Brunel Transforms a Fragmented LMS into a Scalable, Data-Driven Global Learning Platform with Totara

Brunel is a global staffing and consulting organisation operating in over 45 countries, supporting more than 1,500 internal employees and thousands of specialists worldwide.

To enable learning across this international workforce, Brunel uses Totara Learn as its central learning platform.

The Challenge

After nearly 10 years of use, Brunel’s learning platform no longer aligned with the organisation’s global structure and ambitions. Years of organisational changes and inconsistent data management resulted in inaccurate user profiles, unreliable reporting and limited regional segmentation. At peak, the system generated over 5,000 HR data errors per day, making it impossible to trust reporting or automate processes. User experience was poor, which reduced engagement and limited learning adoption across the organisation.

The Solution

In collaboration with Totara Partner Courseware, Brunel chose to rebuild the platform from the ground up. The new Totara Learn environment focused on clean data, scalability and usability. A full data clean-up was carried out globally, followed by the implementation of multi-tenancy to enable regional ownership.

The user experience was redesigned with a clean interface and onboarding guidance. Improved HR integrations and structured data fields enabled automation and accurate reporting. The platform was repositioned as the Brunel Academy, strengthening its strategic role in the organisation.

The Result

The transformation delivered clear, measurable improvements:

• Data errors reduced by >99% (from ~5,000+ daily errors to near zero)
• 100% reliable reporting, enabling accurate completion tracking and compliance insights
• Significant time savings: manual enrolment and reporting tasks reduced by an estimated 60–80%
• Faster implementation: full rebuild completed in approximately 9 months
• Increased platform adoption, with clear growth in voluntary usage beyond mandatory training
• Improved scalability: platform now supports global structure across 45+ countries
• Enhanced manager autonomy: regional teams now independently access and use reporting dashboards
• Increased business demand: new initiatives such as a global Sales Academy launched as a direct result
• The organisation moved from an unreliable, high-maintenance system to a scalable, data-driven learning platform that actively supports business growth.