Axonify vs. SumTotal Talent Development

Well-suited to the original purpose of delivering questions on a daily basis; everything beyond that gets complicated. For example, there are a number of program types available to deliver information (certifications, daily reinforcement, self-directed learning, assigned paths, etc.). However understanding how they all fit together requires advancing weaving together of multiple types of programs for individual groups, and requires more time than you would expect. Nearly 3 years into working with Axonify, we are still trying to iron it all out. We also have side groups of customers who meet to help each other because we all struggle with it too. We have a hard time helping our leaders and subject matter experts understand what is possible and what doesn't work well in the platform, since it is so different and doesn't work as expected. For example, communication to teams is one way - the recipients can't respond.

Incentivized

Very good for learning and development and training of employees. For Applicant tracking, recuirement, onboarding, and enablement, I prefer SAP SuccessFactors or Skillate. I also found that the SumTotal app is not very friendly on android and crashes sometimes and it is not optimized for mobile. Hence I end up never using it.

Incentivized

• Update the platform in response to feedback from current users- ex. Many of the features I wished Axonify had when I first signed up for it are now live, such as guided learning, the ability to add certification to guided learning paths, and the ability to tie outside metrics and behaviors directly to Axonify training frequency and scores
• Reinforce employee knowledge to ensure employees don't forget content they don't use frequently- ex. as long as an employee signs in to train regularly, you can be assured that they will learn what they need to because the Axonify algorithm prioritizes reinforcement questions on topics that the learner hasn't seen recently and topics that the learner has the lowest scores in. The end result is that the platform is always customizing the content watch learner sees to help improve the individual's weak points. This means that of an employee is under performing, we know it is either because the process is not working, or the employee is unwilling to follow the process, not because he or she doesn't know any better
• Foster competition and excitement around completing certain training milestones- ex. the Leaderboard can get pretty competitive as employees compete to reach the top. The platform also lets you auction off different prizes on the platform using points earned by answering questions correctly, thereby indirectly creating an incentive to complete training.
• I have never worked with a company that did such a great job at walking a new user through the implementation process. A year and a half after implementing the platform I still have a regular call from my rep (Erin Bresser) during which we discuss my company's training plan, pain points, strategies, upcoming features, and anything else training related. I could not ask for more or better support from a vendor.
• I love all the different content options I have. I can use the bare bones basics and simply add questions directly into Axonify, or I can support those questions by building a complex course, video, animation, or even downloading content from the Content exchange directly from Axonify. This means that weather I have a day or a year to prepare content, I have the ability to produce a functional and productive experience for my workforce

Incentivized

• Assign complete learning plans to users so they don't have to spend time searching for courses.
• Export learner's transcripts so managers can easily see their employee's progress.
• Embed Social Media feeds that are relevant to their business.

Incentivized

• Subjects and categories organization system can get a little confusing.
• While there is support for mobile phones, there's not an easy way to test it on mobile devices without deploying it first.
• Lots of options so it can get complex if you just need a straightforward solution.

Incentivized

• Reporting
• Mass importing of manual checks to be issued in California
• Ability to fund pay cards immediately
• Perform gross-up calculations within the payroll system automatically

Incentivized

I have transitioned from a position who supported the product to a position where I use the product. I continue to be impressed with the robustness of the product and how efficient it is. It is a user friendly software that can be used to navigate and accomplish tasks to meet organizational requirements.

Incentivized

Axonify is extremely easy to use, for both employees and managers. The platform is visually appealing, and Axonify offers a number of videos and tutorials for any administration and user functionality. The reporting is also very easy to obtain and review, with the ability to drill down to team and individual results.

Incentivized

I do not find SumTotal to be intuitive. I feel we need to adjust our needs to meet the functionality available in the tool.

Incentivized

Axonify has been great for support. We have a dedicated rep but I have also just posted to the official user boards and gotten feedback as well. Axonify also has a conference every year that is a great way to learn. You can also become certified in Content or Administration with Axonify if you so choose.

Incentivized

We have our own IT support to assist in SumTotal issues, however, we have had to log in cases directly. Support is mediocre at best.

Incentivized

I like the way Axonify provides chunks of information to the learner by overwhelming them by dividing them into bite-size content. The learners don't have a lot of time to give to training, so Axonify has helped has provided just in time training to those teams. It's very much suited to our organization. Axonify is extremely easy to use for both learners and managers. The platform is visually appealing and provides a lot of video-based content to learn the platform for any administrative and user functionality. It is a unique tool in its segment, it meets the requirements that other tools, LMS, or learning libraries don't.

Incentivized

When I came to my company, they had been using a "light" LMS called Articulate. It was cheap and bare bones; i.e. not a lot of features, really just a platform to launch eLearning from and not real interface for student to utilize. When I began to overhaul the training department, this was one of the first things I changed. Articulate would only run courses built in their software, and the software was not 508 compliant. In addition, we had no ability to create learning plans, house transcripts, customize the interface, or manage the students. I made the choice to select and LMS that was a true LMS with all of the features that were critical to our clients' needs. Thus far, SumTotal has been able to support all of our needs, except one; mobile learning that is media rich

Incentivized

• Before, we could not accurately measure if people were really reviewing our monthly safety material or really reading our new policy releases. Now we have nearly 100% compliance.
• Over the past two years since we implemented Axonify, we have seen a decrease of $200,000 in our workers comp annual cost. We expect this trend to continue or stay stable due to a staff that is more aware of safety.
• We maintain our position as a San Francisco and Silicon Valley Best Place to Work due to our high morale and employee engagement level. 99% of our employees engage with Axonify an average of 13x per month. This ranking has made us an leader in affordable housing with some of the best staff members in our industry.

Incentivized

• Clean front-end user interface for easier course catalog management.
• Reporting has been more difficult than previous LMS.
• Audience building has more variables making it more difficult to manage.
• Slower overall client turnaround due to admin side interface.

Incentivized