Training Blog

Just to be clear, this isn’t going to be a list of functionalities. Instead, it’s a set of ideals that I would look for from a vendor.

Demonstrable knowledge

Any vendor in this space cannot just dish out software. They need to understand learning, how people interact with software and how organisations will use the software. Part of that will be marketing happy-talk, but it must be more than that. Vendors need to be openly taking part in the conversations that are happening around corporate learning – engaging with the thought-leaders, sharing knowledge, advice and best practice.

Keeping pace with ideas

Given the rate of change in technologies and how they’re being used outside the firewall, it’s important that any arrangement with a vendor should include ongoing feature updates. If you stand still, then you’ll get left behind. This is the strength of the Software As A Service (SAAS) model. Firstly it’s far easier to keep the code base up-to-date if it’s outside the firewall, and secondly, the these vendors tend to understand the nature of the internet far more than those that just supply software as a product.

Quality support

It really bugs me when I hear about vendors getting away with providing little or no support. As a consumer I value the excellent support I get from companies like Hostdime and T-Mobile. I don’t understand we put up with anything less from our vendors? I’ve written about the Art of User Support elsewhere. I think vendors are allowed to get away with bad support mainly because the people holding the purse strings are not the ones who are asking for help.