The learning technology market has been, and continues to be, one of the most fascinating segments of the training industry, now approaching a $5 Billion market worldwide. Training professionals have become increasingly dependent on technologies for the purpose of managing training operations (LMS/LCMS) and developing and delivering e-learning.
But not surprisingly, the learning technology market is complex. Training professionals wanting to take full advantage of technology-driven delivery must understand the categories of solutions available. The market has evolved into five separate markets, with each operating somewhat independently of the others. That means there are specialists in each segment and few companies that truly operate across these five markets:
Administration Systems – Traditionally called learning management systems (LMS/LCMS), this market has been around the longest, and is considered the standard platform that all companies must have to effectively run a training organization. By many accounts, this market has unfortunately become commoditized with the fact that you can now download an open-source LMS and configure it yourself.
Authoring Platforms – This market may be considered the most dynamically evolving market since the advent of e-learning. Early days authoring tools was as simple as PowerPoint and audio recordings; now it has morphed into sophisticated tools for web development, as well as rapid authoring tools for the subject matter expert to convert simple presentations to rich media programs.
Delivery Platforms – Online training can be both synchronous and asynchronous, and requires a delivery platform to manage the experience of the learner. The selection of a delivery platform can be as simple as choosing from an online meeting tool managed by the IT department, to a sophisticated platform for remote and virtual access to content.
Social and Collaboration Platforms – The newest of the market and considered by many as the hottest, as social environments are becoming commonplace in how informal learning occurs within the enterprise. This has been the segment with the most interest from investors, as companies have been consolidated by LMS, Talent Management, and ERP companies.
Technology Integration – The most important but sometimes the least considered segment of the learning technology market are those companies who provide integration services and operate relatively agnostic to the specific technology platforms. The service model is to assist companies in selecting, configuring, integrating and deploying all the technology tools. The result of integration is what is now termed learning portals, where all four of the platforms mentioned are components of the overall solution.
From where I sit, the greatest challenge training professionals have is not what learning technology to deploy, but how to integrate and consolidate all of the various technology solutions they have. This is where value truly is added to the organization.
And as always, I welcome your comments. Or you can contact me at dharward@trainingindustry.com.
Originally published in the 2012 Fall Edition of Training Industry Quarterly.
