Administrate is a training management platform: a single software solution that managed multiple functions of your training program in one place.That’s a novel idea in the training industry, so when we met Ping Identity – before they were an enterprise training powerhouse with an impressive global reach – we knew we’d found a fellow traveler that shared our vision.
Just because they shared our vision early on, doesn’t mean adopting a platform solution is for greenfield training teams only. We tackle how established teams can make the shift further in this article, but first let’s dive into how we worked with Ping Identity to clarify what, exactly, a training management platform can do.
How a Training Management Platform is Different
A platform-focused approach means focusing on how individual training systems ought to connect to each other to enable efficient and effective training management. Achieving those connections leads to a robust, inclusive solution that easily shows training’s impact on business objectives. That’s tough to do with traditional EdTech.
The end result of a training management platform doesn’t just offer more efficient operations, but builds a lake of rich data. With customizable reports, training teams can leverage business intelligence, painting a complete picture of learners, programs, and connecting the impact of training to the organization as a whole.
This platform mindset hasn’t been prioritized by training software in the past, so the concept is new to training professionals. New enough that it is difficult to really imagine exactly how it impacts your career. But you can see crystal clear examples in other teams.
The disciplines of sales and marketing have done a great job of welding tech together into a cohesive, unified solution. Salesforce, Marketo, HubSpot, Dynamics – even if you don’t use these platforms yourself, you’ve surely heard of them.
Salesforce can handle a sales teams’ needs in one (giant) platform. There’s a thriving third party app store as well, with solutions that are required to work together – or at least not get in the way of one another.
This is a far cry from what’s offered to training professionals. Even if you’re using software that connects with other systems, such as an HRIS, that connection is rarely seamless.
Ping Identity Champions Training Management Platforms
Ping Identity shared our vision of thinking beyond the LMS, of simplifying training ops while enriching training analytics.
Founded by ex-Sun Microsystems employees, Ping Identity’s team was well acquainted with unscalable solutions. At Sun Microsystems, training was scaled by adding more staff to deliver, manage, and analyze global programs. Ping Identity wanted a different solution.
They wanted to scale their training program without adding additional staff. That meant building a sustainable framework for their training operations. Data had to be easily accessible, and easily reportable so it became actionable. Manual tasks had to be automated so reduce pressure on staff.
See how we worked with Ping Identity to change how training management software works, and capture the same data-driven insights, time-saving automations, and flexibility that’s critically absent in most EdTech.
Everything had to be focused on the learner experience: what drove learner engagement, what prompted additional training, how could Ping Identity constantly deliver the best training.
They connected with Administrate early, allowing them to build foundations around a training management platform. Focusing their programs around an all-in-one solution, backed with automation features, and real-time insights into learner engagement and performance, meant Ping Identity could grow a global business with a small staff.
“It’s all about slick administration. When Sun Microsystems was at the height of its growth, around 2000 or 2001, I looked at the number of staff we had to deliver the same amount of content to the same number of students, and it was 10x the number of staff that I have globally now. To do the same job.”
– Kevin Streater, Vice President, Ping Identity University
Because Ping Identity adopted a platform mindset early in their journey, allowing them to tailor every aspect of their business to focus on scalability, connectivity, and efficiency. This means operational tasks became effortless, the team could focus on business problems.
The results? Ping Identity saw a staggering 100% year over year growth, they now use Administrate to run more than $10 million/year in training.
What’s more, this approach is future-proofing Ping Identity’s operations.
How?
They are no longer dependent on chasing the next best solution for delivering training, losing time analyzing data with spreadsheets (not the best tool for rapid analysis), or finding short-term fixes for connecting multiple EdTech systems together.
Training Management Platforms Aren’t Just for Greenfield Teams
Administrate was exactly what Ping Identity needed, but in many ways Ping Identity’s story isn’t common. Established training teams are absolutely not starting with a greenfield opportunity. Adopting a platform mindset means reevaluating – not discarding entirely – those spreadsheets, off-the-shelf solutions, and workflows.
Adopting a platform mindset will help you think about how your EdTech should work for you, not how you should work around it.
We invite you to read the full Ping Identity case study to see how they built a growing business focused on using EdTech as a platform.
See How Ping Identity Realized 100% YoY Growth without Adding Staff
