Corporate Learning Buyer Survey Series: Use and Selection of External Providers in Corporate Learning

This IDC study analyses the results of a Web-based survey that IDC administers every other month to CLO Magazine's Business Intelligence Board (BIB) on a variety of topics to gauge the issues, opportunities, and attitudes of senior training executives. This document series examines the results of a recent survey and provides advice to vendors of education services and addresses the following questions:

• How will spending on external services change next year?
• What are the most important training activities?
• What are the most important qualities in a training service provider?

"An engagement with a training service provider is different from other consulting relationships because it results in changes to the organization's employee base. This implies that the selection of training service providers is evaluated on a level beyond the simple ROI. Training vendors that understand this distinction are better able to connect with potential clients and win deals." — Cushing Anderson, HR, Talent and Learning Services research