutions for enterprises, governments and educational institutions in Greater China and the entire Asia-Pacific region.
Source: https://joshbersin.com/2019/12/the-war-for-corporate-learning-platforms-gets-hotter/
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