Published
Author
For many years, Saba – distributed in Sweden as Visma Talent – has been an established part of the HR landscape in both the public and private sectors. The platform has been particularly used in the public sector to manage regulatory and digital learning, administer training, and support employee development through goals, development discussions, and skills mapping. Now that Saba is facing discontinuation as a standalone product, customers are being offered migration to Cornerstone Galaxy. But the question is whether this should be viewed as a technical migration – or as a strategic turning point. A turning point where the organisation does not just decide how to migrate, but whether to migrate at all – and how the future architecture for HR tech and learning should actually look.
Following a vendor migration can be the right decision. But it can also be the right opportunity to reconsider goals, needs, the HR tech landscape and the strategic direction for competence supply and learning.
Cornerstone OnDemand has, through several strategic acquisitions in recent years, built the offering now called Cornerstone Galaxy. For a long time, the message was that the product portfolio and all products would continue to be developed. One of these products, Saba, has been sold in Sweden via Visma Talent Solutions (now EHRA Talent Solutions) under the product name Visma Talent. In autumn 2025, the then Visma Talent Solutions informed its customers that the Saba product would be phased out and that customers were offered migration to Cornerstone Galaxy over the next two years. Shortly after this announcement, the first change occurred when Saba’s customer portal, used by Visma Talent’s customers, was merged with Cornerstone Learning’s customer portal.
As an existing EHRA Talent Solutions customer, one should pause and reflect on what the discontinuation of Saba as a product means for the overall HR process support and what effect it has on one’s own organisation’s HR tech landscape. A traditional upgrade means that working methods and processes largely remain the same while functionality is modernised. The move to Cornerstone Galaxy is more comprehensive and should be handled accordingly.
Cornerstone Galaxy is based on a modernised platform architecture where AI support, automation and a more explicit skills-based model are central components. The platform is designed to integrate learning, mobility and other talent processes to a greater extent in a cohesive user experience. This means that existing configurations, integrations and processes may need to be restructured to fully benefit from the platform’s logic. The question is therefore not only technical – it largely concerns how the organisation structures competence, learning and governance going forward. This in turn means that such a migration is more than a system decision - it is a strategic choice for the HR tech landscape.
When the change is set in a strategic context, two aspects become particularly clear. Firstly, the time window is narrower than it may seem. 2027 may seem distant, but in the public sector analysis and decision-making need to start well in advance. Major system changes often take 12–18 months from decision to stable operation.
Secondly, the decision is not primarily about how the migration should be carried out, but about what the organisation wants to achieve in learning and competence supply. Should Cornerstone Galaxy be seen as a natural successor where existing processes are basically recreated? Or is this an opportunity to reconsider how learning is linked to business goals, competence needs and future staffing? At a time when skills shortages are one of the biggest strategic challenges, learning is no longer a support process. It is a tool for governance, internal mobility and long-term competence supply.
The Saba phase-out is not an isolated event. The HR system market is in a clear consolidation phase where vendors are concentrating development efforts on more integrated platforms. At the same time, we see broader HCM vendors with integrated support for learning, competence and talent increasingly positioning themselves in the public sector. This changes the conditions and the question of Cornerstone Galaxy is therefore not just a learning issue – it concerns how payroll, workforce management, competence data and learning should be connected in a long-term sustainable architecture.
Needs in the organisation may also have changed since Saba was introduced. Learning today is not just about administering training and following up on mandatory courses. It is about enabling internal mobility, supporting reskilling and upskilling, identifying skills gaps and linking learning to the strategic goals of the business.
When learning and competence functionality take major steps through AI initiatives in broader HCM platforms, the question arises whether the organisation wants to continue with separate specialist solutions – or whether it is time to build a more cohesive core where competence and data are integrated from the start. From this perspective, migration becomes a choice about how the organisation wants to work with competence in the coming years.
Without a clear learning and HR IT strategy, there is a risk that the organisation acts reactively: the migration is carried out, operations are secured and the working methods continue mostly unchanged. This is safe – but it can also cement an administrative view of learning and, in the worst case, result in a solution that is too costly in relation to actual needs. Several organisations I have supported emphasise that internal mobility and support for reskilling and upskilling are central processes in a future system solution. The ability to identify skills gaps, match employees to new roles and support transitions within the organisation are crucial for long-term sustainability. A modern platform, such as Cornerstone Galaxy, can be a powerful support in this work – but only if the organisation has a clear view of which competences are strategically critical, how skills should be defined and tracked, and how competence data should be used in governance. Otherwise, even advanced functions risk becoming isolated tools without real impact. The real choice lies at the intersection of learning-strategy and HR architecture.
Vendor-driven changes are rarely easy – but they can become an opportunity. And at the same time, the difference between being moved and steering your own move is crucial. The question is therefore not just IF or WHEN you should migrate, but HOW you use this opportunity to strengthen your learning strategy, your internal mobility and your long-term competence supply. If done reactively, it becomes a system project. If done with clear direction, it can become a strategic investment that creates long-term value for the business, managers and employees.
