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Fosway Learning Systems
As I write this column, 2018 is drawing
to a close. While many folks are
surrounded by Christmas wrapping
paper, I am up to my eyes in data,
which might sound sad to some but as
a Fosway Analyst this is what I do and
love it.
Over the last quarter of 2018 I have
been transitioning into the primary lead
role on research for the Fosway
Learning Systems (LS) practice.
Throughout my 19 years in the Learning
Technology industry, I have focused on
learning systems, either selling,
implementing or managing them. It is a
privilege to take the next step to be an
analyst in this space, particularly at this
time when the market is shifting so
much. There are many new vendors
focusing on Europe and it's interesting
to see the different offerings. However,
to keep it simple Fosway classify the
learning systems into just two 'buckets':
Learning Management Systems (LMS's)
and Next Gen Learning Environments
(NGLEs).
This current batch of data is provided by
LS vendors annually; think of the
hardest RFP document you have ever
sent out to vendors during a systems
selection process, it probably won't
come close to the detail we expect.
What we receive back is the self-rating
of the vendor, just like a buyer in an RFP
situation. We ask them to state whether
they consider their system to meet the
criteria fully, partially, not at all or are
unequivocal market leaders. As you can
imagine, some over sell and some
under sell their platforms; but it is a
great starting point for us to use with the
vendor in briefings. We don't just take
their word for it, we also validate the
information using surveys and
conversations with reference customers.
Over the last few months in these
columns I've written about Artificial
Intelligence (AI) and the Experience API
(xAPI), so how many systems have
these capabilities currently? Here are
just 3 or 4 data points in over 230
factors across 40 vendors in the
Learning Systems space.
Fiona Leteney
Senior Analyst
Fosway Group