The acquisition of Skillsoft by Blackstone is a significant move that will affect Skillsoft’s customers. The merging of the two companies will unify Skillsoft’s vast library of products, technology and content with that of Blackstone’s, creating a powerful learning and development platform.
In this article, we will explore how Skillsoft customers stand to benefit from this acquisition.
Overview of the Acquisition
On February 5, 2018, Skillsoft closed its acquisition of SumTotal Systems LLC (“SumTotal”); a leading provider of unified talent management solutions that help companies attract, develop and retain great talent. The combination of Skillsoft and SumTotal creates a leading global technology platform that drives mission-critical training and talent management initiatives.
Skillsoft’s customers will benefit from access to the SumTotal suite across their businesses with an integrated customer view across comprehensive learning eLearning content, talent management functionality and enterprise social capabilities. In addition, customers can now incorporate these broad capabilities into one comprehensive package that better aligns with their learning and human capital management initiatives to drive maximum operational efficiency.
The combination of the two businesses provides customers with unmatched breadth, depth and quality of digital learning content and the ability to quickly adapt learning paths to roles, projects or changing business needs. Moreover, customers who already have investments in either Skillsoft or SumTotal can confidently leverage both platforms on an enterprise level due to the strong architectural fit between both platforms.
Benefits of the Acquisition
Recently, Skillsoft announced the acquisition of SumTotal Systems. This strategic move will benefit Skillsoft’s customers and bring new opportunities to their existing customer base.
This move will provide customers with access to a consolidated suite of innovative learning technologies, enhanced capabilities in AI and machine learning, new personalization tools, and improved support. Let’s take a look at some of the ways this acquisition will benefit Skillsoft’s customers.
Increased Access to Content
The acquisition of Degreed by Skillsoft provides unprecedented access to content and learning resources to markets served by Skillsoft.
The combined content portfolio represents the broadest range of digital learning available today. It features over 370,000 digital books, videos, articles, audiobooks, tutorials and interactive courses created by the world’s leading publishers. The depth and breadth of content available through Degreed allows people to explore new skills and continuously develop themselves throughout their educational journey.
By acquiring Degreed, Skillsoft customers gain access to an expansive global library for learning within business contexts. In addition to traditional textbooks, clients will have access to leading reference materials and a vast array of videos from popular educational websites such as Khan Academy and TED Talks. Access is also provided to industry-leading microlearning vendors such as Udemy for Business and LinkedIn Learning. With access to these resources, learners can enhance their knowledge on an ever-changing range of topics with curated tailored paths that meet the needs of whatever industry they are in. For example, with personalised paths tailored for different job roles in highly regulated industries such as financial services or healthcare, customers will benefit from greater control over content selection while also getting tremendous value out of their subscription fees.
Improved Learning Experiences
The acquisition of MindFlash brings increased opportunities for Skillsoft’s customers and partners to drive successful, personalised learning experiences.
MindFlash is a leader in creating custom online onboarding and training solutions for companies in a variety of industries. The innovative platform provides an engaging, intuitive user experience that simplifies the packaging, customization, delivery and tracking of learning content. In addition, by leveraging MindFlash’s best-in-class content authoring tools, customers can easily create new courses or convert existing materials into engaging online courses.
This improved Learning Experience will allow Skillsoft customers to provide more effective and efficient training programs for employees and partners. Additionally, with the support of user analytics, organisations can develop training that responds to learners’ needs and adjusts according to performance measurement data.
Increased Efficiency
The acquisition of a new company can bring many benefits to an organisation in terms of increased efficiency. By combining forces, the two companies can leverage each other’s resources, allowing for faster and more efficient solutions and operations.
In addition, the larger team will be able to take on larger projects and achieve better outcomes with fewer resources. Through the sharing of best practices and innovation, new solutions and approaches can be created which can drive costs down while improving the quality of services or products.
Furthermore, the larger marketing reach acquired from the acquisition could also lead to cost savings due to economies of scale. In conclusion, an acquisition could provide numerous advantages in terms of increased efficiency.
How the Acquisition Will Benefit Skillsoft Customers
The acquisition of Skillsoft by Pearson, announced in November 2019, is set to significantly benefit the customers of Skillsoft in various ways. From increased access to learning resources to more targeted support and service options, the acquisition will provide an improved customer experience.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the key benefits the acquisition provides customers.
Access to More Resources
The acquisition of GE Digital by Skillsoft will benefit customers in several ways. One of the primary benefits of this merger is that customers will receive access to a much wider range of resources. The two companies have combined their distinctive strengths, offering customers a diversified product library with new e-learning analytics tools and unique technical services. This extended resource library means increased client value and higher success rates regarding learning objectives.
Additionally, customers can look forward to improved customization options by integrating GE Digital’s Ovation Suite into Skillsoft’s platform. This technology extends skill development and learner engagement capabilities with an intuitive user experience designed for rapid adaptation. With Ovation Suite, industrial organisations have the power to easily create custom learning experiences tailored to their precise needs. As a result, knowledge transfer within the corporate environment is enhanced and learner trackability improved.
Finally, combining the expertise of both companies leads to streamlined product delivery so that clients no longer have to wait for new materials or updates from multiple providers. Skillsoft’s efficient logistics system results in fast and reliable delivery while their global team ensures maximum performance through continuous support in multiple languages. The acquisition effectively bridges two top content providers into a single powerhouse organisation dedicated to helping clients achieve their desired focus areas faster and easier than ever!
Improved User Experience
The acquisition positions Skillsoft to bring customers a richer, more intuitive user experience. In addition, unifying both the content and software capabilities provides Skillsoft with the ability to develop a comprehensive system that is unrivalled in its capacity to deliver integrated learning solutions across the extended enterprise.
The integration of SumTotal’s suite of technology platforms, such as their Talent Acquisition, Talent Management and Learning Management tools, will create an even more powerful platform capable of driving performance improvement and business outcomes.
This expanded range of features are designed to support better customization, improved business process automation, streamlined content delivery, improved analytics and an all-around superior user experience than anything currently available on the market. The unified UX will also provide users with enhanced tools for increased engagement and motivation. In addition, by combining the two companies’ technologies into one single platform, customers will have access to a comprehensive suite of Services-as-a-Solution that can address their current needs while also enabling them to anticipate future growth.
Increased Efficiency and Cost Savings
The acquisition of Skillsoft by Vista Equity Partners will provide customers with increased efficiency and cost savings. In addition, customers can access the full library of Skillsoft’s learning content and benefit from the latest online technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, simulation and gamification.
In addition, customers can expect to benefit from increased automation in their workflows and improved ability to scale quickly with more intelligent course recommendations. Because Skillsoft’s industry-leading Learning Management System (LMS) provides a unified user experience, customers can expect significant cost savings on multiple fronts – from reduced hardware costs to shorter implementation timelines.
Furthermore, the recent acquisition of SumTotal Systems by Vista Equity marks an additional milestone in ensuring Skillsoft continues to offer its customers easy-to-use solutions that enable them to maximise their return on investment. With robust computer enabled training modules and more advanced software available soon through this acquisition, companies can look forward to updated technology driving better results faster than ever.
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