When your learning platform supports thousands of employees, external partners, and multiple enablement teams, all with their own content, processes, and priorities, keeping it reliable and consistent is no small feat.
For Datadog, it was clear they needed to move away from a reactive approach to LMS management and create a governance strategy that reduced chaos, protected data integrity, and built confidence in the system.
So, what did they do? They set up a structured, transparent, and collaborative framework that won Datadog the Best Platform Governance Strategy award at Docebo Inspire 2025.
In a recent webinar, Datadog’s Learning Technology Manager, Victor Serna, and Learning Technology Specialist, Avery Grammell, walked us through how they built a governance process that cut support tickets by nearly a third, improved cross-functional collaboration, and enabled changes at scale.
Moving from reactive fixes to proactive governance
With over 6,500 employees and a growing base of external partners using their learning platform “Bits of Learning,” Datadog’s two-person LMS admin team (Victor and Avery) was fielding a constant stream of support tickets.
The root cause?
- Features were deployed straight to production without proper testing
- There were inconsistent processes for change management
- Data integrity issues affected reporting and compliance
“Our approach to managing our LMS was very reactive,” Serna explained. “We didn’t have a lot of processes in place to manage change. We needed a new way of governance for our product.”
So they went to work. “We moved away from a reactive approach, to a proactive one,” Verna said. Datadog’s new approach centered on three main goals:
- Minimize learner disruption
- Control platform access
- Maintain data integrity
And they achieved these goals through a seven-week release cycle for Docebo platform updates, which they organized using the project management platform Jira. This release cycle was based on five core pillars:
- Sandbox first: New features are released into a test environment.
- High-level assessment: The LMS team evaluates impact and risks.
- Cross-functional review: Enablement teams provide feedback via Jira cards.
- Decision point: Features are either deployed to production or added to a backlog for future review.
- Readiness work: Training materials, newsletters, and documentation are updated before launch.
This structure has delivered measurable results, including an impressive 30% reduction in support tickets. Most importantly, collaboration increased between teams.
“People feel more confident in our deployments and using the system,” Verna added. “And we learned that a proactive approach is much better than a reactive one.”
Governance at scale: Automating change with APIs
But creating a process for governance just scratches the surface. You also need to think about scale. How do you go about that?
At Datadog, automation makes large-scale changes efficient and painless for enablement teams. One standout example: using the Docebo API with Google Apps Script to batch-create or update thousands of courses in minutes.
“We have been using the Docebo API to make changes a lot quicker than having someone open up thousands of courses and make changes manually,” Avery explained. She first learned about the API at Inspire and, with help from ChatGPT, set up a Google Apps Script in Google Sheets that made the process even easier.
The results?
- No more opening hundreds of tabs to edit course settings
- Built-in validation before changes go live
- Ability to push updates to sandbox or production environments
They’ve applied this approach to everything from updating course properties to reorganizing content folders, saving hours of manual work and reducing human error. Avery does mention that it’s best to always try it in a sandbox environment first.
Taking governance further with data visibility
Datadog also invested in LearnData, connecting Docebo’s backend data to their own Snowflake instance. This integration allows them to:
- Build custom dashboards in Tableau and Metabase
- Monitor missing or outdated course fields (e.g., duration for compliance)
- Flag issues proactively instead of discovering them during audits
- Combine LMS data with HR or business system data for deeper insights
As Serna put it, “Datadog is built on monitoring data, so this seems natural for us. We’re applying the same principle into our learning environment.”
Datadog’s lessons for L&D leaders on governance
From Datadog’s journey, four takeaways stand out:
- Involve stakeholders early: Engage program owners in reviews and recommendations to build trust and shared ownership.
- Automate at scale: Use APIs to reduce manual work and increase consistency.
- Monitor proactively: Build reporting that flags risks before they impact learners.
- Leverage your ingenuity: You don’t need fancy tools. Be creative with the ones you have.
“Utilize the tools at your disposal, even if it’s not Jira, like a Google sheet, Excel. Utilize whatever you have at your disposal to keep yourself organized,” said Avery of a big takeaway from orchestrating governance at Datadog.
Since implementing their governance framework, Datadog has not only reduced tickets but also created a platform their learners, admins, and stakeholders trust.
Up next: Scaling Learning Sideways with Patagonia
Scaling Learning Sideways: Empowering Patagonia’s Distributed L&D
📅 Tuesday, August 19, 2025 — 11:00 AM–12:00 PM EST
In today’s dynamic business landscape, agility and adaptability are paramount. But what happens when your traditional Learning & Development team is restructured, and responsibility for learning is distributed across the organization?
Join us for a candid conversation with a learning leader from Patagonia, a company renowned for its unique culture and commitment to its values. You’ll hear how they’ve embraced a “scale sideways” approach—empowering internal power users and subject matter experts to drive learning initiatives without a centralized L&D department.
See it all come together at Inspire 2026
These conversations are just the beginning. At Inspire 2026 in Miami, you’ll connect with hundreds of L&D, HR, and Customer Education leaders, swap stories with peers, and walk away with action plans you can put into practice immediately.
📍 Fontainebleau, Miami
📅 April 20-22, 2026Join the Inspire 2026 Waitlist for early access to event updates, registration perks, and exclusive content.
