No L&D function can do everything internally. External vendors and partners provide content, technology, expertise, and capacity that would be impossible to build and maintain in-house.

But vendor relationships often disappoint. Promises don’t match delivery. Costs exceed expectations. Partnership becomes transaction.

Here’s how to manage L&D vendor relationships for genuine value.

The Vendor Landscape

L&D vendors fall into several categories:

Content providers: Libraries of courses, videos, and learning resources (LinkedIn Learning, Coursera for Business, etc.)

Technology platforms: LMS, LXP, authoring tools, and learning tech (Cornerstone, Docebo, Articulate, etc.)

Custom content developers: Organisations that build bespoke learning content to your specifications

Training providers: Companies that deliver instructor-led training in specific domains

Assessment and certification: Providers of tests, credentials, and capability validation

Consulting and advisory: Firms that provide L&D strategy, design, and implementation support

Each category has different selection criteria and management requirements.

Vendor Selection

Define Requirements Clearly

Before talking to vendors, know what you need:

Functional requirements: What must the solution do?

Quality requirements: What standards must be met?

Integration requirements: How must this connect with existing systems?

Scale requirements: How many users, how much content, what volume?

Timeline requirements: When must this be operational?

Budget parameters: What can you invest?

Unclear requirements produce poor selections and disappointed expectations.

Evaluate Systematically

For significant purchases, use structured evaluation:

Capability assessment:

• Does the solution meet stated requirements?
• How well does it perform in demonstration?
• What do references say about actual performance?

Vendor assessment:

• Is the vendor financially stable?
• What’s their track record and reputation?
• Will they exist and support this product in three years?

Fit assessment:

• How well does this fit your organisation’s context?
• What’s the implementation complexity?
• Does your team have capacity to manage this?

Commercial assessment:

• What’s the total cost of ownership?
• How do terms compare to alternatives?
• What are the risks in the contract?

Watch for Red Flags

Warning signs during selection:

• Vendor can’t provide similar customer references
• Demo shows features that turn out to be “roadmap” items
• Pricing is unclear or changes after initial quotes
• Implementation timeline seems unrealistically short
• Questions about limitations get deflected
• Salesperson promises things that aren’t in writing

Trust your instincts when something feels off.

Contract Negotiation

Key Terms to Address

Scope clarity: Exactly what’s included and excluded

Service levels: What performance standards apply

Support: What support is provided and when

Implementation: Who does what during setup

Training: What training is included

Data: Who owns data, how is it protected, what happens at termination

Exit: How can you terminate, what assistance is provided

Pricing: All costs, including hidden fees, renewal terms, escalation limits

Common Negotiation Leverage

Multi-year commitments: Longer terms in exchange for better pricing

Volume: More users or usage in exchange for better rates

Reference status: Willingness to be a reference in exchange for consideration

Timing: End of quarter or year purchases when vendors need to close deals

Competition: Credible alternatives create negotiation pressure

Get Legal Help

For significant contracts, involve legal and procurement professionals. L&D expertise doesn’t extend to contract risk management.

Implementation Management

The selection is just the beginning. Implementation determines whether you get value.

Project Management Discipline

Treat implementations as projects:

• Clear scope and objectives
• Defined timeline and milestones
• Assigned responsibilities
• Regular progress tracking
• Issue and risk management

Don’t assume vendors will manage the project for you. They have their perspective; you need yours.

Change Management

Vendor implementations often fail because users don’t adopt. Plan for:

• Communication about what’s changing and why
• Training for users who need to learn new systems
• Support for questions and problems
• Feedback mechanisms to identify issues

Accept Imperfection

No implementation goes perfectly. Decide in advance:

• What must work at launch?
• What can be addressed later?
• How will you handle unexpected issues?

Flexibility prevents minor problems from derailing entire implementations.

Ongoing Management

Long-term vendor relationships require ongoing attention:

Performance Monitoring

Track whether vendors deliver what they promised:

• Usage and adoption metrics
• Quality indicators
• Support responsiveness
• User satisfaction

Regular monitoring identifies problems before they become critical.

Relationship Management

Maintain active relationships:

• Regular check-ins with vendor contacts
• Escalation paths when needed
• Feedback on what’s working and what isn’t
• Advance notice of your changing needs

Good relationships produce better outcomes than transactional interactions.

Business Reviews

Periodic formal reviews of the partnership:

• Vendor performance against commitments
• Value delivered versus investment
• Upcoming needs and plans
• Contract status and renewal considerations

Business reviews create accountability and surface issues.

Continuous Improvement

Push vendors for ongoing improvement:

• New features and capabilities
• Enhanced support
• Better pricing or terms
• Solutions to problems

Don’t accept the status quo if better is achievable.

Vendor Consolidation vs. Best-of-Breed

A perennial strategic question: consolidate around fewer vendors or select best-of-breed for each need?

Consolidation benefits:

• Simpler vendor management
• Better integration
• Volume pricing leverage
• Fewer relationships to maintain

Best-of-breed benefits:

• Superior capability in each area
• Reduced vendor lock-in
• Competitive pressure maintains quality
• Flexibility to change specific components

Most organisations end up somewhere in the middle. Consolidate where integration matters most; allow specialisation where capability differences are significant.

When Partnerships Go Wrong

Sometimes vendor relationships don’t work out. Signs of trouble:

• Consistent failure to meet service levels
• Degrading support quality
• Unaddressed user complaints
• Vendor financial or strategic instability
• Significant cost increases without value increases
• Loss of key vendor personnel

When partnerships deteriorate:

Address directly: Raise concerns clearly and specifically

Escalate appropriately: Engage vendor leadership when working-level contacts can’t resolve issues

Document everything: Create records of problems and attempts to resolve them

Prepare alternatives: Understand your options if the relationship must end

Exit when necessary: Some partnerships can’t be saved. Know when to move on.

Building Partnership Capability

Vendor management is a skill set. Build it:

Train staff: Ensure people managing vendors understand procurement, contracts, and relationship management

Create processes: Standard approaches to selection, contracting, implementation, and ongoing management

Share knowledge: Learn from successes and failures across vendor relationships

External expertise: Use procurement professionals for significant decisions

The Strategic View

Vendor partnerships should align with L&D strategy:

Build vs. buy decisions: What should you develop internally? What should come from partners?

Strategic partnerships: Which vendors are strategic partners, not just suppliers?

Innovation access: How do partnerships provide access to innovation you couldn’t create internally?

Risk management: How do you manage concentration risk and dependency?

Think strategically about the overall vendor portfolio, not just individual relationships.

The Bottom Line

L&D increasingly depends on external partners. Managing those partnerships well is an essential L&D capability.

Good vendor management requires:

• Clear requirements before selection
• Systematic evaluation of options
• Careful contract negotiation
• Disciplined implementation
• Ongoing performance monitoring
• Active relationship maintenance

The organisations that manage vendors well get more value from their partnerships. Those that don’t waste money and create frustration.

Build vendor management capability. It pays returns across your entire external partnership portfolio.