Matthew Brown's Analyst Perspectives

I am happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Buyers Guide, an assessment of how well software providers’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The Learning Management Systems: Ventana Research Buyers Guide is the distillation of a year of market and product research by Ventana Research.

Over the last several years, the learning technology industry has experienced a remarkable evolution, gaining speed because of employer expectations, worker demands and an elevated focus being placed on ongoing development. As organizations recognize the critical role of continuous learning in driving productivity and employee engagement, the market has responded with a diverse array of solutions. To fully support the demands of employee, customer and partner learning and development needs, multiple solutions are often needed. The software available to businesses to support learning and development strategies have multiplied exponentially. From Learning Management Systems (LMS) to Learning Experience Platforms (LXP), from learning Content Providers (LCP) and Extended Enterprise (EXE) learning technology, the options are numerous and can be overwhelming.

Ventana Research defines Learning Management Systems (LMS) as a category of software designed to facilitate the administration, documentation, tracking and delivery of employee development content or training programs. The LMS serves as a centralized platform where organizations can manage various aspects of their learning initiatives, including course creation, enrollment, progress tracking and assessment. LMSs provide a structured and often prescriptive environment for learners to access learning materials, participate in activities and interact with instructors or peers. In addition, LMSs provide the structure and support necessary to manage compliance initiatives through robust assignment rules and certification/recertification management workflows. By leveraging technology, LMSs streamline the learning process, offering flexibility, scalability and accessibility for organizations seeking to enhance their training programs and optimize knowledge transfer.

Learners today are no longer satisfied with static content or one-size-fits-all approaches.

Learners today are no longer satisfied with static content or one-size-fits-all approaches. They seek personalized experiences similar to their interactions with technology in their personal life like those with streaming services or social media platforms. Whether it is Gen Z digital natives or digital immigrants made up of prior generations, learners want flexibility, relevance and engaging content. The traditional LMS no longer suffices as a singular learning software component. Learners desire a more intuitive and dynamic learning environment designed to create personalized experiences at scale. Learning paths must adapt to individual preferences, allowing learners to explore topics of interest. The LMS is a critical resource for any organization concerned with productivity, organizational agility and operational excellence. These technologies enable organizations to demonstrate an investment in people, as the LMS not only facilitates regulatory and legal compliance and other forms of cost and risk avoidance but also improves internal mobility, career growth and the employee experience, leading to improved productivity, engagement and retention.

As learner expectations and demands change, so must the supporting software. Imagine an LMS that knows your learning style—like a friendly guide who tailors the journey just for you. It recommends relevant courses, tracks progress and nudges you when it is time to level up. And when you are curious about a new skill, it opens a hidden door to a treasure trove of microlearning modules. Learners today want this magical blend of personalization and convenience.

Organizations have shifted their perspective on learning. It is no longer seen as a cost center, but as a driver of business success.

Organizations have shifted their perspective on learning. It is no longer seen as a cost center, but as a driver of business success. CEOs are now measuring the return on investment (ROI) in terms of employee engagement, productivity and retention. LXPs have gained prominence since they prioritize the learner experience, curating content and fostering social learning. These platforms are masters at making learners feel seen, creating personalized playlists for each learner. They recommend articles, videos and podcasts, ensuring that learning feels less like a chore and more like a delightful exploration. This category focuses on delivering personalized, learner-driven and immersive learning experiences to keep the workforce engaged and productive. This represents a major attitudinal shift in the enterprise learning domain, away from what the organization requires of the individual and toward a more mutually beneficial arrangement that reflects the interests of both the employer and the employee, as well as what each expects from the other.

But it is not just about internal employees anymore. The extended enterprise learning market has experienced somewhat of a renaissance. Extended enterprise learning solutions act as bridges, connecting organizations more closely with their partners, customers and contractors. They allow customization for different audiences—channel partners learn about the latest widgets, franchisees master secret sauce recipes and contractors quickly align to new safety protocols. The path to value lies in consistent training across the entire ecosystem.

The role of the learning and development teams has also evolved as the technology advances and more options are available. Due to the continued expansion of the learning content market, learning teams can deliver more high-quality content for ongoing employee development through the use of 3rd party content libraries. This shift enables teams to comply with the legacy approach of “do more with less” that often befalls the learning function. Numerous content providers and content aggregators have solidified their position as the extension of the learning teams, which makes it more possible for learning to find its new place as a strategic partner with the business, not just the training creation and delivery engine.

AI is not just about efficiency; it is about creating engaging and enriching learning experiences.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has transformed the learning landscape even further. AI-powered LXPs recommend personalized content, adapt difficulty levels and provide instant answers through chatbots. Predictive analytics help identify high-potential learners and tailor interventions. AI is not just about efficiency; it is about creating engaging and enriching learning experiences. As organizations adapt to remote work, hybrid models and gig economy dynamics, AI remains a strategic ally. AI has changed the discussion around employee learning and development. It is not just about ticking boxes; it is about empowering individuals to thrive in an evolving world.

As in years past, the LMS still provides easy access to a wide selection of job skill training programs, certifications, and compliance-related written content and assessment. Beyond compliance, many organizations have placed new emphasis on learning, based on a combination of business requirements and workers’ desired career paths, focusing on identifying and closing skills gaps required for career development in alignment with future business needs. Many organizations have abandoned traditional, classroom-style learning in favor of asynchronous, self-paced e-learning. In addition, organizations are increasingly emphasizing learning the way it is actually achieved within business enterprises—informally, socially and within the flow of work. To engage learners more effectively and ensure they retain new information, organizations are embedding social collaboration, knowledge sharing and gamification directly within the tools workers already access regularly, so that learning becomes a cultural norm rather than a separate destination.

Technology providers have made significant advances in how organizations create, curate and deliver content, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) capabilities have revolutionized how and where content is recommended to the learners consuming it. As a result, organizations can optimize learning outcomes, tie those outcomes to productivity and maximize ROI.

We believe that over the next few years, as capabilities like AI-supported learning coaches, adaptive recommendation engines and embedded social collaboration tools become a requirement, vendors will invest in a variety of product capability advances. These include more user-friendly authoring tools so organizations can create new learning assets from existing ones, as well as adaptive learning. In this learning model, the platform gauges a learner’s mastery of the subject and adapts learning delivery to more efficiently help the learner achieve proficiency or a personal goal. Finally, we expect to see more simulations and other instruments that provide evidence of competency and understanding.

Our continuous research and analysis of the market for business applications and technologies guide our comprehensive approach to this Value Index. For two decades, Ventana Research has conducted market research in learning management as well as HCM disciplines including candidate engagement, continuous payroll, the employee experience, total compensation management and workforce management.

This Learning Management Systems Buyers Guide evaluates products based on capabilities across the following categories: Product Value, Personalization and Employee Experience, Skills, Authoring and Curation, Types of Learning Supported, Content Management, Social Collaboration, Industry Standards, HR Business Process and System Integration, Integration Methods, Integration with Enterprise Platforms/Tools, Mobile, Learning Platform Capabilities, User Roles and Personas, Learning Administrator Measurement, Learner-Related Capabilities, Manager-Related Capabilities and overall Investment in Capabilities. While many of the providers offer expanded features that are found in other aspects of learning technology (extended enterprise, learning experience platforms, learning content providers, etc.), it’s important to note that the providers were only evaluated against the capabilities that are specific to the LMS offering.

Our rankings are reflective of how providers performed against our total criteria, which expand far beyond features and functionality.

The LMS market is highly populated with hundreds of offerings, many of which offer similarly described features. The research is indicative of software provider performance against a fixed list of criteria and does not account for areas of specialization such as industry focus or additional capabilities that are not part of the LMS. Our rankings are reflective of how providers performed against our total criteria, which expand far beyond features and functionality. It’s imperative that buyers invest the time to develop specific requirements when searching for an LMS, and understand that there is no single “best” LMS on the market. Instead, there are many wonderful products available that align to a host of varying requirements. Always take care to ensure you’re clear on business requirements and seek to find the right solution for your specific organization.

This research-based index evaluates the full business and information technology value of learning management software offerings. I encourage you to learn more about our Buyers Guide and its effectiveness as a provider selection and RFI/RFP tool.

We urge organizations to do a thorough job of evaluating learning management offerings in this Buyers Guide as both the results of our in-depth analysis of these software providers and as an evaluation methodology. The Buyers Guide can be used to evaluate existing suppliers, plus provides evaluation criteria for new projects. Using it can shorten the cycle time for an RFP and the definition of an RFI.

This research evaluates the following software providers that offer products that address key elements of learning management systems as we define it: 360Learning, Absorb, Adobe, Axonify, BizLibrary, Bridge, Cegid, Cornerstone OnDemand, Dayforce, D2L, Docebo, eloomi, isolved, Learning Pool, LearnUpon, Oracle, PeopleFluent, SAP, Schoox, Skillsoft, TalentLMS, Thrive and Workday.

The Buyers Guide for Learning Management Systems in 2024 finds Oracle first on the list, followed by Schoox and Cornerstone OnDemand.

Software providers that rated in the top three of any category ﹘ including the product and customer experience dimensions ﹘ earn the designation of Leader.

The Leaders in Product Experience are:

• Oracle
• Schoox
• LearnUpon

The Leaders in Customer Experience are:

• Cornerstone OnDemand.
• Oracle
• SAP

The Leaders across any of the seven categories are:

• Oracle, which has achieved this rating in seven of the seven categories.
• Schoox in four categories.
• Cornerstone OnDemand in three categories.
• SAP in two categories.
• Docebo, iSolved, Learning Pool and LearnUpon in one category.

The Extended Enterprise Learning research evaluates the following software providers offering products that address key elements of extended enterprise learning as we define it: 360Learning, Cornerstone, D2L, LearnUpon, Oracle, SAP, Schoox, TalentLMS and Thought Industries.

The Buyers Guide for Extended Enterprise Learning in 2024 finds Oracle first on the list, followed by Cornerstone OnDemand and Schoox.

Software providers that rated in the top three of any category ﹘ including the product and customer experience dimensions ﹘ earn the designation of Leader.

The Leaders in Product Experience are:

• Oracle
• Cornerstone OnDemand.
• Thought Industries.

The Leaders in Customer Experience are:

• Cornerstone OnDemand.
• Oracle
• SAP

The Leaders across any of the seven categories are:

• Cornerstone OnDemand, which has achieved this rating in six of the seven categories.
• Oracle in five categories.
• SAP and Thought Industries in three categories.
• Learn Upon and Schoox in two categories.

The Learning Content Solutions research evaluates the following software providers that offer products that address key elements of learning content solutions as we define it: BizLibrary, Cornerstone, Coursera, ELB Learning, LinkedIn Learning, OpenSesame, Pluralsight, Skillsoft and Udemy.

The Buyers Guide for Learning Content Solutions in 2024 finds Udemy first on the list, followed by Cornerstone OnDemand and ELB Learning.

Software providers that rated in the top three of any category ﹘ including the product and customer experience dimensions ﹘ earn the designation of Leader.

The Leaders in Product Experience are:

• Udemy
• Cornerstone OnDemand.
• ELB Learning.

The Leaders in Customer Experience are:

• Cornerstone OnDemand.
• Udemy
• LinkedIn Learning.

The Leaders across any of the seven categories are:

• Udemy, which has achieved this rating in seven of the seven categories.
• Cornerstone OnDemand and LinkedIn Learning in three categories.
• ELB Learning and OpenSesame in two categories.
• Skillsoft, BizLibrary and Pluralsight in one category.

The Learning Experience Platforms research evaluates the following software providers that offer products that address key elements of learning experience platforms as we define it: 360Learning, Absorb, EdCast by Cornerstone, CrossKnowledge, Degreed, Learning Pool and Oracle.

The Buyers Guide for Learning Experience Platforms in 2024 finds Oracle first on the list, followed by EdCast by Cornerstone and Absorb.

Software providers that rated in the top three of any category ﹘ including the product and customer experience dimensions ﹘ earn the designation of Leader.

The Leaders in Product Experience are:

• Oracle
• 360Learning
• EdCast by Cornerstone.

The Leaders in Customer Experience are:

• EdCast by Cornerstone.
• Oracle
• Absorb

The Leaders across any of the seven categories are:

• Oracle, which has achieved this rating in seven of the seven categories.
• Absorb and EdCast by Cornerstone in three categories.
• CrossKnowledge, Degreed and Learning Pool in one category.

The overall performance chart provides a visual representation of how providers rate across product and customer experience. Software providers with products scoring higher in a weighted rating of the five product experience categories place farther to the right. The combination of ratings for the two customer experience categories determines their placement on the vertical axis. As a result, providers that place closer to the upper-right are “exemplary” and rated higher than those closer to the lower-left and identified as providers of “merit.” Software providers that excelled at customer experience over product experience have an “assurance” rating, and those excelling instead in product experience have an “innovative” rating.

Note that close provider scores should not be taken to imply that the packages evaluated are functionally identical or equally well-suited for use by every enterprise or process. Although there is a high degree of commonality in how organizations handle learning management, there are many idiosyncrasies and differences that can make one provider’s offering a better fit than another.

Our firm has made every effort to encompass in this Buyers Guide the overall product and customer experience from our learning management blueprint, which we believe reflects what a well-crafted RFP should contain. Even so, there may be additional areas that affect which software provider and products best fit an enterprise’s particular requirements. Therefore, while this research is complete as it stands, utilizing it in your own organizational context is critical to ensure that products deliver the highest level of support for your projects.

You can find more details on our community as well as on our expertise in the research for these Buyers Guides:

Learning Management Systems

Extended Enterprise Learning

Learning Content Solutions

Learning Experience Platforms

Regards,

Matthew Brown