Learning Systems. Would you select an LMS? What about an LXP? Oh, maybe a combo of the two? Perhaps a learning platform that calls themselves whatever, has some functionality or more of an LMS, but won’t refer to them as that.
Do you go with an Enterprise version? Customer Training/Education (aka legacy term as extended enterprise? Do you choose one that you can provide internal (employees) and external (customer/client/partner/franchise, etc.) in the system itself, saving you financial resources, while leveraging functionality, data and multi-tenant capabilities?
What if the system has a mobile app? Would that influence your decision? AI? Skills – focused or maximum requirement? Administration and reporting/metrics that go beyond the usual “views” which is worthless for knowing your learning story? Seeking an ideal for learning intelligence without having to pay extra to get it? Or are you willing to add it, paying an additional fee? Knowing that about 85% of the functionality today (avg) is the same in every system, regardless of if they are customer or internal driven, change your strategy? The 15% as the factor?
In sports – nowadays even with little kids who play soccer at a competitive level, there are drafts. The NHL, NFL, NBA, WNBA, Soccer, even MLB has a draft. I’m sure there are other leagues globally that have drafts. The worst teams pick first, unless they traded away the pick (long story if you are not into sports).
What if though, you could say, okay, I am going to draft the best team for Enterprise. I’m going to draft the best team for customer training/education – you get my point. I’m going to draft the best team for entities in the 50 to 500 range (some vendors slide this under small business, or mid-market, and yes, even the base level for Enterprise). What about Large Enterprise?
I reached out to 20 learning system vendors’ executives to provide their insight, or at least their picks for the draft. They could not pick their own system. When applicable I will add those comments – but for the purposes of being candid, it was agreed their names and companies would remain anonymous.
Draft Rules
- Only one system can be selected for the teams. Thus they cannot appear in a second nor all the other teams.
- Executive selections along with my analysis of who goes where – played a factor. I appreciate all those execs who provided their selections. It is always interesting to see how other vendors see the space, and not necessarily, their own competitors.
- I avoided leveraging my mid-year rankings. That would have been too easy to do, ditto on the end of 23-24 rankings.
- I went far and wide, which means the picks are not just in the U.S. or U.K. for example. Just like any sports draft (sans the NFL), folks that get selected can be anywhere in the world.
- I angled this into seeing how I would see the system if they were a human. Height, talent and other attributes.
- To make it more like a “Team” I named the teams.
- Feel free to disagree or agree in the comments or on LinkedIn – I love hearing how others see it.
SMB (audience numbers 50 to 1,500) – There are vendors who see Enterprise even at 1,000 end users (active). However, based on what I am hearing across the market, where vendors just push out these weird ranges on what they see as Enterprise, or mid-market or SMB continues to be all over the map.
I went with what I hear and recognize as of today, as the ranges.
The Teams (In order of selection) – A draft usually goes lowest (worst team) to the best team. I chose to ignore that. Rather, the order is just order by active end-users.
- Small business to mid-market business Coyotes (50 to 2,499) – I should add that there are vendors who won’t consider a potential buyer if they are under 1,000; heck there are a few that won’t look at you, if you are under 5,000.
- Enterprise Eagles (2,500 to 19,999) – A big range, but I see large enterprise above the 20,000 mark. A lot of vendors though see Enterprise in the 2,000 to 10,000 range or 1,500 to 5,000 range or even 1,500 to 10,000 range. Each one, is doable. Therefore, a quandary. I took all of that in consideration, hence the larger range.
- Large Enterprise Gladiators (20,000 and higher) – See above on the variance of Large Enterprise by vendors. These are just my numbers.
- Customer Training/Education/B2B/Partners (Gravity) – and so on training (100 and up) – You could be someone who has been brick and mortar and are now jumping into online and moving over the clients. I’ve seen numbers as low as a couple – uh the company, and then their predications expand rapidly. Again, I know of CT vendors who if you are under 5,000, they are not interested. Thus, while it could be a min of 100 for me, with the sky is the limit; I can easily see it as 500 or 1,000 and up. Oh, I tossed Associations into this category.
- For the sake of repetition – I will be using first the segment, then just the abbreviation (SMB, E, LE, CT). If the vendor is in FindAnLMS, my platform for independent and non-biased variance of vendors, it will be noted. Please be aware that FAL had zero bearing, but the platform continues to land the best systems in the industry. And we are in discussions with many more. Again, no impact.
DRAFT Time
- SMB Coyotes
- Enterprise Blitz
- Large Enterprise Gladiators
- Customer Training Gravity
SMB Team – Each Round is noted (thus first round is First, Second Round is 2nd, and so on.. I went five players per team).
Biz LMS with Biz Skills and Biz Academy (First) (FAL) – The triple combo brings a punch to the industry. The skills mapping component tied already to their content was a win in my book. Not the tallest player in the industry, but with speed and agility they know where they are heading.
Right now, they are using machine learning (AI) for Learning Assistant (slick), which makes sense – since it is better to go slow sometimes than run all the way, ignoring the potential implications and scenarios that could unfold.
CYPHER Learning (2nd) (FAL) – This was tough, because they could have bounced into the first round. I held back because I’m not fully sold on AI Crosscheck, just due to that lacking a feedback loop (the prompt you usually see if you use say any LLM out there) and the inference that it is going to achieve a higher level of trust and accuracy (yes, it is true two LLMs or more help with the guardrails and accuracy. However, is it the same with AI bias? That’s unknown).
I like the copilot – is it legit; and the authoring tool (the main one) taps into Gen AI in the right way with the synthetic audio. The UI/UX overall is solid, but a refresh to stand out, I think is needed. The majority of folks will be fine with it.
The “something in the works” which I know of, and will hold off, until I can truly test it, when it rolls is intriguing. Lastly, I liked that they have multiple LLMs in their system and are not relying on just one. However, Stability AI?
Financial concerns and legal issues with Stability AI (which is an LLM, that is in the platform) due to a legal battle with MidJourney (another LLM, not in the system) here are concerning – which is why I believe they need an LLM to replace Stability AI.
Learning Pool (3rd) (FAL)– “They are the ones to watch. They have an LMS, LXP and xAPI (Learning Locker),” says one CEO in the LMS space. For me, they have a terrific system.
I wish they included Learning Locker, they do not, nor is it a solid if okay chunk of revenue (I thought the numbers would be better). I do like the UI/UX, and just the system within itself.
They do mention that they system may generate fake or false information in one place on the admin side for content creation. I think that is relevant, because as noted above, the vendors who have AI, overwhelmingly do not have that information anywhere.
I’m also unsure why they note they are “Extended Enterprise” if you search for them on the net. They are not – as the term zeros in for customer training, and all of their key pieces are workforce learning. But, hey if it works.
LearnUpon (4th) (FAL) – This is a easy pick. Execs were split between LearnUpon and TalentLMS. I’m not sold on TalentLMS, yes, nice UI/UX, but well, look a spaceship.
LearnUpon just works better for me. Hence my selection. UI/UX, functionality all good.
Not a fan of the additional fees for multi-tenant, which again, is a vendor who can play in customer training and SMB. I placed them here for SMB. AI functionality includes content creator (aka course creation or authoring tool), assessment, recommendations and text-based coach. Their sweet spot to me is about 1,500 end users. Solid for onboarding.
Digital Chalk (5th)– Hello? Yep, a stunner of pick here in this year’s draft. Its previous version wasn’t anything to write home about – hence the journeyman of this talent.
Good thing, recognition is noted and changes in a good way abound. I like that they provide full training and support to all end users, eliminating the need for whomever oversees the system (regardless of department) to handle it.
Especially since the folks that will know the system the best, is the vendor. The system brings in some solid automation and workflows.
I know a pick such as this could turn out to be a secret plus or not. My gut, clearly because of the draft, tells me a surprise player down the road.
Enterprise
A lot of chatter going into the draft because there are so many players, including potential and surprises in the landscape. Even executives were here and there.
Learn Amp (First) (FAL) – Just too strong of a player to ignore. IMO the best system in the UK, and that is saying something.
They are making some changes from having all add-ons to adding it all in there, sans performance which makes perfect sense. The UI/UX is different, which I am a fan of.
They have a lot in the works – another plus. Identify themselves as a people development platform, which I am fine with – I see them as a combo LMS with LXP strongly wrapped around workforce learning (employees, and even front-line workers).
Docebo (2nd) (FAL) – The AI pieces are solid and I want more. Not sold on the add-on fee for e-commerce, let alone “extended enterprise” – a legacy term – which they charge extra for. I do like that they can white label their mobile app (fee-based, as it should) – because it is a nice win, that a lot of vendors who have a mobile app, won’t do.
I’m glad they are revamping DCS, because it was long in the tooth. The change of pricing is easy to understand, and I see it playing well in any market. Hence where should I put them?
They do quite well in customer training (in fact extremely well, and it plays a lot with of the company focus). L&D is another tough space. Executives were definitely split on Docebo, even in the Enterprise side – some said Customer Training/Education, others pointed to Enterprise. Tough call, I went Enterprise.
Schoox (3rd) (FAL) -An LMS, focused 99% on L&D, and to me they should stay that way, rather than dipping toes into customer training/education (something they are considering).
The system’s capabilities and features do not align, beyond having a multi-tenant with unlimited children (think portals) without additional fees. I have always liked the system, and I am so glad they overhauled the UI/UX.
The learning intelligence (metrics) are a mixed bag, which caused me to drop them a small bit. I always believed they were a vendor to watch, and other executives agreed.
Absorb (4th) (FAL) – This player can cross over into the customer training/education segment quite well, and had I placed them there, top three pick. However, I went Enterprise for them – especially if you include a few additional items beyond the LMS. Right now, they are add-ons, although there are a lot of discussions of including them all (think suite).
From an AI standpoint a lot to choose from – from the content creator (think authoring tool), which I see in numerous vendors.
The bigger wins Intelligence Assist ideal for admins with reporting and showing information – think saving time with workflows.
The other win is a feature referred to as Intelligent Ranking. The site (theirs) doesn’t do it justice. I’ve seen in firsthand and went, wow and intriguing at the same time. Two executives placed Absorb on the top of their lists under Enterprise.
Juno Journey (5th) (FAL) – Another secret pick. I say secret because a lot of people haven’t heard of this player. UI/UX is a bit different, and they pack – the system itself a wallop.
Two big drivers are around onboarding – it is a nice way they go about it in their system; and learning intelligence.
Personally, they can do a bit more with LI, however, that is where the potential comes in.
A combination of LMS, LXP (one of the few that are truly legit – i.e. what an LXP should be) and employee development. You get it all. Without paying extra for this or that.
Large Enterprise
Cornerstone Galaxy – Learn (1st) (FAL) – I wasn’t sure about where they might end up here, but look from what I have seen, they are elite with AI capabilities and have some very cool stuff coming. Highly rated around deskless workers, office professionals (hence the #1 here) and the usage of compliance.
Skills management? The best in the industry.
The executives I spoke with all said the same thing when it comes to Large Enterprise – Cornerstone. One exec whose own system has been drafted, “It’s hard to compete with Cornerstone.” Another one, who also founded his company, and has been in the space for nearly two decades, “Due to their recent acquisitions, they are the vendor to be for large enterprise.”
UI/UX? Vastly improved, but the admin side needs some tweaking.
When you buy Learn you now get the entire suite (no more add-ons) which is fantastic. If you want a piece of Learn and not the entire suite, you can. Me? Just get the suite and move on.
Learning Intelligence (my term) still needs work – and the reporting can be overwhelming to many people – especially those who lack a background in L&D or Training. I am still not a big fan of partners – which there are plenty of vendors who use that mechanism.
This is an LMS that now comes with Learning Experience (Formally EdCast) – and thus a legit LXP, Guide – which is a Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) – quite nice for admins; Fundamentals and Extended Enterprise (they are aware I hate that term, it’s legacy and it dampens my mood – kidding). They play in customer training/partners; but their sweet spot is L&D – Large Enterprise.
OnPoint Digital (2nd) (FAL) – I often hear L&D folks who stipulate they want a heavily if not fully customized solution.
One route they can go is Moodle. Here is my feedback on that idea – Bleech.
OPD – Does 100% customization here. If you seek a slick UI/UX you won’t find it here. What you will find, is a dedicated group of folks who know the LE segment quite well. While they note they can go from small to very large, this system is really for those in Global 2000. The founder and CEO, Robert Gadd, is another long-time player in the online learning space, and even before the days of e-learning. This pick definitely will be a stunner for folks. Not anymore.
NovoEd (3rd) – Another player that easily could easily swing into a couple of other areas, including Enterprise. A few huge wins stand out – they play heavy in Global 2000, they are more than a cohort system – with now a heavy focus around deskless workers (yeah), and even L&D folks who want that mentoring capability. Learning Intellligence is very good. UI/UX delivers.
Cognota (4th) (FAL) – Learning Operations System. I am confident they will retort they can be Enterprise too, and yep, they can – but usually a LOS slides more with Large Enterprise. This is not an LMS. This is learning operations, far different. They include a project management like piece for those who are going, “What about a Project workflow management component?” It’s here. The analytics for folks – is one of the best in the industry – from LOS, and honestly a lot of learning system vendors (regardless of type) could learn how to create elite learning intelligence capabilities with this system. It tells your learning ops story.
Pluralsight (5th) – 100% system for tech skills. That’s it. However, they are the first vendor in the entire industry that has a feedback loop (prompt window) that allows the end-user to say either thumbs up or thumbs down on the responses, and the individual can put in text, if the thumb is down. It appears for now in one area on the platform, not across the board.
The playgrounds which include one for learning AI – how to create the code and build or modify an LLM is awesome. They have playgrounds for other solutions too. A playground is a hands-on lab (think Bentley of sims).
Customer Training/Education
This team was a tough one. There are vendors who play very well in this market and compete with others in the customer training segment. Those vendors are Docebo, Absorb, and Learning Pool. Each one would work for me in this segment as well.
I’d say the two vendors whom I hear the most around the customer training market that compete against others are Docebo and Absorb. Thus the challenge I faced on where to place each vendor. I really was on the fence with Docebo.
In the end though, I placed them in Enterprise, just due to the features I’ve been seeing in the system, that align better to L&D, albeit again, they have a higher percentage of customers on the customer training/education. That is a true combo system.
Absorb is re-entering if you will the customer training side, and they compete nicely. Another could go here or there. I pulled them into Enterprise, just a better fit on my side. However, an internal audience would work too.
I should add that even among execs they were split on where Docebo and Learning Pool fit. The majority though slide into Enterprise for Docebo. As for LP? A chunk went SMB, but all noted the customer training side.
Thought Industries (1st) (FAL) – I went back and forth between TI and the upstart continue to improve Eurekos. In the end, though it went TI. This system is not inexpensive, but what you get is a rocket ship on its way to another universe for customer training (they refer to it as customer learning). I’ve written quite a bit on them. Their AI is in content creator and a few other places, plus they continue to work on some cool AI pieces behind the scenes. They have financial metrics too – big fan.
Eurekos (2nd) (FAL) – End to end this is a player. They are only one of the few systems in the customer training segment, that bill monthly – which means you pay for those end-users, and not a pre-pay ahead of time, which I’ve never been a fan of, especially when vendors angle the active users spin, but you pay upfront.
Eurekos is not such a vendor. While I love AI (no surprise here), I have no issue with them holding, rather than jumping right in. That’s a smart approach, since there are so many unknowns. They do have in the works a couple of AI capabilities, which will be in the system by mid 2025. It’s a must these days.
Learning Intelligence will tell you – you’re learning story. The metrics make total sense, for this market. And they continue to work on adding more. Honestly, the metrics they use, should be instituted in other systems that play here or even employee side. This system though is 100% customer training/partner/distributors/clients/B2B side of the house.
D2L Brightspace (3rd) FAL – An elite system for associations – they are superior to Crowd Wisdom, Forj and the other usual players in this market. You need to know the association space to achieve success. They can tie into an association management platform.
I also like them for customer training too – as you can see. They do well with retail and hospitality especially with those frontline workers (deskless).
The functionality here is impressive. Lots to do. They are continuing to work on the UI/UX. AI functionality sweet, and they are not charging extra for items, except for the content creator tool (why?). Metrics do a solid job of telling your learning story. However, they need a bit more.
This is a secret pick. Tell others. Especially for deskless and associations.
LearningCart (4th) (FAL) – Look the UI/UX continues to need some tweaks – especially on the admin side and metrics. Functionality however is good. Pricing has gone up, which is a downer, and they charge extra for multi-tenants, and e-commerce which is a shame.
The learning intelligence though – especially around financial data which is a must, is very strong.
When it came to LearningCart one exec summed it up nicely, “Outlier here but I think the young and growing team at Learning Cart is doing some solid work these days.” I concur on the outlier. Hence the pick.
SkillJar (5th) There are folks who think SkillJar is a customer training wonder dog, but my biggest problem is that they have completed on their dashboard on the top of it. And focus around completion – which for a customer training focused system is a tad okay, more than a tad – odd. Plus the learning intelligence, well, yeah, not working for me. I can’t really grasp the learning story here.
Bottom Line
The picks are in. If I added deskless workers as a category, the top two would be SparkLearn – the mobile app is a requirement here, and it is good and NovoEd.
If your system isn’t in my top five picks for my draft – who knows you could still be in the first round, or second or third, or 15th. The sky is the limit for rounds.
Workday Learning? (8th round). TalentLMS (2nd to 3rd round, depending on the GM who is making the picks). Wisetail? (5th round). Moodle? Not drafted – hey free agents sign all the time.
That’s it for the coverage, Voodoo. Stay on CraigsBlogNetwork, for our debut new show – How to make Grasshopper Stew.
It’s a gag.
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