The Most Important Difference Between a Vendor and a Partner Isn’t Product Features

Nursing programs face mounting pressure to retain more students, improve NCLEX pass rates, hold on to overworked faculty, and graduate more nurses who are ready for today’s increasingly complex practice settings. 

When evaluating partners to help meet these demands, comparing products, features and pricing is unlikely to yield the information that truly matters. Why?

It doesn’t go deep enough.

Why Partnership Matters: The Difference Between What is Delivered and What Happens Afterward

At the product level, educational resources can appear similar. The most important distinction often emerges after implementation begins.

• How will faculty and students be onboarded and supported?
• What expertise will be available?
• Who is accountable for helping the program navigate change, respond to new priorities, and make the most of its investment?

Next to product features and pricing is what you really need to know: Whether a partner has the expertise, support, evidence, and technology to help your program achieve its goals consistently over time.

Nursing programs do not simply purchase products. They establish partnerships that influence faculty workflows, consistent implementation, student support, and the ability to use program resources to help achieve desired outcomes. At the center of all of these is the service model.

A true education partner provides more than technical assistance. It provides tangible program support from experienced professionals who help faculty implement resources, connect leaders with specialized expertise, and stay engaged as institutional needs evolve.

This article provides guidance to help nursing deans, directors and educators distinguish which vendor can provide the high-touch, high-result partnership that supports long-term program success.

Which Company Provides Accountable Support From Experienced Nurse Educators?

For deans and directors, one of the most consequential questions is also one of the simplest: Who is accountable when our program needs help?

Routine resource questions may be resolved through a conventional support channel. But program-level concerns need more. Curriculum evaluation, accreditation preparation, simulation planning, faculty development, and NCLEX readiness require specialized knowledge and attention.

Educators and program leaders should not have to navigate a rotating queue, contact multiple departments, or repeatedly explain their institution’s goals. They should have a consistent relationship with someone who understands the program and can connect its leaders and faculty with the right expertise — quickly.

Programs that partner with ATI receive a dedicated account manager supported by teams including:

• Expert nurse educators who deliver precise guidance for faculty and students
• Integration experts who provide structured onboarding and product training
• Technology experts who respond rapidly and take action.¹

The support services provided by ATI are so impactful that year after year, faculty customer surveys document a service satisfaction rate of 98%.²

Program leaders also praise the ATI service model:

“It’s easy to judge a company by the efficacy of its outcomes. It’s not easy to judge a company by the level of their customer service,” said Patrick Robinson, PhD, ACRN, CNE, RN, ANEF, FAAN, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Pacific College of Health & Science. “Whether you’re trying to figure out how to fit a product into your curriculum or trying to figure out how to leverage a product to a higher degree to reach your outcomes, it’s all there for you with ATI.”

The ATI service model provides an accountable relationship that simultaneously gives programs access to expertise for needs that extend beyond technical use questions. Academic programs should expect nothing less when their decisions affect faculty, student and program outcomes.

Accountability is often the first indication of whether an institution has purchased a product or established a partnership. Product relationships focus primarily on access to resources. Partnership relationships provide ongoing access to expertise, guidance, and support as institutional needs evolve.

Which Company Delivers Proactive Guidance, not Simply Reactive Support?

Many support models trigger action when something goes wrong: A faculty member encounters a problem or identifies a concern, or an administrator submits a request and then waits for assistance.

Responsive service is always important, but program support should not depend entirely on the institution identifying every need and initiating every conversation.

ATI provides ongoing program monitoring that enables ATI’s cadre of 850 educators³ to anticipate needs, identify risks, and initiate timely outreach. Rather than serving as a ticket queue, the model helps programs address concerns before they become more difficult to manage.

For deans and directors, ATI’s proactive approach provides another layer of program oversight. It helps leaders recognize when additional guidance, training or specialist support may be useful. For faculty, timely outreach can reduce the burden of diagnosing a problem, locating the correct resource, and determining who to contact.

Educators and program directors commonly report that ATI’s proactive support is a distinct advantage for their institutions.

“The reason I know we’ve been more successful with ATI products is the support that we receive,” said Belinda Fuller, MSN, BSN, ADN, a nursing instructor at Gadsden Community College. “It is amazing to think that ATI could care as much about our student success as we do, but they do.”

Fuller’s experience illustrates a central distinction between product support and program support. Product support answers questions about a resource. Program support remains invested in helping the institution use that resource successfully.

Nursing programs deserve a partner that remains engaged, initiates useful conversations, and helps faculty and leaders respond before a manageable concern becomes a larger challenge.

Which Company Provides Structured Implementation That Addresses Every Concern and Question?

Implementing new educational resources can create uncertainty even when the underlying technology is intuitive. Common swirling questions include:

• What happens first?  Who needs training? How will students be oriented?
• Where does the resource belong in the curriculum? Which reports should faculty use?
• What assistance can we continue to receive after launch?

Without a clear roadmap, implementation can vary across courses. Faculty may be left alone to develop their own approaches. This incompleteness and inconsistency can make it difficult to establish shared expectations or determine whether the institution is getting value from its investment.

ATI’s onboarding services includes curriculum integration, product training, and faculty and student orientation customized to program goals and preferences. The service model also includes specialist-led training to build confidence in using ATI tools, reports and dashboards.

The objective is not simply to make a resource available. It is to give faculty a defined, distinct path for putting that resource to work.

After the initial rollout, structured implementation remains within quick reach. Faculty responsibilities change, new educators are hired, and institutional priorities evolve. Ongoing coaching, product training, integration guidance, and faculty development help programs sustain product adoption because ATI does not treat implementation as a one-time event.

When an education partner establishes clear expectations and remains involved beyond launch, faculty can devote less time to making sense of steps and processes and more time using the resources effectively.

Which Company Embeds Peer-Led Support Within the Institution?

External experts bring valuable perspective, but nursing programs also benefit from peers who understand their institution’s workflows, faculty needs and implementation goals.

Without an internal resource, day-to-day questions may be handled inconsistently. Knowledge delivered during initial training can become fragmented, particularly as new faculty join or new functionality becomes available. In addition, deans and directors may find themselves serving as the default escalation point for issues that could be addressed more efficiently by a trained faculty colleague.

ATI addresses this need through the ATI Champions program. ATI Champions are trained faculty and staff who provide on-campus guidance, support implementation, share effective practices, and help colleagues adopt ATI innovations. Approximately 6,000 ATI Champions are serving in 74% of academic nursing programs to support faculty and student success.⁴ 

“Having an ATI Champion on site sets the tone for acceptance of ATI tools by both faculty and students,” said Joy Shoemaker, DNP, CNP, a longtime nurse educator at Otterbein University. “We have seen immediate results, with first-time pass rates moving from 69% to 88%. Former students are now advising current students to use ATI.”

Peer-led support gives faculty an accessible source of guidance and helps program leaders promote more consistent implementation. It also builds internal capacity. Instead of leaving all expertise outside the institution, ATI Champions enable programs to develop trusted faculty resources who can reinforce training, share practical knowledge, and connect colleagues with additional ATI support when needed.

This approach is more than product assistance. It is an investment in a program’s ability to sustain its hard work and progress.

The ATI Champions program reflects ATI’s partnership approach to support. Rather than limiting expertise to external contacts, it helps cultivate knowledge and leadership within the institution itself.

Which Company Provides Reliable, Reachable Human Assistance When it Matters Most?

Technology and artificial intelligence have widespread utility in nursing education and all types of customer service, but the need for human response continues to be imperative.

When it’s not resolved efficiently, a pressing question about exam access, proctoring, account verification, login credentials, scheduling, transcripts, scores, registration, or payment can disrupt the day. During a time-sensitive assessment, even a routine issue can create stress and alarm.

Reliable human support should be a basic expectation, not an added benefit. Faculty should be able to reach assistance quickly and trust that the person responding can address the issue or provide an appropriate escalation path.

ATI provides timely multichannel access to experts who quickly respond to needs ranging from routine questions to high-stakes proctoring support. This human-centered approach helps provide service continuity while connecting faculty and students with assistance when they need it.

Reliable assistance also reflects a broader partnership commitment. When questions arise, nursing programs should be confident they can reach knowledgeable professionals who understand the importance of timely resolution and continuity of service.

Which Company Provides Program Support That Extends Across the Nursing Education Journey?

The value of an education solution is shaped by more than its features, content or reports. It is also built by the expertise and guidance that help faculty and students use those resources effectively.

This is the difference between product support and program support.

ATI’s service model provides:

• Onboarding
• Integration
• Product training
• Faculty development
• Peer-led support
• NCLEX prep services
• Customer support
• Consulting services.

A strong education partner invests in and coordinates with partner programs to ensure they have access to the expertise, guidance and support needed throughout the life of the relationship.

This continuity is what separates a product relationship from a true program partnership. Product relationships are often defined by what is delivered. Partnership relationships are defined by what happens afterward.

The strongest education partners remain engaged as institutional needs evolve. They help programs navigate change, connect with expertise, strengthen implementation, and maximize the value of their educational resources over time.

High-Stakes Academic Programs Need High-Touch Support

Nursing education leaders make daily decisions that affect faculty effectiveness, student success, program outcomes, and institutional priorities. These decisions deserve more than a product demonstration followed by access to a support queue.

Academic programs should expect a partner to:

• provide a clear point of accountability
• bring deep nursing education expertise to the relationship
• reach out proactively
• guide implementation
• develop support within the institution
• provide access to real people when assistance is needed.

When faculty are stretched thin and program-level decisions carry significant consequences, product support alone is not enough. Nursing programs should not have to settle for unclear ownership, reactive service, inconsistent implementation, or assistance that disappears after launch.

Ultimately, the question is not simply what a product can do. It is what a partner can help a program achieve.

High-stakes nursing programs need high-touch support. The strongest education partners do more than stand behind their products. They stand beside the programs using them.

References

1. ATI. Performance data for ATI Client Care team, January-December 2025.
2. ATI. Faculty user surveys, 2025-2026.
3. ATI. In August 2025, 150 nurse educators work directly with faculty and 700 nurse educators work directly with students. 
4. ATI. ATI Champions program data, August 2026.

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