For a large enterprise, it can become a full-time operational responsibility.
Outsourcing this work can reduce the administrative load on internal L&D teams and create a more consistent process for learners.
2. Training Operations
Training does not simply happen when a learner clicks “enroll.”
There are many moving parts behind a successful learning program.
Facilitators need to be scheduled. Learners need the right information. Training providers need to be coordinated. Sessions need to be monitored. Attendance and completion data need to be captured.
A managed learning services provider can take responsibility for coordinating these activities.
This is particularly useful when an organization runs a large number of instructor-led, virtual, blended, or other training programs.
3. Learning Vendor Management
Large organizations often work with a long list of learning suppliers.
There may be different providers for leadership development, technical training, compliance, professional skills, coaching, digital learning, and other areas.
Over time, this supplier network can become difficult to manage.
Different teams may be working with different providers for similar services. Prices may vary. Contracts may be scattered across departments. It may also be difficult to understand which suppliers are delivering the best results.
A managed learning services partner can help bring more structure to this area.
This may involve:
- Coordinating learning suppliers
- Managing vendor relationships
- Supporting contract management
- Negotiating rates
- Reviewing supplier performance
- Identifying duplicate services
- Consolidating suppliers where appropriate
Better supplier management can also help organizations understand where their learning budget is going and where unnecessary costs may exist.
4. Learning Technology Administration
Technology is now a central part of most corporate learning environments.
Organizations may use an LMS, LXP, virtual classroom platforms, content libraries, authoring tools, reporting systems, and other learning technologies.
Managing these systems takes time.
Depending on the agreement, a managed learning services provider may help with activities such as:
- User administration
- Course setup
- Content uploads
- Platform configuration
- Learning records
- Reporting
- System support
- Integration-related activities
This does not mean the organization has to give up ownership of its technology.
For example, a company may continue to own its LMS and make all major technology decisions while an external partner handles day-to-day administration.
That distinction is important when defining the scope of a managed learning services engagement.
5. Learning Reporting
L&D leaders need reliable information to understand how their learning programs are performing.
They may want to know:
- How many employees completed training?
- Which courses are being used?
- How much is being spent?
- Which suppliers are being used?
- Are employees completing mandatory training?
- Are learners satisfied with the experience?
- How does learning activity vary across regions?
When information is spread across different systems, spreadsheets, suppliers, and business units, answering these questions can be difficult.
A managed learning services provider can help consolidate learning information and create regular reports.
For organizations operating across several countries, this can be particularly useful because it creates a more consistent view of learning activity.
6. Content Sourcing and Curation
Having more learning content does not necessarily mean having a better learning environment.
Over time, organizations can accumulate large libraries of courses, videos, documents, and other resources.
Some may be useful. Some may be outdated. Some may overlap with other resources.
Content sourcing and curation can help organizations make better decisions about their learning catalog.
A provider may support activities such as:
- Finding relevant external content
- Organizing learning resources
- Reviewing existing content
- Identifying duplication
- Recommending content for specific needs
- Removing outdated resources
The objective is to make it easier for employees to find useful learning and for L&D teams to manage the overall learning environment.
7. Learning Advisory Support
Managed Learning Services does not always stop at administration.
Some organizations also want their external partner to provide advisory support.
This can include areas such as learning needs analysis, capability development, learning operating models, or elements of learning strategy.
However, this is not something that should be assumed.
Many organizations prefer to keep their learning strategy and business relationships in-house while using a managed services provider for operational responsibilities.
Both approaches can work.
The important thing is to decide upfront who is responsible for what.
Why Do Organizations Use Managed Learning Services?
There is rarely one reason why an organization decides to explore managed learning services.
Usually, several issues have developed over time.
L&D Teams Are Spending Too Much Time on Administration
One of the most common reasons is simple.
The L&D team has too much operational work.
Instead of spending time understanding business needs, developing learning strategies, designing better learning experiences, or working with business leaders, team members may be spending hours coordinating training and answering routine queries.
An external partner can take some of this work off their plate.
That does not make the internal L&D team less important.
It can actually allow them to spend more time on the work where their knowledge and experience are most valuable.
Learning Has Become Difficult to Manage at Scale
What works for 500 employees may not work for 50,000.
As organizations grow, learning operations become more complicated.
There may be more courses, more suppliers, more locations, more learning platforms, and more regulatory requirements.
A managed learning services model can provide additional operational capability without requiring the organization to build a large internal team for every part of the learning operation.
Learning Processes Are Different Across Locations
Global organizations often have different ways of managing learning in different countries or business units.
One team may use an efficient digital process. Another may rely on emails and spreadsheets. A third may have its own suppliers and procedures.
This can create an inconsistent learner experience.
Managed learning services can help organizations establish common processes and service standards while still allowing for local requirements where necessary.
There Is Limited Visibility Into Learning Spend
It can be surprisingly difficult for large organizations to understand exactly how much they are spending on learning.
Different departments may have separate budgets. Different regions may work with different suppliers. Similar training may be purchased more than once.
Bringing these activities together can reveal opportunities to reduce duplication, consolidate suppliers, and negotiate more effectively.
Learning Demand Keeps Changing
Learning requirements can change quickly.
A new product, technology rollout, acquisition, regulatory requirement, or organizational transformation can suddenly create a large demand for training.
Maintaining enough permanent internal resources to handle the highest possible demand may not make financial sense.
A managed learning services provider can provide additional operational capacity when the organization needs it.
Compliance Requirements Need Better Tracking
In many industries, completing certain types of training is not optional.
Organizations need to know who completed required training, when it was completed, and whether records can be produced when needed.
A structured learning operations model can make this information easier to manage and report.
Managed Learning Services vs. Training Outsourcing
These two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but there is a difference.
Training outsourcing usually means bringing in an external organization to deliver a particular training program or group of programs.
For example, a company might hire a provider to deliver a leadership development program to its managers.
Managed Learning Services is broader.
The provider may manage the operational activities surrounding learning, such as learner registration, scheduling, supplier coordination, LMS administration, reporting, and learner support.
A simple way to look at it is:
Training outsourcing is often about outsourcing the delivery of training. Managed Learning Services is about outsourcing defined parts of the work involved in running learning.
An organization can also use both models at the same time.
How Does Managed Learning Services Work?
If an organization decides to explore this approach, it usually starts by looking at how learning currently operates.
Step 1: Understand the Current Situation
Before deciding what to outsource, the organization needs to understand what is happening today.
This could include reviewing:
- Current learning processes
- Internal L&D responsibilities
- Training volumes
- Learning suppliers
- Learning technology
- Reporting processes
- Costs
- Regional differences
- Existing challenges
This step is important because it is difficult to design the right managed services model without first understanding the current one.
Step 2: Decide What to Outsource
The organization does not necessarily need to outsource everything.
It might decide to outsource only the learning administration.
Or it might outsource administration, vendor management, technology support, and reporting.
Learning strategy and business partnering may remain completely internal.
The right model depends on what the organization is trying to achieve.
Step 3: Transition the Work
Once responsibilities have been agreed, the provider and internal team need to work through the transition.
Processes are documented. Systems and access are set up. Teams share knowledge. Responsibilities are transferred gradually.
For a large organization, this can take considerable time.
Step 4: Run and Improve the Service
Once the service is operational, the organization should regularly review how it is performing.
This may involve looking at:
- Response times
- Learner satisfaction
- Reporting quality
- Training completion
- Supplier performance
- Administrative efficiency
- Cost
- Internal L&D workload
The relationship should not simply maintain existing processes.
There should also be opportunities to identify better ways of working.
What Are the Benefits of Managed Learning Services?
When the model is designed properly, organizations can see benefits in several areas.
More Time for Strategic L&D Work
Internal L&D professionals can spend less time on routine administration and more time on strategy, capability development, and business priorities.
Greater Operational Efficiency
Consistent processes can reduce duplication and make day-to-day learning management easier.
Better Ability to Handle Growth
External operational capacity can help organizations manage increases in learning demand.
Stronger Supplier Management
A more centralized approach can improve visibility into suppliers, contracts, pricing, and performance.
Better Access to Learning Data
Bringing information together can make it easier to understand what is happening across the learning environment.
A More Consistent Learner Experience
Common processes can help provide employees with a more predictable learning experience across different locations.
How Are Managed Learning Services Contracts Structured?
Once the scope is clear, the organization also needs to decide how it will pay for the service.
There are several common approaches.
Fixed Fee
The organization pays an agreed amount for a defined set of services.
This makes budgeting easier, although changes in requirements may require adjustments to the agreement.
Transaction-Based Pricing
The organization pays according to activity, such as the number of learners supported or training transactions processed.
This can work well when volumes change frequently.
However, the pricing structure should be designed carefully so that the provider is not rewarded simply for increasing the number of transactions.
Retained Capacity
The organization pays for an agreed level of service capacity.
This can provide flexibility when the workload changes from month to month.
Combination Models
Some organizations use a mixture of approaches.
For example, core services may be covered by a fixed fee while additional activity is charged separately.
There is no single best commercial model. It depends on the organization’s size, requirements, learning volumes, and priorities.
What Is Learning Governance and Why Does It Matter?
Outsourcing operational work does not mean the organization can stop managing the relationship.
There needs to be a clear way for both sides to communicate, review performance, resolve problems, and make decisions.
This is known as learning governance.
A simple governance structure might include regular operational meetings, monthly service reviews, and periodic strategic discussions.
Operational meetings can focus on immediate issues.
Monthly reviews can look at performance, learner feedback, volumes, and service levels.
Strategic reviews can focus on future priorities, changing business requirements, technology, improvements, and changes to the scope of services.
It is also important for the organization to have someone internally who owns the relationship.
The provider may manage the agreed operational responsibilities, but the organization still needs to make decisions about its learning priorities.
What Happens During the Transition?
Moving learning operations to an external provider is not something that should happen overnight.
For a large organization, the transition can take several months.
A typical transition may involve:
- Reviewing current processes
- Documenting how work is currently done
- Identifying systems and suppliers
- Transferring knowledge
- Testing new processes
- Starting with a limited group or region
- Expanding the service gradually
- Reviewing and improving performance
Don’t Underestimate Existing Knowledge
One of the easiest things to overlook during a transition is the knowledge held by the existing L&D team.
A process document may say how something is supposed to work.
An experienced L&D professional may know how it actually works.
They may know which supplier regularly needs additional follow-up, which business leader wants reports in a particular format, or which regional process has an exception.
That knowledge matters.
Capturing it before responsibilities move to a new provider can prevent many avoidable problems.
Is Managed Learning Services Right for Your Organization?
Managed Learning Services is not automatically the right answer for every organization.
It tends to make more sense when an organization has a significant learning operation, multiple suppliers, distributed teams, high training volumes, or a large amount of administrative work.
It may be less useful for a smaller organization with a relatively simple learning environment.
There is another important point to consider.
Managed Learning Services can improve the way learning is operated, but it cannot replace a learning strategy.
If an organization does not know what capabilities it needs, what its learners need, or what business outcomes its learning programs are supposed to support, outsourcing administration will not solve those problems.
The strategy and the operating model need to work together.
What Should You Ask Before Choosing a Managed Learning Services Provider?
If you are considering managed learning services for the first time, start with some basic questions.
What problem are we trying to solve?
Are you trying to reduce administration, improve learner experience, manage suppliers, improve reporting, reduce costs, or increase the capacity of your L&D team?
Which activities should be outsourced?
Be specific about what the provider will manage.
What should remain with our internal team?
Clearly define responsibilities around strategy, decision-making, business partnering, and governance.
How complicated is our current learning operation?
Look at your number of learners, countries, suppliers, programs, systems, and training volumes.
How will we measure success?
Agree on the measures before implementation begins.
How will we manage the relationship?
Define who owns the relationship, how performance will be reviewed, and how issues will be escalated.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Managed Learning Services?
Managed Learning Services is an approach where an organization works with an external provider to manage some or all of its learning operations.
Depending on the arrangement, this can include learning administration, training operations, vendor management, technology administration, learner support, reporting, and other related activities.
What does a managed learning services provider do?
A managed learning services provider manages the activities included in the agreed scope.
This could be a single area, such as training administration, or several areas across the organization’s learning operation.
Is Managed Learning Services the same as outsourcing training?
No.
Outsourcing training usually involves hiring an external provider to deliver specific training.
Managed Learning Services can cover the operational work that surrounds learning, including administration, coordination, technology support, supplier management, and reporting.
Can we outsource only part of our learning operations?
Yes.
Organizations can choose the activities they want to manage internally and the activities they want an external provider to handle.
For example, an organization could retain learning strategy internally while outsourcing administration and learning technology support.
Will we lose control of our L&D function?
Not necessarily.
The organization can retain ownership of its learning strategy, priorities, budget decisions, and business relationships.
The provider manages only the responsibilities that have been agreed as part of the engagement.
How can Managed Learning Services help an L&D team?
It can reduce the amount of time spent on repetitive operational work.
This gives L&D professionals more room to focus on strategy, capability development, learning experience, stakeholder engagement, and business priorities.
How much does Managed Learning Services cost?
There is no standard price.
The cost depends on the scope of services, number of learners, training volumes, geographic coverage, systems, suppliers, and commercial model.
Is Managed Learning Services suitable for smaller organizations?
It can be, but it is generally more useful when there is enough learning activity or operational complexity to justify external support.
A smaller organization with a simple learning operation may not need a comprehensive managed services model.
How long does implementation take?
It depends on the size and complexity of the organization.
A smaller engagement may be implemented relatively quickly. A large global organization with multiple systems, suppliers, and regions may need several months or longer.
How do we measure whether the service is successful?
Start by defining what you want to improve.
Useful measures can include administrative response times, learner satisfaction, reporting accuracy, training completion, supplier performance, cost per learner, and the amount of time the internal L&D team is able to spend on strategic work.
Final Thoughts
Managed Learning Services can sound complicated when you first come across the term.
At its core, the idea is fairly straightforward.
An organization gets external support to manage some of the operational work involved in running learning.
That might mean managing learner registrations and training schedules. It might include supplier management, LMS administration, reporting, or several of these areas together.
The goal is not simply to move work outside the organization.
The bigger opportunity is to create a learning operation that is easier to manage, can respond to changing demand, gives L&D teams more time for strategic work, and provides learners with a more consistent experience.
The starting point is understanding your own needs.
Once you know what is slowing your L&D team down, what you want to improve, and which responsibilities you want to keep internally, you can make a much more informed decision about whether Managed Learning Services is the right approach for your organization.