Podcast 66: Extended Enterprise Learning Trends with Barry Kelly

EPISODE 66: Extended Enterprise Learning Trends

Barry Kelly, CEO and Co-Founder of Thought Industries

Ten years ago, while laying the groundwork for Talented Learning as a research and consulting firm, I was fortunate to cross paths with one of the true pioneers in extended enterprise learning, Barry Kelly. At the time, Barry was launching a company of his own – Thought Industries – focused on solutions for customer education and online training companies.

A lot has changed since then. But I’m glad to say the companies Barry and I founded are still going strong. Why has this market gained so much traction over the years? What issues and opportunities are shaping extended enterprise learning trends? And how are systems developers like Thought Industries responding?

Barry and I discuss these questions and more today, as we dig into some data-based insights featured in Thought Industries’ new research report, 2023 State of Extended Enterprise Learning. So let’s get started…

EXTENDED ENTERPRISE LEARNING TRENDS – KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The learning tech marketplace is still evolving at a lightning-fast pace. Tools, players and buyer requirements are constantly shifting. That’s particularly true in the extended enterprise space, even during these uncertain economic times.

• Business ecosystems are growing more complex all the time. As a result, the need for better integration pathways has become essential, especially for large-scale training businesses looking to optimize speed, flexibility, data quality and learning experience design.

• Since 2010, hundreds of SaaS-based learning systems have entered the market. But the most successful LMS vendors stand out because they continue to innovate, adapt and add business value. They are proving their worth. This is an important reason why the market continues to expand, despite a shaky economy.

EXTENDED ENTERPRISE LEARNING TRENDS – Q&A HIGHLIGHTS

Welcome back, Barry. First, for anyone who doesn’t yet know about Thought Industries, could you give us a quick snapshot?

Absolutely, John. I can’t believe it, but September will be our company’s 10-year anniversary. As you know, Thought Industries is a technology company that helps organizations manage what we call the business of learning. And we’ve been doing that since the very beginning.

We help companies create a compelling set of learning experiences, from in-person training to small microlearning courses, all the way to sophisticated blended learning programs, and everything in between. In addition to helping you develop great content, we also deploy it, monetize it, package it, deliver it and integrate it with your entire technology ecosystem.

Our solutions focus on two key markets – customer/partner education (which is what we call extended enterprise), and professional training companies.

What a great success story. When we started, this kind of solution was unheard of. Then it became a nice-to-have option. Now it’s a mission-critical differentiator. So, when developing this latest report, what was your goal?

You know, John, it’s really hard to get data or information on the extended enterprise. So over time, our organization built a learning strategies team internally. And that team’s mission is to understand best practices.

They gather and analyze market information, build maturity models, and create insights-based white papers. They bring together everything our customers, prospects, and others need to make the right decisions about running an extended enterprise learning business, whether that’s technology, product creation, optimization, delivery, or packaging.

And it all started with this report 4 or 5 years ago.

Do you want more information and analysis on the top 40 learning systems in the world? Buy our 2023 Corporate Learning Systems Market Update report – now available through the 2nd half of this year at a 50% discount!

Time flies…

That’s the beauty of having done this for a number of years. We’re starting to see helpful trend lines.

This report includes data from 200 companies. More than 80% are B2B organizations with annual revenue of more than $100 million. And although the audience size ranges from 25 to 500,000 learners, the average number of learners is 21,000.

So most of the data is from directors or managers who have been running highly complex learning organizations at scale. And they’re all interested in identifying ways to improve their business.

Great. So, what are the key takeaways this year? Is the market still expanding or…?

The market has grown a little bit, but certainly not at its previous velocity. Last year, training revenue remained flat for about 40% of companies, while another 40% saw revenue grow by up to 30%.

And for 2023, we’re seeing similar expectations. Of course, anyone who reads the news knows there are economic challenges. So I think organizations are happy to keep things constant right now. And we’re forecasting that, through the remainder of this year, the market is not going to see a decline, which is great. Many expect to maintain, and we see pockets of growth here and there, as well.

So is all of this related to macroeconomics? Could it be more practical than that? Could it also be about a lack of access to resources or a sufficient budget to expand?

No doubt about that. Depending on how closely connected to a P&L you are, it’s a big part of it. Even if you’re connected with a P&L and you’ve seen lower margins or flatter growth, you need to make decisions about how you run the business.

And when training is a cost center, it’s worse. You have to go to the executive suite for budget approval. We get that question a lot. “How do I petition the executive team for more budget, or keep our budget flat, year over year?” Especially in the latter half of 2022, for some companies, there wasn’t as much available budget as there had been in previous years.

Want to learn more about Thought Industries? Check out the vendor profile in our Learning Systems Directory for a detailed review, along with capabilities, videos, screenshots, and related insights.

Mmhmm…

But in the report, we talk a bit about resilience. Instead of just weathering the storm, the best companies are focused on things that work.

You know, in learning, you can just put your head down and ask, “Did people take the training? Did they complete it?” But if you really get into the business, you’re also asking, “What sort of impact is this having on our business and its broader ecosystem?”

We’re seeing people draw the lines in a much more significant way to the value that learning delivers across the relationship lifecycle. And in fact, people have been incredibly resilient in doing that. That’s the positive point coming out of this data.

Doing more with less is really the story here. 

Yeah, absolutely.

So let’s shift gears. Tell me about monetization. Things have changed over the years. What’s happening with this now?

From Day One as a company, we’ve been in the business of enabling learning packaging and monetization. It’s really important. Productizing learning has been sort of a life’s work for me. It’s really fascinating because I don’t think a week goes by when I don’t see a learning product being monetized and packaged in a new way. And I’m constantly surprised by it.

Excellent.

So to quote some related trend data, in 2021, 43% of organizations we polled were charging external audiences for training. Now, that’s up to 61%.

Whoa! So with monetization as a priority, the quality of the learner experience is probably more important than ever. What does the report say about that?…

…For complete answers to this question and more about extended enterprise learning trends, listen to the full 30-minute podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Google Podcasts, on Spotify, or right here on our site.

Download the Thought Industries 2023 State of Extended Enterprise Learning Trends Report

You can freely download and distribute the 2023 State of Extended Enterprise Learning report from this link. And if you want to more about Thought Industries, check out the vendor profile in our Learning Systems Directory, or visit ThoughtIndustries.com.

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