Overview

A modern Learning Management System (LMS) is necessary for companies to track and report on learning consumption within their organisations.

But when some LMS’ become outdated, they can be unstable and unreliable, as was the case with the Samaritans’ LMS. They therefore engaged with the experts at Davies to help source a new LMS that could fit the company’s current state, be integrated with other legacy systems, and could modernise the user experience of learning.

The Approach

We engaged with the Samaritans’ Head of L&D and started a series of workshops with stakeholders and end users to understand the requirements needed from the new Learning Management System. The findings were then compiled into a list of user and technical requirements that LMS providers would need to adhere to.

Davies created RFI/RFP documents that encompassed all the technical requirements, linkages to the Samaritans’ IT systems and their future strategy for learning.

The Delivery

Based on the documents that Davies compiled, a list of twelve LMS providers were contacted for an RFI. Based on the information provided, the preferred supplier shortlist was reduced to four for the RFP stage. We were able to participate in the vendor presentations to ensure that the information provided best aligned to the current and future state of Samaritans’ learning. We also assisted in breaking down the various cost structures to ensure level pricing comparisons could be made, allowing Samaritans to make an informed decision based on their allocated LMS budget.

The Results

The benefit seen by Samaritans was one of helping to cut through the supplier dialogue to understand, in simple terms, the capabilities of their products and how they best aligned to the initial requirements.

The end-to-end duration of this procurement process was significantly reduced (by seven weeks against average) with the knowledge and skills that Davies provided to Samaritans.