Compliance under control – even for externals? How to take pressure off your SAP LMS

In regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals, energy, aviation, and medical technology, comprehensive documentation of training courses has long been part of everyday business. But pressure is also mounting in less regulated areas: legislators, certification bodies, and supervisory authorities are increasingly demanding structured proof of the qualifications of all employees—including external staff such as temporary workers, supplier teams, and freelancers.

This is where modern learning management systems (LMS) come into play. In the SAP world, this is particularly true of SAP SuccessFactors Learning – a powerful tool for planning, implementing, and documenting training measures. But as powerful as the solution is, its daily operation ties up valuable resources in the HR IT team – especially when external target groups need to be integrated, which is both technically complex and costly under the licensing model.

This is exactly where business process outsourcing (BPO) comes into play – as a smart, scalable response to growing requirements, increasing complexity, and limited internal capacities.

The training has been completed – but the documentation is missing from the LMS. What appears to be a minor formality can have serious consequences: lack of auditability, contractual penalties or, in the worst case, the loss of important certifications. This is particularly challenging when it comes to external employees.

Traditional HR processes often don't work here: Who is responsible for onboarding? How are mandatory training courses initiated? And how can successful completion be verified? In practice, these questions often remain unanswered – or they are so complex that consistent implementation fails. At the same time, HR and IT teams are under heavy pressure: new legal requirements, digital projects, data protection requirements – the list is long. Maintaining the LMS quickly falls by the wayside. Training plans become outdated, attendance lists are incomplete, compliance reports are incomplete – with potentially high risks. There is a gap between aspiration and reality.

But this gap also offers opportunities. Companies that set up their training management efficiently, legally compliant, and scalable not only ensure compliance – they also gain a strategic advantage. This is exactly where BPO comes in.

What if your training management ran reliably—without you having to constantly chase after it? That's exactly what business process outsourcing (BPO) enables in the SAP SuccessFactors Learning environment.

With BPO, certain processes or tasks are outsourced to external, specialized service providers. In the context of learning management systems, this can mean, for example:

• the systematic creation and maintenance of courses and curricula,
• the initiation and monitoring of mandatory training,
• the assignment of learning content to target groups,
• the tracking of training status – even for external participants,
• or the creation of meaningful compliance reports for internal or external audits.

The big advantage: Your internal HR IT team is relieved of this burden and can concentrate on strategic issues, while at the same time ensuring maximum accuracy, reliability, and timeliness in the LMS. You gain flexibility without compromising on quality.

Sounds like giving up control? On the contrary: you retain control, define the rules of the game, and receive regular, valid data and reports. Good BPO partners don't just work “any old way,” but precisely in line with your internal guidelines, processes, and compliance requirements. The result: more clarity, more verifiability, less risk.

This brings major advantages, especially when working with external employees. Outsourcing partners often bring standardized processes that are specifically tailored to the integration of external personnel. This reduces sources of error, shortens onboarding times, and ensures that no training falls by the wayside.

And there's something else that shouldn't be underestimated: expertise. BPO service providers in the SAP SuccessFactors environment deal with the intricacies of the system on a daily basis. They know which functions are best suited, how workflows can be optimized, and how even complex requirements can be elegantly mapped. In short, they turn a tool into a functioning system.

A medium-sized financial institution is facing a challenge: The new EU Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) will come into force in 2025. The aim is to strengthen the digital resilience of financial companies, particularly with regard to their external IT service providers.

In concrete terms, this means that third parties such as cloud providers, IT consultants, and security service providers must also be verifiably trained in company-specific requirements relating to cybersecurity, emergency processes, reporting obligations, and more.

But how can a company ensure that every external person has been trained in a timely, complete, and audit-proof manner? And how can this be efficiently integrated into an existing LMS such as SAP SuccessFactors without the workload for the internal team exploding?

The solution: business process outsourcing. An external partner takes over the management of DORA-relevant learning processes. This includes, for example, assigning the right courses to specific external roles, monitoring learning progress, and creating verification dashboards for internal controls and external audits.

The result: clear processes, complete documentation, and an HR team that can continue to focus on its core tasks.

Getting started doesn't have to be a mammoth project. Many companies start in a specific area, such as mapping external training measures in the context of new regulations. Step by step, additional processes can then be transferred and scaled.

It is important to get internal stakeholders on board early on – from HR and IT to the legal or compliance department. Clear roles, clear goals, clear roadmap.

The bottom line? BPO in the SAP SuccessFactors learning environment is not a panacea. But when designed correctly, it can be exactly the missing piece of the puzzle – for greater reliability, greater efficiency, and more breathing room for what really matters: the development of your employees.