If pharmaceutical companies are to survive, they must outsource to improve quality and shorten time to market.
The public and their advocates want better treatments and faster development with lower costs. They put tremendous pressure on regulators and politicians to make it so.
For example, we read an article recently complaining that big pharma reaps huge profits because they aren’t developing their own products—failing to mention how much they paid their partners to create them.
But perception is reality, so the pressure continues.
As a result, outsourcing is common in the industry—and becoming even more so--driven by intense pressures on profitability and performance.
Now, companies consider outsourcing core functions, like Sales, Finance, Data Management, and HR. We’ve been managing learning clients in pharma for three years.
In such a complex industry, management can become a burden. However, offloading that burden can be an excellent way to control costs.
Many companies outsource only administration. Many more for only development. Others may outsource both development and delivery and outsource to academia—especially in the life sciences.
Managing learning platforms is a big job. It may seem simple, but there are many moving parts.
Duties may include:
Good administrators can be expensive. They can also be hard to find. You can reap substantial benefits by outsourcing.
You won’t need to staff fluctuating workloads, and you can quickly scale up or down.
One of the most significant sources of manager dissatisfaction is not having the information they need.
Administrators deliver that information by providing reports.
A learning partner will automate and schedule reporting. They will also have dashboard designers on tap to respond to change requests.
Most robust learning platforms give you a way to create learning paths to match HR career mapping.
If your learners aren’t satisfied with their opportunities, you will lose top talent as they go elsewhere to build their careers.
When you have a solid agreement and collaboration with a service provider, you have the assurance that your learning paths will be up-to-date and coordinated with your job and skill structures.
Online or in-person learning development is the most outsourced service.
You can let your partner carry the burden of managing multiple sources. They will also monitor use and effectiveness.
Learning science and technology evolve quickly. By outsourcing, you can have access to the most skilled developers.
You may have needs for advanced learning methods like virtual reality, augmented reality, and other simulations.
But you may not justify the cost if you need training for only a few roles.
A provider can make it happen for much less by sharing costs across industries.
Analytics has become critical for L&D.
Understanding your learners is essential to developing a learning culture and meeting your people’s needs.
The ability to measure and analyze learning behaviors helps you optimize learning, making it more effective with tools like adaptive learning.
Analytics will help you determine which learning is effective, so you can change providers or redesign if the quality doesn’t meet your expectations.
You can gain substantial cost savings from shared resources, plus fast and flexible scaling.
You can let your provider deal with the ups and downs of variable workloads.
You will have access to skilled, experienced people.
A good provider will pay close attention to maintaining their edge.
They will be up on the latest features and technologies long before they are available.
A provider can help you build a cohesive team across geographies and locations while maintaining compliance with local requirements.
Next to learning, the administration is the most outsourced service. Here are some reasons to outsource it.
Managing learning platforms is a big job. It may seem simple, but there are many moving parts.
Duties may include:
Good administrators can be expensive and hard to find. You can offload the burden to an MLSP and avoid the worry of staffing shortages. You won’t need to staff fluctuating workloads, and you can quickly scale up or down.
All too often, admin problems begin early in the life cycle of new technology. Administrators attend initial training but may not continue it.
As a result, the organization may not take advantage of all the features they need. In addition, they may miss out on new capabilities.
Without ongoing training, a rookie can make configuration mistakes that cause unhappy users. The results can be disengagement, low utilization, and failed audits.
One of the most significant sources of manager dissatisfaction is not having the information they need. When managers are unhappy, they can impact your whole organization.
To keep information flowing, your provider will automate reporting and will schedule what can’t be automated. They will also have dashboard designers on tap to respond to change requests.
Most robust learning platforms give you a way to create learning paths to match HR career mapping. If your learners aren’t satisfied with the result, you will lose top talent as they go elsewhere to build their careers.
A good provider will help you keep your job and skills mapping current.
Online or in-person training delivery and learning development are the most outsourced service. In those services, access to skilled professionals is even more critical than in administration.
You can let your provider carry the burden of managing multiple sources. They will also monitor use and effectiveness.
Learning science, methods, and technology are evolving at a rapid pace. By outsourcing, you can have access to the best and most appropriate development resources for your needs.
You may have needs for advanced learning methods like virtual reality, augmented reality, and other simulations. But you may not be able to justify the cost if your needs are limited to only a few roles.
A provider can make it happen for much less.
Analytics has become critical for L&D. Understanding your learners is essential to developing a learning culture and meeting your people’s needs.
The ability to measure and analyze learning behaviors helps you optimize learning, making it more effective with tools like adaptive learning.
Analytics will help you determine which learning is effective, so you can change providers or redesign if the quality doesn’t meet your expectations.
If you have a skilled, cohesive administrative team with the resources to handle variable workloads, you may find the cost advantages of managed services to be not worth disrupting the team.
But ask yourself these questions:
However, if your firm is like most, you have a well-oiled security and monitoring framework.
A competent provider will have data protection and non-disclosure agreements baked into their contracts and processes.
Don’t skimp in the investigative phase of your selection process. Make sure you know what you are getting.
Outsourced administration shouldn’t be “set it and forget it.” You may outsource the process, but you own the results.
A good provider will be a master of collaboration, striving to be an essential part of your team. The more you make your needs known, the better they can serve you.
You can make it work by managing your provider as you would an in-house team.
Whether you should outsource depends on your business strategy, culture, and how effective and efficient your learning operations are.
Read our Guide to Managed Learning Services to see how you can work through the decision.
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