With over a third of organizations dissatisfied with their learning platform, it’s clear that the way we procure learning technology simply isn’t working. In the Global Chief Procurement Officer Survey, conducted by Deloitte in 2018, it was revealed that a “clear shift in procurement focus towards innovation and value requires an acceleration in the pace of change, especially in leadership, talent and innovation.”
But in practice, this isn’t happening. Learning and development teams get stuck in a rut and stick to what they know, and then senior management wants to know why results aren’t improving. Often it comes down to price, “special” discounts from vendors, or simply renewing an existing contract—none of which are the right approach to take. It’s crucial that organizations start taking a smarter approach to buying learning technology—so what does that entail?
Why do we buy the way we buy now?
In Deloitte’s survey, the top three business drivers for procurement are cost reduction (78% of procurement leaders), new products/market development (58%), and managing risks (54%). It is perhaps unsurprising that cutting costs is the main driver for most procurement decisions, but this could be a key reason that the way we buy often fails. If we are always concerned with saving money over and above the software itself, how can we expect to find learning technology that is fit for purpose—not just now, but for the years to come?
The fact that new products is the second biggest driver for procuring new technologies is also telling. Are we so busy chasing the next big thing that we’re not stopping to think about our organization’s specific requirements? For instance, if your organization has a relatively straightforward use case for a learning platform, do you really need the newest version on the market with all the bells and whistles? Taking the time to consider your organization’s requirements for learning technology should help guide you towards a more appropriate shortlist of options.
Out with the status quo, in with the new
According to Deloitte’s 2017 Global Human Capital Trends report, they concluded:
“The way high-performing organizations operate today is radically different from how they operated 10 years ago. Yet many other organizations continue to operate according to industrial age models that are 100 years old or more, weighed down by legacy practices that must be confronted and discarded before true change can take hold. As organizations become more digital, they must redesign themselves to move fast and adapt more quickly.”
Our ‘legacy approach’ to learning technology procurement clearly needs to change. We cannot expect to make better buying choices if we continue to take the same approach to procuring that learning technology. To make better choices, it’s time to throw out the old way of buying learning technology, and instead seek a new solution that will help us match up our needs better with the products available.
Rethinking procurement policy
When buying any technology—and particularly learning technology—it is crucial that all stakeholders work closely together to ensure there is a shared understanding of the key business drivers within your organization. People, and how you support their learning and development, skills and behaviors, must be a central pillar to the future success of your business. That means the tools and technology you invest in must be strategically aligned with those goals and have the characteristics that enable you to move fast and adapt. That means choosing open and flexible technology solutions, supported by vendors that are naturally collaborative, not combative.
This could become a core procurement policy that guides all RFIs and RFPs issued by your business. There is precedent for this. Governments around the world have recognized the benefits of open technology. In the UK, a 2010 Government Action Plan on open standards and re-use concluded: “Where there is no significant overall cost difference between open and non-open source products, open source will be selected on the basis of its additional inherent flexibility” - and this move could well be replicated worldwide as the flexibility and increased control over open source learning technology is more widely realized.
Learning from others
Buying learning technology is difficult. But with open dialog and collaboration we can make the experience far more effective and successful for all parties. One way is to learn from your peers. The Totara Community has a membership of thousands of learning professionals involved in buying and using learning technologies that include platforms, authoring tools, content and other learning-related products and services. It’s open for all and could help shape your procurement practices for the better. To learn more about how the Totara Learn is supporting organizations with open technology solutions, there is an extensive database of case studies from all sectors freely available for you to review.
To buy better, it’s best to be open minded.
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