Navigating the Learning and Development Technology Market: Key Areas to Focus on When Creating an RFP

The Learning and Development (L&D) landscape is evolving rapidly, with new technologies promising to revolutionise how organisations train, develop, and up-skill their workforce. For L&D professionals tasked with selecting the right technology, crafting an effective Request for Proposal (RFP) is a critical step in ensuring that chosen solutions meet current and future needs.

In this article, we'll explore the key areas to focus on when creating an RFP for L&D technology. This guide will help you identify what matters most, enabling you to effectively communicate your needs to potential vendors and make informed decisions that align with your strategic goals.

1. Business Alignment and Use Case Clarity

Before diving into technical specifications, it’s crucial to articulate how the L&D solution will support your broader business objectives. Define the specific use cases—whether it’s compliance training, leadership development, up-skilling, or re-skilling—that the technology must address. Vendors need to understand your unique challenges and strategic goals to offer a tailored solution. Be explicit about your expectations, including the business problems you're trying to solve, target audiences, and desired outcomes.

Teresa's Top Tips:

• Consider your business strategy—short, mid, and long-term. Ensure the technology aligns with these objectives.

• Don’t choose a solution just because someone else has it. Understand your unique context and needs.

• Map out your most important processes. Use user journey and workflow analysis from different users’ points of view. Learning tech is often chosen for its admin features, rather than its impact on employees and managers as end users.

• Ask yourself: "How might you reduce friction for employees?" and "How might you make workflows easier to save time?" Ask potential vendors how they can help automate these workflows.

• Relationships with procurement and IT are crucial early on. Involving them can help secure part of the funding and boost adoption. Think about other departments and stakeholders that should be included.

2. User Experience and Engagement

A great L&D platform isn’t just about the content; it’s about the experience. Poor user experience can lead to low adoption rates and unmet training goals. In your RFP, ask about the platform’s user interface, mobile compatibility and personalisation options. For example, do you need an app, or do you have workers without access to networks and wifi? Vendors should demonstrate how their technology fosters learner engagement and integrates into your employees' daily workflow - at the point of need is where learning has the greatest impact. Look for evidence of how the platform's design drives sustained learner involvement, for example, peer-to-peer learning and social communities connected to learning programs. 

3. Integration with Existing Systems

Organisations often have a variety of systems already in place—like HR, talent management, and LMS platforms. I have seen examples where organisations have the in-house expertise to create their own learning technology. Ensuring seamless integration between the new L&D technology and your existing systems is key. Specify in the RFP what current systems you need the new solution to integrate with, and ask vendors about their APIs, data-sharing capabilities, and previous experience with similar integrations. This will help avoid headaches later on and ensure a unified learning ecosystem.

Teresa's Top Tip: Carry out an audit of your existing technology—what can you use already?

4. Data and Analytics Capabilities

Effective L&D strategies are increasingly data-driven. To track the success of learning initiatives, you need deep insights into learner behaviour, beyond course completion rates. Think skill gaps and robust skill validation (not just self-assessment). Ask potential vendors to detail the data and analytics features of their platform. Can it track individual learning progress and link it back to business KPIs? What kind of dashboards and reporting features are available? Ensure the solution allows you to derive meaningful insights supporting continuous improvement and relevant business metrics and OKRs. Here are a few examples: 

• Employee Productivity: Measure changes in productivity levels before and after training.

• Retention Rates: Assess whether training initiatives contribute to reduced employee turnover.

• Time to Proficiency: Track the time it takes for employees to reach competency in their roles after undergoing development.

• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): Evaluate whether improvements in employee skills lead to better customer experiences.

• Revenue Impact: Analyse the correlation between up-skilling programmes and revenue or sales performance improvements.

• Innovation Metrics: Track the number of new ideas or projects initiated following innovation or creativity training.

Teresa's Top Tip: Consider what data you can get and how easy it is to create. Analytics are essential for measuring success but also think about what end users—employees—think of the technology. Too often, learning systems are bought without considering the employee experience, leading to underwhelming outcomes.

5. Customisation and Scalability

Every organisation has unique learning needs, and your L&D technology should be able to reflect that. Ask vendors about the extent of customisation available in their solution—from branding to content management—and whether the platform can scale as your organisation grows. A platform that supports modular add-ons or different licensing models can be advantageous if your needs evolve or expand in the future.

6. Compliance and Security

L&D platforms deal with personal data, which means data security and compliance are non-negotiable. Your RFP should include questions about GDPR compliance, data encryption standards, user access controls, and privacy measures. If you’re working in a highly regulated industry, ensure that the vendor’s security protocols align with industry-specific standards.

7. Vendor Support and Implementation Process

The success of an L&D technology implementation often hinges on the support provided by the vendor. Ensure you ask about onboarding processes; training for administrators and end-users, ongoing technical support, and customer success programs. The right vendor should be a partner, not just a technology provider, helping you to get the most out of their solution. It’s also important to understand timelines for implementation and how disruptions will be minimised during the rollout.

Teresa's Top Tips:

• I have been involved in my fair share of RFPs, and they can take a lot of your time if you haven't done the groundwork. Far too often, questions that should have been asked during the RFP stage end up being asked during implementation, leading to unnecessary headaches.

• Vet potential vendors thoroughly:

  • Involve a broad audience—Senior Management, HR, IT, L&D, Users, Leadership.

  • Look at their customers, investors, and roadmap.

  • Consider their time in the market.

  • Get vendors in the room—partnering is key.

  • Review IT certificates and conduct risk assessments for each vendor.

8. AI Considerations

The addition of AI capabilities to L&D technology can add complexity to the RFP process. AI is becoming a significant differentiator for many learning platforms, but it also requires a deeper understanding of its potential impacts—both positive and negative.

Questions to Ask About AI (from Dr. Markus Bernhardt): LinkedIn post

• How does the AI model work, and what data does it use?

• How transparent is the AI decision-making process?

• How does the AI support personalisation, and what are its limits?

• What safeguards are in place to prevent bias in AI algorithms?

• How does the vendor manage AI updates and improvements?

Incorporating these questions will help you better understand how AI can support your learning strategy, making sure the vendor’s AI capabilities align with your ethical and operational standards.

9. Cost Transparency

When budgeting for L&D technology, it’s easy to overlook hidden costs, such as those for support, integrations, or future upgrades. Include in your RFP a requirement for cost breakdowns, including licensing fees, maintenance, training, and any additional expenses you may incur down the line. Understanding the full cost of ownership upfront will help you avoid unpleasant surprises and ensure the solution is financially sustainable.

Conclusion

Crafting an effective RFP is more than ticking off features; it’s about aligning the technology with your organisational vision, ensuring an excellent user experience, and fostering long-term learning and performance outcomes. By focusing on these key areas—business alignment, user experience, integration, analytics, customisation, compliance, support, AI considerations, and cost—you can make informed decisions that will maximise the value of your investment in L&D technology.

The market for learning technology is vast, but a well-crafted RFP will help you navigate it with confidence. It’s all about asking the right questions, keeping your strategic goals front and centre, and ensuring your organisation’s unique needs are met.

Additional Thoughts:

• Research from Fosway suggests that over 60% of learning professionals are dissatisfied with their technology. In their latest Digital Realities research, a stubborn majority of LMS and LXP buyers continue to be underwhelmed by their learning systems. This is interesting information, but there's a key component missing—what do end users (employees) think of the technology? How often do you hear a success story from a vendor about the employee's experience? 

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