by Jim Lundy
Pluralsight, based out of Salt Lake City, is a fast-growing learning content provider.
Last week, Pluralsight IPO’d and this move validated something that many have been talking about for a while: the learning market is breaking out on its own, fueled by the demand for knowledge and for content that delivers.
Pluralsight IPO: Learning Is Back
The IPO itself was solid and the impact of this achievement portends the long potential for Pluralsight and all other learning content providers. That said, what we see with Pluralsight is more than just a collection of courses; it also provides strong analytics to help managers understand the progress a team is making toward their knowledge goals. We think these capabilities are helping to fuel Pluralsight’s growth.
For Aragon, this is a signal that is shining brightly. Learning is back and people are acknowledging it with their budgets and spending. That said, spending is shifting to content, and enterprises want a holistic approach to content.
Pluralsight to Challenge Skillsoft and LinkedIn Learning
To date, Skillsoft has been the largest and most successful content provider, offering courses similar to Pluralsight. Skillsoft has been improving its offerings and continues to see strong demand. Lynda.com, now called LinkedIn Learning, has also done well, in part due to the sheer volume of available courses. Despite offering a large volume of content, LinkedIn Learning does not provide the level of skill certification that Pluralsight and Skillsoft provide.
Degreed, another newcomer, offers enterprises the ability to harmonize content from a variety of content providers, which has made it quite popular as an LMS alternative.
The Learning Market: Not Just About Talent Suites
Learning used to be a standalone market and for many providers, it always has been. However, the larger providers bundle learning into a greater talent management suite.
While Aragon views this as an acquisition strategy, best-of-breed providers have re-emerged to challenge the suite providers. Enterprises have noticed this and this is why we are seeing the strong growth of relatively new providers, such as Degreed and Pluralsight.
Developing a Content Strategy
The race to becoming a digital enterprise means scalable training must be in place, which may mean rethinking your content strategy. Having a wide range of courses and an internal video learning library are some of the recipes for success.
Aragon has helped many firms think through their content strategy. Look for our brand new Aragon Research Globe™ for Corporate Learning in early June and check out our other learning research.