Elearning! Magazine: Building Smarter Companies via Learning & Workplace Technologies.
Issue link: http://elmezine.epubxp.com/i/430475
Elearning! December 2014 / January 2015 43 Tips Tips LMS Since the mid-2000s and prob- ably earlier, highly motivated business units have been buying, launching and managing their own I.T. systems and applica- tions. Tese rogue applications became known as "shadow I.T.," because they exist and function outside the control and consent of a centralized I.T. organization. Te standard centralized training organization faces similar disruption from busi- ness units delivering training solutions outside of its consent and control: "shadow learning." Tere are very good business reasons why shadow I.T. grew beyond what the traditional I.T. department could handle. As is the case with shadow learning. Here are a few reasons for the shadow phenomena, and how it is extend- ing the learning industry and becoming an acceptable practice within companies worldwide: 1 BOTTLENECKS VER- SUS 'GET IT DONE!' Learning projects must be priori- tized, with more and more depart- ments requiring L&D; to create more customized courses and learning content. In today's busi- ness climate, the value of moving faster with existing digital content and easily created assessments ofen outweighs the benefts of the slow, traditional course develop- ment process. Not only that, but new SaaS platforms like Litmos allow for quick application acquisi- tion with a credit card and enables deploying learning to thousands in minutes, not months. Speed and ease of use are game-changers, bringing huge value to the individual depart- ments that are just trying to meet the rapidly changing needs of the business by quickly releas- ing training to the learners in the feld. Te new Cloud-based platforms are enabling every de- partment in each organization to realize real savings while continu- ally investing in their workforce, reducing ramp-up timelines, and better aligning messaging across all channels. 2 TALENT MANAGE- MENT AND LEARNING SYSTEMS CONSOLIDA- TION: WHO OWNS TRAINING NOW? As talent management and learning management vendors continue to consolidate, a mas- sive vacuum is created, causing questions of who actually "owns" learning. With learning becom- ing a competitive advantage, we now see how diferent depart- ments can beneft from support- ing their unique training needs. For example, customer training departments moving from class- room to digital should not have to work with HR to build customer training. And how about sales enablement and training situ- ations where sales reps have to be kept abreast of latest product features in order to prepare them for customer scenario? In all of these examples, it would be much simpler and more efective for the department to own, rapidly cre- ate, and roll out training without the oversight of a centralized training organization like that with a HR department. 3 LEGACY PLATFORMS VERSUS CONSUMER- IZED APPS Traditional technology platforms have been focused on the admin user and management reporting, not on the end user. Business users expect a modern, agile, easy-to-use ap- plication with an efortless user experience. Additionally, as the workforce is changing, systems that allow quick and easy access to training and content anytime and anywhere is paramount. While legacy systems require VPN-based logins and cater to the administrator, modern learning management platforms like Litmos focus on the user. Tis perspective favors quick access to training, ease of use, mobile enablement, and driving user adoption and engagement while providing rapid rollouts. But it also supports the needs of admins and managers with real time reporting and other admin- istrative functions that support the training function. For years, learning has been reserved for selected topics and departments, leaving the rest of your business to simply com- municate via emails and ad hoc meetings. Litmos ofers an innovative and intuitive solution that res- cues companies from outdated learning mediums. It places the learner experience and administrative agility at the forefront. —More info: www.litmos.com De-centralization and Shadow Learning Customer Success Customer Learning Sales Partners Employee Training