The Successful Switch:

How to Select and

Implement New
Learning Technology

November 2017
 The Successful Switch:
How to Select and Implement New Learning Technology

Table of Contents

Introduction 3
Is It Time to Switch? 4
Stakeholder Analysis 5
Vendor Evaluation 7
Saba RFP Template 8
Making the Business Case 8
Implementation 9
Conclusion 11
About Brandon Hall Group 12
Authors and Contributors 12

© 2017 Brandon Hall Group. Licensed for Distribution by Saba. 2

 The Successful Switch:
How to Select and Implement New Learning Technology

Introduction
The corporate learning function is under pressure. Rapidly changing business
needs, continually advancing technology, and the arrival of Millennials as the
largest generational group in the workforce all require L&D to adapt and evolve.

Companies can develop learning strategies to address these conditions, but the
right technology is the key to success. Organizations need learning technology
that is more agile, adaptive and accessible. An increasing number of organizations
are actively looking to switch out their current LMS.
Organizations Considering LMS Replacement in Next 18-24 Months

Yes

No

Source: Brandon Hall Group Learning Technology Survey (n=290)

This is no small undertaking. Technology changes of any kind can be complex,

which illustrates just how critical learning technology requirements are for those
companies that want to go through it. Many factors drive this change. The five
most frequently cited, according to Brandon Hall Group research, are the need for:

An improved end-user experience 86%

An improved administrative experience 74%
Better mobile capabilities 66%
Improved integration with other systems 66%
Better reporting 65%

Source: 2017 Brandon Hall Group Learning Technology Survey (n=290)

© 2017 Brandon Hall Group. Licensed for Distribution by Saba. 3

 The Successful Switch:
How to Select and Implement New Learning Technology

Is It Time to Switch?
Organizations should look at their current learning technology and the needs of
their learners and determine how technology can help. This decision shouldn’t
be about upgrading to the latest and greatest technology. The primary driver
should be business need; the solution should meet the organization’s current
and future needs.

Outmoded and outdated platforms are extremely difficult for admins to manage.
Learners who are accustomed to the power and simplicity of consumer
technologies on their personal devices get quickly frustrated by learning
systems that are difficult to navigate.

Poor user experience can reduce the effectiveness of an organization’s learning

initiatives. Surveying different stakeholder groups can provide insights into their
current experience and what they would want from a new or upgraded system.
The next page provides a snapshot of major stakeholder groups, their interests,
and what they want from a new system, based on Brandon Hall Group qualitative
research over the past two years.

© 2017 Brandon Hall Group. Licensed for Distribution by Saba. 4

 The Successful Switch:
How to Select and Implement New Learning Technology

Stakeholder Analysis
Stakeholder Interests Metrics Translating Metrics

HR/Learning Integration, Behavior Learning professionals want

professionals analytics a strong correlation between
learning and performance. This
technology should provide learning
leaders with the information they
need to support competency and
skills progress and report these
metrics to the business.

IT Integration Adoption Rates IT departments are often

professionals responsible for training users
on adopting these systems and
will need to plan accordingly.
Additionally, they will need to
know how to support the system,
particularly if it is hosted or SaaS.

Managers Analytics, Performance Managers want forecasting metrics

ease of use, improvement, that will help them understand who
mobile promotions, can take on more responsibilities
increased over time. They also want to invest
responsibilities in a system that is easy to use and
mobile accessible.

Learners Ease of use, Learning Learners will want a solution that

innovation, experience, allows them to learn but at the
learner look-and-feel of same time enjoy the experience
experience the content and access highly relevant learning
in a timely fashion.

Source: Brandon Hall Group research, 2016-17

© 2017 Brandon Hall Group. Licensed for Distribution by Saba. 5

 The Successful Switch:
How to Select and Implement New Learning Technology

It is also critical to understand the technology landscape in terms of available

technologies and what other organizations are doing.

Industry analysts, such as Brandon Hall Group, exist to provide insight into the
technology landscape, highlighting trends and best practices. They also provide
research against which companies can benchmark. For example, Brandon Hall
Group’s research identified the most important learning initiatives when it comes
to meeting business objectives. If organizations need to do these things to meet
business objectives and their technology is holding them back, it is probably
time for a change.

Most Important Learning Initiatives to Meet Business Objectives

Increase the amount of experiential 78%

(on-the-job) learning
Increase the amount of informal learning 66%

Revise existing content for new modalitites 57%

Create smaller content objects 56%

Redesign the classroom experience 55%

Leverage simulations 41%

Incorporate mobile delivery 41%

Source: 2017 Brandon Hall Group Learning Technology Study (n=290)

© 2017 Brandon Hall Group. Licensed for Distribution by Saba. 6

 The Successful Switch:
How to Select and Implement New Learning Technology

Vendor Evaluation
Once the decision to switch is made, an organization must gather its requirements.
The good news is that many of the drivers leading to the switch represent the
critical requirements, whether it is a need for mobile delivery, more informal
tools, better reporting, etc. The requirements tied to business needs are the
first priority.

Creating a wish list of nice-to-haves can be counterproductive at this point.

There are hundreds and hundreds of technology providers out there. Without
a solid set of requirements, it can be impossible to navigate the market. These
requirements also make it easier to speak with potential vendors, so there is a
knowledge and common language around the organization’s needs.

However, In these situations, companies typically

default to looking at just a handful of providers they
have heard of. 30% of companies said they should
have evaluated more providers when making a
technology selection, making it one of the five most
common lessons learned, according to Brandon Hall
Group learning technology research.

When evaluating the vendors, scripted demos are a great approach. By taking the
challenges that lead to the switch and turning them into use cases, companies
can have providers demonstrate how they would handle those specific situations.

There are also tools and services available to simplify the vendor evaluation process.

© 2017 Brandon Hall Group. Licensed for Distribution by Saba. 7

 The Successful Switch:
How to Select and Implement New Learning Technology

Saba RFP Template For example, vendors like Saba provide

a request for proposal (RFP) template
that companies can use to lay out their
key business requirements to potential
vendors and see how they respond. They
also offer tools to evaluate the responses
based on key business considerations and
their priority level.

Brandon Hall Group has a technology

selection database that allows users to
return lists of platforms that meet a selected
set of requirements.

Other factors to consider when evaluating

vendors include:
• The vendors’ experience with migrating
to their platform from another
• Their experience integrating
with similar systems to what your
organization uses
• The types of tools and resources they
have to facilitate the migration

Making the Business Case

While learning leaders may be fully sold on making a change, it can be difficult
to navigate the rest of the organization, including business leaders. It helps to
have buy-in from the entire learning team, first, though. This helps provide a
united front for the rest of the organization.

Learning professionals are usually the ones suffering at the hands of an outdat-
ed platform, so convincing them may not seem that difficult. It is still important,
however, to lay out what is in it for them whether it is easier administrative
functionality, fewer help desk calls, simpler content creation, etc. Sometimes it is
not enough to espouse the features and functions of a new system.

© 2017 Brandon Hall Group. Licensed for Distribution by Saba. 8

 The Successful Switch:
How to Select and Implement New Learning Technology

As for leadership, the key is to quantify all of the challenges with the current
technology into actual costs to the business (real or potential), and weigh that
against the cost of making a technology switch. This translates issues that may
seem only like learning problems into business problems that leadership will
want to address.

It is also important to be honest about any

possible risks related to new technology. Business
leaders are skeptical of solutions presented with
no possible downside. Acknowledging where
challenges may lie shows you’ve done your
homework and adds to your credibility.

The technology change also must be marketed to the employees at large.

They are, after all, the intended end-users. A “what’s in it for you” campaign
will make change management after implementation far easier. It also allows
you to highlight any potential challenges. Transparency is the best strategy.

Implementation
The top lessons learned from technology implementation in the Brandon Hall
Group research are:

of organizations wish they would budget more

34% had developed a change 32% time for training.
management plan.

wish they had would budget more

34% budgeted more time 29% money for the entire
for implementation. project.

© 2017 Brandon Hall Group. Licensed for Distribution by Saba. 9

 Plans should be in place to mitigate any
potential risks identified in the process leading
up to implementation. Ultimately, there needs
to be a detailed implementation plan laying
out who is responsible for what, what the
benchmarks and milestones are, and what
plans are in place if things go off track.

Roll-out of the new solution does not mark the end of the work, but actually
the beginning. This is when the change management efforts go into full swing.
A communication strategy should determine what messaging is needed to
whom, and how often. Messaging is critical at this juncture. People are resistant
to change, especially when it comes to technology. Even if learners hate the
current technology, it can be difficult to navigate a switch.

At this point, IT should be involved with the vendor on content and data migration,
running small batches and testing along the way to make sure everything lines
up. IT should also help with the integration roadmap, starting with the most
business-critical integrations.

There also should be an education plan, beyond making people aware of the
change. If admins, users, and other groups need training, a schedule will need
to be created that identifies who gets what, when and how often. Remember,
most organizations that have implemented new technology wish they would
have budgeted more training. Don’t trip up here.

The good news is that if the process seems overwhelming, which it can be for
some organizations, there are providers, such as RapidLD and Educe, who focus
on implementation. They can steer an organization through the entire process.

© 2017 Brandon Hall Group. Licensed for Distribution by Saba. 10

 The Successful Switch:
How to Select and Implement New Learning Technology

Conclusion
In the end, technology is never the cure for poor strategy and process. However,
if a company’s current technology is failing to execute on the strategy, it could
be time to make the move. A positive experience requires a sound partnership
between the solution provider and the learning organization. This partnership
must be based on an open dialogue concerning the risks and benefits of each
step of the process. The time invested to prepare and plan for the transition to
new learning technology will pay off with a solid solution provider relationship
and realistic stakeholder and end-user expectations.

Key strategies for a successful transition include:

• Ensure solid business drivers for the upgrade plans and strategies.
• Develop a diligent selection process that is based on a vision of
the future learning needs.
• Assertively interview each solution provider – not only around
current system capabilities but their experience in supporting
transition efforts.
• Create a migration framework specific to the risks and
opportunities of the technology transition.
• Communicate plans clearly and often – to solution providers,
stakeholders, and end-users.

© 2017 Brandon Hall Group. Licensed for Distribution by Saba. 11

 The Successful Switch:
How to Select and Implement New Learning Technology

About Brandon Hall Group

Brandon Hall Group is a HCM research and advisory services firm that provides
insights around key performance areas, including Learning and Development,
Talent Management, Leadership Development, Talent Acquisition, and HR/
Workforce Management.
With more than 10,000 clients globally and 20 years of delivering world-class
research and advisory services, Brandon Hall Group is focused on developing
research that drives performance in emerging and large organizations, and pro-
vides strategic insights for executives and practitioners responsible for growth
and business results.

Authors and Contributors

David Wentworth (david.wentworth@brandonhall.com) wrote
this report and co-developed the model. He is Principal
Learning Analyst at Brandon Hall Group, focusing on all
aspects of learning and the technology that supports it. David
has been in the human capital field since 2005 and joined
Brandon Hall Group as senior learning analyst in early 2012.

Emma Bui (emma.bui@brandonhall.com) is the Graphic Design

Associate at Brandon Hall Group. She created the layout and
graphics for this report.

© 2017 Brandon Hall Group. Licensed for Distribution by Saba. 12

 The Successful Switch:
How to Select and Implement New Learning Technology

Subscribe To Our Interactive Data-Benchmarking Tool: DataNow®

All the data from our studies is available by subscription to DataNow®. DataNow® is Brandon
Hall Group’s interactive data-benchmarking tool. Organizations use it to make data-based
decisions, find leading practices, benchmark, and more. You can also filter the data by company
size, revenues, and industry segments to give you a fully customized view.
Learn more about DataNow®.

Our Services
GET HELP TO DRIVE RESULTS FOR YOUR TALENT
In today’s volatile and global business climate, managing talent for high-performance
plays an increasingly crucial role in an organization’s growth and future success.
Effective talent management is a top priority in organizations everywhere because,
while organizations recognize the need to obtain and retain people with the very best
skills, they continue to struggle to implement effective strategies to do so. HR and
Learning professionals need to be able to successfully define organizational talents
needs and skills, identify talent strengths and career goals, and align organizational
needs to individual needs. Rethink your strategy, validate your assumptions, transform
your business, and optimize your time with the use of reliable data, tools, and guidance.

PLAN ATTRACT DEVELOP PERFORM RETAIN OPTIMIZE

GET HELP WITH YOUR HR SERVICES MANAGEMENT & DELIVERY

As described in the employee lifecycle, processes are linked to employee transactional
processes (e.g., compensation, benefits, compliance, contingent workforce management,
etc.) via workforce planning and analytics.

Policies/Process/Procedure Contingent Workforce Management

Payroll Compliance
Expense Management Time & Labor Management
Benefits & Compensation

© 2017 Brandon Hall Group. Licensed for Distribution by Saba. 13

 The Successful Switch:
How to Select and Implement New Learning Technology

Our Services (Continued)

GET CONSULTING HELP WITH...
Strategy and Planning Technology Selection, Management &
Governance & Business Alignment Integration
Executive Management Organizational Structure
Team Development Measurement & Analytics
Measurement & Analytics Change Management
Program Design & Deployment Budgeting & Forecasting

Membership Offers Tailored Support

At the core of our offerings is a Membership Program that combines research,
benchmarking and unlimited access to data and analysts. The Membership Program
offers insights and best practices to enable executives and practitioners to make the
right decisions about people, processes, and systems, coalesced with analyst advisory
services which aim to put the research into action in a way that is practical and efficient.
Membership also provides you direct access to our seasoned team of thought leaders
dedicated to your success, backed by a rich member community, and proactive support
from our client services team.
RESEARCH ACCESS & EVENTS ADVISORY SUPPORT CLIENT SUCCESS PLAN
• Reports • Ask the Expert • Your Priorities
• Case Studies, Frameworks & Tools • 1 on 1 Consultations • Executive Sponsor
• DataNow® & TotalTech® • Research Briefings • Client Associate
• Webinars and Research Spotlights • Benchmarking • Monthly Meetings
• Annual HCM Conference

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

© 2017 Brandon Hall Group. Licensed for Distribution by Saba. 14