Managed Learning Services

Are you responsible for the learning and development of your colleagues and staff, but short of the time and resources you need to make the impact you want to make? Are you being asked to deliver more and better training, with fewer resources? You need help: Managed Learning Services help.

You have a unique understanding of the learning and development requirements of your company. You know its markets and customers. You know its technology. You know the character and attitudes of its staff.

But perhaps you don’t know so much about the practicalities of making it all happen. About:

Choosing the right provider(s)
Choosing the right teaching delivery method(s)
Negotiating a good price
Booking courses, and keeping both the trainer and trainee informed
Collecting useful post-course feedback, and acting on it.

That’s where a Managed Learning Services provider can help. They take care of all the practicalities, which sets you free to think long-term and strategically about how you are going to use your role to move your company’s people, and your company, forward.

An MLS provider acts as an integrated partner to the organisation, overseeing the full learning and development function. This can include strategy development, supplier management, technology platforms, reporting and analytics. They make sure all your staff meet their compliance and continuous professional development requirements.

If you would like to find out more, we suggest you have a chat with Optimus. They know the training marketplace inside out. They have helped a lot of companies, including ones like yours. And they are good to chat to: lots of useful information, with no hard sell at all.

What Does a Managed Learning Services Provider Do?

A Managed Learning Services (MLS) provider takes responsibility for some or all of the practical work involved in managing an organisation’s learning and development activities. The precise services provided will depend on the needs of the business. Some organisations outsource most of their training management, while others use an MLS provider to support their existing Learning and Development (L&D) team.

The aim is not simply to provide training courses. A Managed Learning Services provider helps to make the whole process of planning, sourcing, organising, delivering and monitoring training more efficient. Typical services include:

Training needs analysis – helping to identify skills gaps and determine what training employees require, both now and in the future.
Training provider sourcing – finding suitable training companies, specialist trainers and courses from a wide range of suppliers.
Supplier management – dealing with training providers, negotiating prices and terms, monitoring performance and reducing the administrative burden of managing multiple suppliers.
Course booking and administration – arranging courses, venues and online training, managing bookings and cancellations, and keeping learners and managers informed.
Learning Management System (LMS) support – administering an existing LMS or providing technology that enables employees and managers to access and manage learning more easily.
Compliance and mandatory training – helping businesses organise, record and monitor essential training and identify employees who need initial or refresher training.
Learner communications – sending joining instructions, reminders and other information so employees know when, where and how their training will take place.
Evaluation and feedback – collecting feedback from learners and managers to assess the quality and effectiveness of training.
Reporting and analytics – providing information about training expenditure, attendance, completion rates, supplier performance and other key L&D measures.
Budget management – providing greater visibility of training expenditure and helping businesses obtain better value from their learning and development budget.

For an internal L&D team, one of the biggest advantages of using a Managed Learning Services provider is the time it can release. Instead of spending large amounts of time finding courses, obtaining quotations, making bookings, processing paperwork and dealing with training suppliers, L&D professionals can concentrate on more strategic work.

The business retains control of its learning and development objectives, while the Managed Learning Services provider supplies the resources, expertise, systems and supplier relationships needed to turn those objectives into an effective training programme.

Managed Learning or Managed Training

Some people describe this service as Managed Learning Services, and some as Managed Training Services. We prefer to refer to learning, which is the desired outcome, rather than training, the means to the end. Also, the term learning better describes the broad scope of the service, which includes:

Learning strategy and needs analysis
Vendor management
Learning administration
LMS management and reporting
Evaluation and optimisation of learning programmes

Managed Training Services has a narrower scope, focussing on training delivery and logistics, such as scheduling, venue booking, and trainer management. It is operational, and lacks the long term, broad strategic view of Learning Services.

Who Benefits from Managed Learning Services?

MLS benefits many people in an organisation, beyond those who receive training.

The accounts team processes one invoice per month, not one invoice per course
The procurement team deal with one supplier, who is known and trusted, not an endless train of new suppliers who might only be used once or twice
The compliance team or HR team because it is easy to demonstrate that the training required for CPD or professional accreditation has been completed.
The HR team, because they can focus on their core skills, and delegate the organisation of L&D to the supplier

Some cynical employees maintain that the only sincere sign of appreciation from their employer is cash: a pay rise or a bonus. It’s not true, of course. A long-term, structured training programme focussed on developing their skills and career shows the company’s commitment to its staff. It can also give them a reason to stay with the company. And the lack of this, of course, shows the exact opposite, which is a real motivation for the good staff to leave.

Supporting Business Change

Periods of business change often create new training requirements that need to be delivered quickly and consistently. Whether an organisation is introducing new technology, restructuring departments, acquiring another business, expanding into new markets or adapting to new regulations, employees need to acquire the new skills and knowledge required to work effectively in the new environment.

Managed Learning Services help organisations identify training needs, source suitable learning solutions and coordinate delivery across the workforce. This ensures employees receive the right training at the right time, reducing disruption and helping change programmes achieve their objectives.

During mergers and acquisitions, training can play a vital role in bringing together different teams, processes and corporate cultures. Managed Learning Services can help deliver consistent onboarding, compliance and operational training, ensuring that all employees understand new procedures and expectations.

Business change is often met with resistance when employees are uncertain about new ways of working. Effective training helps people understand the reasons for change, develop the necessary skills and gain confidence in new processes. This can improve engagement, reduce disruption and increase the likelihood of a successful transition.

MLS helps make AI work effectively

Artificial Intelligence is transforming the way organisations operate, creating both opportunities and challenges for employees and management. As businesses introduce AI-powered tools and systems, staff often need new skills to use them effectively and understand their impact on existing processes. Managed Learning Services help organisations identify training requirements, source specialist AI learning programmes and deliver training consistently across the workforce. This can include everything from basic AI awareness and prompt engineering to the ethical use of AI, data security and the integration of AI into specific business functions. By ensuring employees understand how to work alongside AI technologies, Managed Learning Services help organisations maximise the benefits of AI adoption, improve productivity and reduce the risks associated with poorly managed change.

The Growth of Managed Learning Services

Over the last decade, Managed Learning Services (MLS) have evolved from a specialist outsourcing option into a mainstream business service. Ten years ago, many organisations used external providers simply to book courses or negotiate training costs. Today, businesses increasingly rely on Managed Learning Services to oversee every aspect of learning and development, from identifying skills gaps and managing training suppliers to measuring performance and supporting long-term workforce planning. This shift has been driven by the growing need for employees to continually update their skills in an increasingly digital and competitive economy.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this growth by forcing organisations to adopt online and blended learning. As hybrid working became the norm, companies needed flexible training solutions that could be delivered consistently across multiple locations. Managed Learning Services providers responded by introducing cloud-based learning platforms, virtual classrooms and improved reporting tools, enabling businesses to manage learning more efficiently while reducing administration.

Today, Managed Learning Services are valued not only for reducing costs but also for helping organisations build a skilled, adaptable workforce. Providers are expected to support compliance, improve employee engagement, analyse learning data and align training with business objectives. With demand for reskilling, AI adoption and continuous professional development continuing to increase, the Managed Learning Services market is expected to maintain strong growth throughout the coming decade.

Training Outsourcing

If Managed Learning Services seems a step too far for your organisation at the moment, then Training Outsourcing is a good way to move forward.

Training outsourcing typically focuses on handing over specific training tasks to an external provider, such as course sourcing, booking administration, or delivery of individual programmes. It is basically transactional, designed to reduce internal workload, improve efficiency and cut costs. In contrast, MLS aims to optimise the entire learning ecosystem, aligning training with wider business objectives and workforce performance.

Here’s a useful article to help you make the right choice between keeping everything in-house, Training Outsourcing, and Managed Learning Services. It guides you through 4 key points you need to get right to make any kind of outsourcing work for you:

Tangible Goals
Thorough Research
Supplier Suitability
Choosing The Scale

We hope you find it helpful.

Training Brokers

And if training outsourcing feels like a step too far, we suggest you try training brokers. Simply, they will book the same quality of courses as you get now, possibly with the same provider, at better prices. They use their market knowledge, and their buying power, to negotiate better prices, and pass the savings on to their customers.

Their main role is to:

Identify suitable training providers
Obtain competitive quotations
Negotiate prices
Arrange bookings
Handle administration
Sometimes evaluate supplier performance

There’s more about training brokers here.