UK-based learning and talent analysts Elearnity have come up with a new service geared specifically to the UK and European e-learning market. Called Vendor Perspectives (slightly ironic as 'vendor' is very much a US expression, where we tend to say 'supplier') the service provides intelligence about available solutions to potential buyers in all the usual product and service categories, including custom content providers, authoring tools, learning management platforms, etc.
Vendors pay to be included, although this buys them no influence on the ratings they receive, which are calculated by Elearnity based on their own knowledge of the market and interviews with a selection of the vendor's clients. Customers get to see Summary Perspectives for free but must pay for 'Deep Perspectives' (is that a mixed metaphor?).
In principle, I like the idea, because it is really hard for potential customers to make sense of all the competing solutions available and objective advice is hard to come by. I know this service is already available in the USA from Brandon Hall, Bersin and others, but the European market is different and local suppliers may not get much of a look in.
For this service to really take off it must first of all get buy-in from vendors. I know that quite a few LMS providers are on-board but this is not enough, because in many ways products like these are truly global in scope. The main regional variation come in terms of services, particularly content development. It will be interesting to see whether Elearnity will be able to persuade enough developers to throw their hat in the ring. The next big question is whether they will stay on board if they get rated harshly.
Another complication is how Elearnity treats open source products. Can you really get a true picture of the LMS market without an appreciation of what Moodle has to offer?
I hope the service takes off, because customers could do with the help. What it mustn't do is crowd out the smaller, niche players without the big marketing budgets.
Clive, thanks for the blog entry and the supportive comments. Not sure personally that I see the term "vendor" as American. Maybe its more unusual relating to the bespoke e-learning market, but its the term we've been using for supply-side organisations for nearly 16 years and you're the first to make that observation. Anyway, pretty irrelevant really.
ReplyDeleteOne point I did want to clarify, is that the vendors don't get a choice on whether we produce a Perspective on them or not. If they fit into the target list from our corporate research (always the most relevant filter for us), we will be produce them anyway. We have the analysis from our existing corporate research intelligence as well as independent briefing, and already use it in private advisory work. With the Vendor Perspectives, we've just decided to package it up and make it available to a broader audience.
Whilst we have initially focused on the platform vendors, we are already drafting material on the bespoke content companies, and will extend to other learning technology and service areas in due course. We also have a policy to look for market innovators as well as the bigger players, so I agree about not crowding out the smaller players.
Ultimately, this is about hopefully helping organisations to accelerate and de-risk their supplier decisions, and that seems a useful goal for both sides of the equation. We've had a good reception to the concept and the free Summary Perspectives (Shallow didn't sound quite as good!), and feedback on the Deep Perspectives from corporates we've tested them with is really positive too. I hope they will be successful and prove a useful addition to the debate and the resources companies have available in researching the market and choosing their suppliers.
Best Regards, David.