The State of Sourcing

e-learning has been a service oriented industry since its inception. Indian e-learning service providers have also traditionally taken on offshored custom services from clients, on an ongoing basis or through annual contracts. According to a ValueNotes report, the revenues from this offshoring market are estimated at $341 million for the calendar year 2008. Trends in the industry now suggest that while the offshore services framework may serve as a good strategy for companies in the short term, future growth for Indian e-learning companies will be sustained by a diversification/upgrading of service offerings.

Productizing for alternate revenue streams
ValueNotes research suggests that e-learning providers will most likely go into the learning products business in the future, for domestic as well as international client markets. This is because scalability is achievable to a high degree with such offerings, and providers are able to target specific new audiences with their products (such as B2C products for English language, primary school children; B2B products for sales training, soft skills). For example, Zeus Learning, an e-learning services company, recently launched its product ‘TestFunda.com’, an online/CD ROM based learning courseware delivery platform for CAT aspirants. Companies looking to diversify from their offshoring services model are concentrating more on developing such offerings in the next year.

Continue reading ‘Productization and SaaS as a Strategy for e-learning’ »

This was the heated discussion that took much of the limelight, at the first ever ‘CLO Summit 09‘ held yesterday at the TISS Convention Center, Mumbai, India. The event saw the attendance of Learning and Development heads of many leading companies across the Indian corporate field (including Novartis, Pepsico, Oracle, L&T, IBM, NIIT, HPCL, ONGC, SBI Life Insurance, BPCL and Aditya Birla Group.), as also some domestic e-learning providers. The Chief Guest, Bhaskar Chatterjee (IAS, Secretary, Dept. of Heavy Ind. & Public Ent., Government of India) set the context for the event, by defining what it means to be a ‘CLO’ at an organisation, and the many roles and characteristics that the title assumes. Panel discussions and audience inputs throughout the rest of the Summit then debated these concepts.

LeapVault’s CEO, Kumaar Bagrodia gave his vision for learning in the future, encompassing the principles of change and innovation for competitive advantage. Panel discussions and presentations by eminent corporate representatives discussed topics such as the role of the CLO and L&D in organizations; learning in public sector and non corporate organizations, learning in multicultural environments and the role of Learning in R&D intensive organisations.

Continue reading ‘CLOs: To appoint or not to appoint?’ »

As you may be aware, following the release of the ValueNotes e-learning offshoring report, we held an executive briefing to discuss the key findings with members of the industry, and also to facilitate Indian e-learning buyer-vendor interactions. The result was phenomenal, as Deepali blogged about earlier.

What we didn’t expect was the great response to the ValueNotes industry presentation, an integral part of the event. Since we’re still getting requests, we thought we should share a few of the slides with interested parties in the Indian e-learning space. And what better place to do so than our blog!

Continue reading ‘e-learning outsourcing 2009: Advantage India’ »

This week I’m in the process of applying ValueNotes’ proprietary company rating model to the Indian e-learning outsourcing industry. One of the sub-parameters that companies are being rated on is marketing presence in key client markets, that will illustrate a part of the company’s overall strategic intent.

A quick summative analysis of Indian players reveals that the majority of firms (small ones, these) have at best a few marketing representatives in key markets such as US and UK. While the big boys have set up base and even moved beyond to expand in the Middle East and various parts of Europe, the rest of the industry has a long way to go before it can catch up!

Continue reading ‘Marketing e-learning online’ »

The HRD ministry in India set up a 12-member ’round table on legal education’ this August, and with it, hopes to evolve a brand new approach to legal education in the country, in line with international standards. Among other issues such as encouraging the element of research, the board will recommend ways to improve curriculum design and delivery as well as current examination systems. As TOI reported, jurist N R Madhava Menon, a member of the round table commented, “The current pedagogy of lecture method does not impart skills to train a lawyer. Lawyers need skills for negotiations, intervention and other things that is needed internationally…”

This brings us to the question of how technology, ICT and yes, e-learning could be incorporated to enhance the system’s ‘curriculum design, delivery as well as the examination methods’. There has been little progress in bringing e-learning into the picture in law schools in the country. Fact of the matter is, even internationally, several renowned institutes have been experimenting with various technologies that would improve law students’ learning experiences. To illustrate, the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice has been using Moodle (an open source, self-service course management system) to introduce a range of e-learning elements such as webcasts, podcasts, chatting, MCQs, interactive materials, and of most importance to law schools, portfolios (to train lawyers and as a means of compiling evidence of post-qualification continuing professional development). Some of these functions worked, some didn’t and some are still being researched for future applicability to law students. What’s important is that a lot of investments  are being made (even by government bodies  such as the UK’s UKCLE) to test the boundaries for e-learning in the legal education context. Take a look at this presentation of an experiment by Glasgow Caledonian University in using SecondLife (a 3D virtual world) as a platform for enhancing students’ learning experiences!

Continue reading ‘L'e'gal makeover’ »

All stations are go today as ValueNotes OSP prepares for the e-learning executive briefing, which is going to be held in Mumbai…tomorrow!

Rakhi (from our Sales team, who’s organizing the event) is still getting last minute registrations from panicked delegates who don’t want to miss out! Nandita and Deepali (managers at VN OSP) are busy correcting and preparing me for my presentation (see below), of course along with lighter, fun aspects such as picking the menu for the elaborate lunch scheduled for the event…

Meanwhile, I’m preparing to speak about ValueNotes’ research on e-learning outsourcing. Vivek has been giving me plenty of tips as he’s one event wiser now! My presentation involves an initial discussion around the macro level scenario for e-learning, and the scope for outsourcing within international markets. This would be followed by an evaluation of the competitive standing of India as an e-learning offshoring destination, against other popular countries. I would also cover the market structure for e-learning in the Indian context, and a discussion around the ValueNotes e-learning offshoring market sizing that has been covered extensively by the press! I will also be speaking about some of the trends and insights about the industry that emerged from our study.

Continue reading ‘A briefing for the briefing…’ »

ValueNotes recently got quoted in an article on e-learning by Outlook Money!

The article discusses our market sizing and industry growth figures, and also goes on to argue the reasons behind industry growth. A VN quote includes, “Factors like high number of English-speaking graduates, including specialised talent pools in engineering, IT, management and a relative cost advantage over most other countries were the primary reasons for outsourcing elearning services to India in the initial years. However, the experience, capabilities and relative maturity that Indian service providers have built up over the last decade is driving the industry today.”

On this front, while we believe that industry maturity has intensified in the last 4 years, India is yet perceived as a low-medium value provider in the e-learning space. Most providers have developed service expertise in content solutions, however, this is an area that is becoming more and more commoditized. Industry forerunners that offer high value services including learning consulting, specialized technology solutions, etc. are, however, changing this perception and driving growth. Also, innovation seems to be the hot industry keyword lately . Providers are trying to branch out and develop more innovative products instead of the standard e-learning services (more on this later)… perhaps another reason why Outlook Money agreed with our e-learning industry growth projections?

Continue reading ‘The 'Outlook' for Indian e-learning outsourcing’ »

Over the last month, I’ve noticed two conflicting pieces of news in the learning sphere– while one e-learning network gets taken down in the US (Utah e-learning consortium), another one springs up in Canada (elearnnetwork.ca, Ontario).

Members from the Utah System of Higher Education state that massive budget cuts did not allow them to continue with hosting the network. Also, low response rates were an issue (only 200 students)…maybe the market wasn’t as big as estimated, one source commented. The network in Utah was aimed at helping rural students enroll in courses from multiple universities in the state.

Continue reading ‘Distance learning a “gimmick” for educational institutes?’ »

The outbreak of the H1N1, better known as swine flu, has led schools to close/be suspended in May and June. This has been primarily implemented as a safety precaution, resulting in teachers and students remaining at home indefinitely. However, from the news articles and blogs I’ve been reading, this situation seems to have sparked off a much needed debate in current educational methods. What forms of learning can be made possible for students in the absence of the traditional chalk and board? This may serve as a wake up call for educators worldwide, exposing their learning tech-readiness in light of campuses shutting down. It is no surprise that the schools and colleges that are tech savvy and already have these frameworks in place will face the least pressure from campus closure. Digitized content, distance learning methodologies, and multi-directional online communication would go far in encouraging teachers to keep their students engaged, and learning, even at home.

E-learning service providers and specialists can be expected to pounce on this opportunity, and present their case for the need to include online learning & communication methods in such times.

Continue reading ‘e-learning – the cure to the learning deficiency pandemic?’ »

The new e-learning report released by ValueNotes (more here) places the revenues from the Indian offshoring industry at $341 million in the calendar year 2008, growing at a CAGR of 15% until 2012. Many readers will, however, interpret these numbers differently, and rightly so. We thought we should elaborate on our means of deriving the growth figures especially, given the multitude of plausible arguments and individual projections.

A pertinent blog post by Amit Garg, CEO, Upside Learning (found here) asserts that the industry will grow at a more bullish 25-50% over the next four years, driven by prominent players. Our primary research did throw up companies who have grown and will continue to grow at 50-100% (some even at 300 %!) in the future, but these were in the minority. Several companies, including one of the industry leaders, mentioned that they had static growth in 2008, with a spillover effect expected through 2009 into 2010. Companies mentioned that their clients were delaying buying decisions amidst the recessionary climate. Studies by bodies such as ASTD (2009) also hint at this trend, with fast shrinking resource allocations to training initiatives in the US, the biggest client market for many e-learning providers. Hence we believe the industry growth for India could be slow, at 10-15%, until 2010.

Continue reading ‘Growth in the Indian e-learning offshoring industry’ »