SumTotal Systems has a new role in a high-powered tech stack. Its sale to Cornerstone OnDemand, announced in June, closed on Monday.
The acquisition will expand growth opportunities for customers of both companies as SumTotal joins a collection of strong performers, including EdCast, Saba, Grovo, and Clustree. Over 7,000 customers will now have access to a global workforce of over 4,000 talent experts and the promise of an “agnostic approach to innovation.”
SumTotal expands Cornerstone’s vertical reach with its depth in learning support for highly regulated industries that need audit-ready compliance tracking. The high demand in that sector assures a continuing market for compliance-capable LMS solutions SumTotal pioneered in 1985.
In its August 16 announcement, Clearlake Capital Group, Cornerstone's financial backer, showed how customers of both companies gain.
- More options enable Cornerstone to meet customers where they are now, help them innovate to where they want to be, and engage their workforce “on a path of continuous growth and skill-building.”
- Customers gain a global, specialized workforce and SumTotal’s expertise in complex, regulated industries.
- SumTotal customers gain more flexibility in planning and developing their learning and talent technology stack.
In recent years, the online learning experience has made it difficult for a traditional LMS like SumTotal to compete. Its easy integration with online learning platforms like LinkedIn and its social learning tools helped, but companies have gravitated toward native online applications.
First, the rapid growth of MOOCs and web platforms democratized the learning experience. Then, the Learning Experience Platform gave corporate learners self-directed development paths.
Soon after, the internal Talent Marketplace revolutionized workforce development with its skill-based approach to work.
Yet, the need for compliance training and tracking continues, and SumTotal has remained a trusted tool.
After Skillsoft acquired SumTotal in 2014, it funded growth into talent and back-office HR functions, but its HR suite didn’t become a market mover. Now, SumTotal’s contribution and expertise will help Cornerstone’s approach to vertical growth.
We encourage you to attend the upcoming SumTotal customer town hall, and we look forward to seeing you at Cornerstone Convergence 2022.
Pixentia applauds this move, and we look forward to helping customers optimize their learning and talent tech stack to reap the total value of their technology investment.
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