In an age where the advancement of technology never stops, organizations are constantly looking for ways to innovate their tech stack and get ahead of the competition. However, while new technology can bring new capabilities, these changes can also disrupt the technological ecosystem — especially when it comes to gathering the right data.

For learning and development (L&D) leaders, data is vital to making informed decisions about the learner experience in alignment with business-critical goals. But with the shift into investing in learning experience platforms (LXPs) and other technology, leaders have found that they aren’t getting enough data, or there’s too much data and it’s hard to use when it’s split between so many different systems.

Does this sound familiar to you? The good news is that it’s never too late to improve your tech stack and gather better, more meaningful data. Here are a few ways you can start.

Define Your Ideal Vision for the Future

Many leaders like you already have a vision of what your ideal learner experience (LX) would look like but don’t have the data needed to make that LX a reality. Or you may already know of some ways your organization’s tech stack could be adjusted or improved to make life easier, but you don’t quite have the data to start that conversation with stakeholders or other leaders.

That’s why it’s important to be clear about what your top data points or metrics in your learning program are, as well as how you can use them to make good decisions and tell a strong story about the value of your ideas. Even better, simplifying the amount of data you’re working with can be a great goal that leads to constructive conversations with others. It’s not always about gathering or tracking as much data as possible but instead being meaningful with the data you gather, which you can then use to create an actionable data report that’s easy to understand.

To prepare for the conversations ahead, begin by defining your ideal vision at a deeper level. Ask yourself:

• What does my ideal LX look like?
• What data will help my team create more specific design recommendations that better tie to learner needs and organizational goals?
• What technology might we need to make that LX a reality?
• What data will help us measure performance?
• What data do I need to better communicate the value of my ideas to stakeholders?
• What are the top 10 most important data points or metrics?
• In what ways does my team struggle to make sense of all the data that we already have?
• How can my team save time when analyzing data?
• What other data are we missing?

When defining your vision for the future, use it as an opportunity to improve your organization’s overall approach to technology. Think about what works well and what overwhelms you. While the objective is to gather better, more meaningful data, you also have a unique opportunity to play a role in fixing the way your systems interact with each other to reduce frustrations and make the process a lot easier for everyone.

There may also be opportunities to invest in team member growth and career development at the same time. According to the Brandon Hall Group’s recent research summary, The Learning Revolution, data analysis is one of the most in-demand L&D positions. Is there anyone on your team with a keen eye or an interest in analyzing data? Support them in building those skills, which not only fosters a culture of shared success but also equips your team to better manage data as it comes in.

Understand Your Current Technical Opportunities

Having a vision is a great start, but the most effective L&D leaders are also realistic: Not everything may be possible, or at least, not right away. With a vision in place, you can begin to trim or categorize it based on what’s most important, what’s nice to have and what may not be needed at this time.

Involve other leaders and team members in this process and ask for their perspectives or feedback on what they feel is most important, what can wait and what you may have overlooked. The tech team especially plays a key role, as they’re the ones who will know best if something is or isn’t possible within the current technical infrastructure. Chances are, they have some ideas of their own on what can be improved with the learning tech stack, so work with them early and ask them to share their insights and how they can assist in bringing the most important parts of the vision to life.

Here are a few things to look at when connecting with others to learn more about your current technical opportunities:

• Current tech pain points (e.g., systems not working well together, which creates a disconnected or frustrating user experience)
• Options for streamlining the data-gathering process to automatically filter out what isn’t needed and only provide what’s most useful
• The interactions necessary to create an ideal LX
• Areas where the organization may be overspending on products that aren’t being used to the fullest potential, or potential redundancies in functionality that multiple systems can cover
• How to creatively use what’s already available to enhance the LX or internal ways of working
• Any gaps in technical knowledge that team members need to upskill on

There’s a lot to consider, and it may seem overwhelming. But remember: You don’t have to do it alone. By this point, you will have already begun the technology conversation within your organization. Begin to think about which teams can be responsible for which tasks, or who can help unite teams in overcoming any resistance to change. Touch base with stakeholders to get their buy-in and come prepared with strong reasoning to demonstrate the value of what the future can hold if the tech stack is improved to gather better data. Ideally, the changes won’t be big — but they’ll come with big benefits.

If your resources are limited or you’re an L&D leader with a smaller team, there are still some options. Partnering with an external learning technology expert is a great next step to take, and they can help handle a lot of the legwork so you can focus on what matters most to you.

Reduce the Workload: Collaborate With an Expert

If none of your team members have the interest or time to specialize in data analysis, consider partnering with an external analyst. Any pre-work you’ve already done to establish your most important data points, as well as simplify data to create an actionable data report, can help them understand your vision and get to the heart of what’s most important to achieving your business-critical goals.

Some learning services providers (LSPs) also offer tech analysis, data gathering and measurement strategies as part of their partnership. These experts can help you look at your tech stack and find options to fix existing fragmentation issues for a more enjoyable user experience and better data. While it may seem more expensive to partner with an external provider, the truth is that you can actually save more through the efficiencies gained as well as the time saved by reducing the workload for your already-busy team.

For example, AllenComm partnered with several clients, such as Delta, to complete a needs analysis not only for their blended learning experiences but also to uncover areas in which they could reduce spending on their technical infrastructure. Instead of spending money on platforms with functionality they weren’t using, they were able to revisit their tech stack and augment it with hand-picked web services to cover only the functionality they needed — nothing extra. This saved costs and, as an added benefit, streamlined the user experience to make it more effective, enjoyable and cohesive across the board.

Lead the Technology and Data Conversation for Your Organization

Data is one of the most valuable tools in an L&D leader’s kit. It informs every decision you make and helps support the value of your decisions in conversations with stakeholders and other leaders. But having too much data can be overwhelming or ineffective. You need the right data — at the right time —to make a difference.

Even as technology continues to change over time, measurement and data should be a regular part of the conversation. You have the potential to become an expert who leads this conversation and guides your organization in maintaining a cohesive, data-driven technological ecosystem that delivers an excellent learner experience with meaningful, actionable results.