Elearning! Magazine: Building Smarter Companies via Learning & Workplace Technologies.
Issue link: http://elmezine.epubxp.com/i/471607
34 February / March 2015 Elearning! >> Provide another proft center by adding e-commerce to the list of an organiza- tion's capabilities >> Track all fnancial data and integrate it into your fnancial system via accurate measurement >> Reduce training costs for everyone involved while accelerating time to market >> Display available content in an online cata- log without requiring the user to log in LESSONS LEARNED When hosting an EET initiative, it is im- portant to note three key lessons. 1. Listen to customers: Signifcant em- phasis must be placed on adequately understanding customers' needs and building solutions that satisfy those requirements. Customer training may need to address a diverse audience, so it must be designed with customer input to optimize revenue and value. 2. Keep it simple: From the LMS user interface to the ease of on-demand system delivery, organizations should make it simple for customers to access the training. 3. Focus on fexibility and scalability: As an EET program grows and expands, needs will change. So think ahead. For example, working with experienced vendors that has experience in deliver- ing EET domestically and globally will have the ability to guide your organiza- tion through e-commerce challenges related to languages, currencies and international taxes. CONCLUSIONS Extended enterprise learning can both in- crease the bottom line and raise customer satisfaction. An educated value chain is better prepared to support a company in developing, building and delivering a product, and in ofering and supporting the product to the end customer. And, in today's competitive environment, training programs shouldn't stop with a company's internal workforce. Whether the goal is to build a new proft center from existing training programs or drive partner efec- tiveness in selling products, an organiza- tion needs the right technology, content and supporting services. —Catherine Upton conducts branded re- search for the Elearning! Media Group. Jerry Roche is executive editor. To access the free E-learning User Study: www.2elearning. com/resources/research-white-papers extended enterprise training Fig. 4 - EET by Company Size 5% 23% 9% 22% 41% Over 100,000 10,000- 99,999 5,000- 9,999 1,000-4,999 Under 500 Social networks Wikis, blogs or forums Video LMS, enterprise Learning management System (LMS), Cloud Mobile learning Off-the-shelf content Collaborative workspace Online university content Gamification Fig. 5 - Solutions Deployed for EET 0 10 20 30 4 0 5 0 Delivering Content to a Spectrum of Audiences To support multiple external audiences, organizations can create an open Web portal as a public entrance into the LMS where users can access a partial or complete online course catalog, making it easy for organizations to deliver online content to the various audiences. Additionally, via some advanced LMS's, administrators can generate widget pages and HTML pages on the fy and easily add them into the system navigation. This provides a customized portal for specifc segments of users, putting relevant information at their fn- gertips. And while each user experience can be unique, organizations can still manage knowledge assets, reporting and analytics across the entire system. Perhaps the most important beneft of de- veloping and delivering information to audi- ences outside your organization is improving communication and productivity with those external "partners" and shareholders. You also provide consistent training, education and enablement to all those people on a 24/7 basis, 365 days a year if necessary. That, in turn, can eliminate excess training costs while accelerating time-to-market. Simplifying Procurement Learning@Cisco, a past Learning! 100 award-winner, uses its Learning Credits Program as a way to simplify training procurement, enabling customers to: >> Identify training requirements. >> Develop a training plan. >> Purchase training in the form of credits that provide access to high- quality, authorized training delivered by participating Cisco Learning Part- ners and Cisco Learning Solutions Partners worldwide. >> Integrate hardware, software, ser- vices and training. >> Strengthen the linkage of training as an integral and indispensable piece of the networking solution purchase. >> Encourage discussion about training needs at the point of technology pur- chase instead of as an afterthought. CiscoLearning Partners and Cisco Learning Solutions Partners have access to Cisco labs, simulations and the latest products. Participating Cisco Learning Partners ofer a training needs assess- ment to help their customers identify training needs and develop training plans.