The State of Sourcing

Through much discussion and debate, the Apple iPad seems to have held its own, when it came to university implementation. Whether the goal was to enhance campus communication, replace textbooks, introduce new learning approaches in the classroom, or promote informal learning, the iPad seems to have clicked with higher education, in the first quarter of its release. We’re hearing of more and more faculty/depts. experimenting with ways to leverage the technology to suit their varied learning requirements, be it at law schools, medical schools, engineering students, or business related content/app development.

So what was the reaction from the corporate learning segment? Here’s a couple of noteworthy initiatives that have reached mainstream online discussion.

Continue reading ‘Why isn’t the corporate learning community excited about the iPad?’ »

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?’ »