Talented Learning’s Greatest Hits – 2019 Edition

It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone, let alone another decade!

I’m not one to dwell on the past. But I do believe the past can inform the future. So before we move on, I invite you to join me in revisiting this year’s most popular topics in extended enterprise learning.

What Topics Were Most Popular in Extended Enterprise Learning?

The world is likely to remember 2019 for dramatic political plot twists, news headlines and cultural trends. But I’m more interested in top takeaways from business-minded learning professionals.

What mattered most to you? We think your content choices are excellent indicators.

If you follow Talented Learning, you know we share information and advice through multiple channels. In addition to publishing weekly blog posts, we also produce monthly webinars and regular podcast interviews with experts from across the extended enterprise learning realm.

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Which topics drew the most attention this year? Below, we’ve listed top contenders from each of our three content channels. There’s also a bonus section featuring our all-time most popular posts.

We hope you’ll find this “greatest hits” list useful as you frame next-steps in your organization’s learning strategy.

And as you look for forward-thinking guidance in 2020, stay tuned for more from us in the coming weeks and months!

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Top 3 Podcasts of 2019

Two years ago, we launched our podcast series, “The Talented Learning Show“ for convenient access to one-on-one conversations with leading learning technology innovators and practitioners. Of the 15 episodes we produced this year, these three sessions attracted the most listeners:

#3  Interpreting Global eLearning Trends – with Donald H. Taylor

Every year, one of the world’s best-known organizational learning experts, Donald H. Taylor publishes an analysis of his Global L&D Sentiment Survey – a must-read for anyone who cares about the direction of corporate learning technology adoption.

In this interview, Don drills down on highlights from the 2019 results. He also looks at key trends revealed by this research and discusses the implications for learning organizations around the world.

#2  Why Corporations Choose Open Source Learning Systems – with Brian Carlson

Numbers don’t lie. And they’re definitely telling us that open source learning platforms like Moodle and Totara are wildly popular, compared to commercial solutions. But what exactly is driving this success? And why is open source gaining momentum as a foundation for extended enterprise learning?

Listen as Brian Carlson, CEO of eThink Education, explains. Brian is a pioneer in open source learning solutions who has been involved with this movement almost from its inception nearly 20 years ago.

#1  What Makes Microlearning Work – with Karl Kapp

Microlearning is a popular buzzword. But what exactly does it mean? Why is it a valuable methodology? And how can learning professionals develop truly effective microlearning experiences?

Author, professor and perpetual fan favorite, Dr. Karl Kapp, makes it easy to understand in this free-wheeling Q&A session.

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Top 3 Webinars of 2019

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As soon as we finish our monthly live webinar events, we post the recordings in the Talented Learning Center – a free library of low-hype, high-value, on-demand resources.

All sessions are designed for business-minded training professionals who want to use learning systems more effectively.

To sample our webinars, try three of this year’s most popular sessions:

#3  How to Spark High-Impact Skills Development

In today’s economy, how can organizations attract and retain the best talent? Find out how to build a competitive edge with a culture of continuous learning that lasts. Join skills development experts as they share proven methodologies and discuss real-world successes.

#2  Association Learning Tech Innovation: Reality vs. Hype

Digital breakthroughs like AI, VR and AR are capturing headlines and imaginations everywhere. But what do innovative technologies mean for continuing education providers operating in the real world? Take a closer look from the front lines of the association learning solutions space.

#1  Bridging the Learning Analytics Gap

Educational content providers have long sought better ways to link learning behavior with business performance. But even with today’s most innovative measurement tools, decision-makers struggle to find enough time and expertise to generate useful insights.

How can you bridge this critical gap? Learn how a guided services approach is making a measurable difference.

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Top 3 Blog Posts of 2019

Blogging was our first form of outreach – and our commitment to this blog remains stronger than ever. When people like you take time to read and respond to our posts, it helps us better understand how learning technology actually fits into the business world. Interestingly, two of these posts were actually published before 2019. Regardless, here are this year’s most popular topics:

#3  Best Customer Education Blogs – 25 Must-Reads for Learning Professionals

Companies everywhere are striving to gain a competitive edge by improving their customer experience. As a result, interest in customer education is skyrocketing.

But with so many voices in the burgeoning customer learning space, where should you look for credible advice about strategies, technologies and business practices? Check our collection of resources from some of the best minds in the industry!

#2  Customer Training Pricing and Packaging – What’s the Best Strategy?

Customer education is all the rage – and with good reason. But successful programs depend on effective pricing and packaging.

What kind of model works best with your particular product or service? And how much should you charge for optimal results? Read this post to understand and compare popular approaches.

#1  Top Learning Systems Trends 2019 – An Extended Enterprise Market Guide

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Hands-down, every year our most popular posts focus on top learning technology trends.

Although we don’t pretend to forecast the future, we do share first-hand observations about factors that are shaping the extended enterprise learning market. And we do it with a fiercely independent perspective.

As you prepare for the year ahead, consider the key trends we outlined early in 2019. How many of these are already influencing the learning experiences you offer? And going forward, what kind of role should they play?

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BONUS: Top Blog Posts of All Time

With 6 years of blogging under our belts, which posts have attracted the most attention? These are our readers’ perennial favorites:

#3  Will You Sell More Continuing Education With an LMS?

With today’s red-hot employment market driving demand for reskilling and upskilling, continuing education is on fire. But what kind of systems should continuing education providers choose to support lifelong skills development?

Find out what you should expect in a CEU-focused LMS, and why an employee-oriented learning platform isn’t likely to be your best bet.

#2  Define Your LMS Requirements Like a Pro

The best way to find a learning system that works for your organization is to start with a strong set of requirements. As consultants, we’ve seen far too many situations where buyers neglected this step, with disastrous results.

Requirements definition isn’t complex, but it does take a desire to understand your learning audiences and related use cases. This guide walks you through each phase in the process.

#1  The 3 Licensing Models of an LMS (or Any Enterprise Software)

Interestingly, our most popular post of all time was a smash hit right out of the gate in April of 2014. Since then, it has continued to attract more daily activity than any other post we’ve published.

Why has software licensing intelligence attracted so much attention? Here’s our theory:  We were among the first independent sources of information about learning systems pricing issues and trends, and six years later we remain committed to that agenda.

We believe it’s important to educate the market about how to make informed technology choices, and pricing transparency is key to software selection success. Readers seem to agree.

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Conclusion

The first 6 years at Talented Learning have coincided with an exciting and eventful phase in the evolution of learning systems. But as 2020 begins, we feel like we’re only getting started!

We hope you’re as eager as we are to explore these popular topics in extended enterprise learning even more deeply in the future. We promise to show up with more boots-on-the-ground blogs, webinars, product reviews, podcasts and reports to help you create business value from extended enterprise learning.

If you want to see us cover additional topics, contact us anytime with suggestions or feedback. We’re always interested in ideas that help us serve you better.

Thanks for reading!

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LMS Selection Step-by-Step

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With hundreds of learning systems available today, finding the right LMS for your unique extended enterprise needs can be tricky. But with so much at stake for, it’s worth the extra effort.

What exactly should you do to choose the best solution?

Walk step-by-step through a real-world example with John Leh, CEO and Lead Analyst at Talented Learning. You’ll learn:

• How to develop a relevant business case and success metrics
• Methods for researching and defining use cases and requirements
• When to issue an RFP (or not)
• Tips for creating a viable LMS shortlist
• How to make the most of vendor demos and proof-of-concept projects

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Need Proven LMS Selection Guidance?

Looking for a learning platform that truly fits your organization’s needs?  We’re here to help!  Submit the form below to schedule a free preliminary consultation at your convenience.

The post Talented Learning’s Greatest Hits – 2019 Edition appeared first on Talented Learning.

Talented Learning’s Greatest Hits – 2019 Edition original post at Talented Learning

Is Open Source Ready for Extended Enterprise Learning?

You may know me as an independent learning systems consultant. But I’m also a recovering LMS sales guy.

Six years ago I pivoted after 14 years on the front lines with two major commercial LMS vendors. I learned a lot during those years. I also developed some strong opinions. And frankly, several of those biases deserve a second look in light of today’s market.

Open source software is a great example. 10 years ago we would occasionally cross paths with corporate LMS buyers who were evaluating commercial systems side-by-side with open source platforms. We’d snicker and say, “If you’re considering both types of systems, one of us is in the wrong place – and it’s probably us!”

Sounds smug. It was.

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But we were trained to believe that if any corporation expressed interest in an open source LMS, the buyer was probably uninformed, unserious, seeking a cheap fix or some combination of those.

Times have changed.

Early open source learning systems were viable for academic applications. But corporations found it difficult to shoehorn open source into their infrastructure – especially for extended enterprise learning.

Now, there are multiple reasons to seriously consider open source for corporate extended enterprise needs. To learn more, let’s dig deeper…

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What is Corporate Extended Enterprise Learning, Anyway?

“Corporate extended enterprise learning” is essentially any instructional program a business offers to non-employee audiences. That can include any combination of:

• Customers and prospects
• Sales channel partners, distributors and retailers
• Franchisees
• Suppliers and developers
• Contractors
• The general public

Sometimes corporations deploy a single extended enterprise LMS to serve external audiences and employees, alike. But more often, multiple learning systems are deployed over time, to support various audiences and business initiatives. This is particularly common when an organization’s structure and decision-making are decentralized.

5 Defining Extended Enterprise Attributes

Although extended enterprise learning initiatives are all different, they share important common ground, especially these characteristics:

1) Voluntary Learners – Because extended enterprise learners aren’t employees, you can’t force them to use your LMS. Instead, you need to invest extra effort to attract, engage and retain participants.

Companies often consider extended enterprise education an opportunity for brand differentiation, so they try to out-perform others by continuously improving the learning experience.

2) Audience Size – Only a few hundred corporations in the world have more than 100,000 employees to train. On the other hand, tens of thousands of organizations serve more than 100,000 external learners. (Vendors: Read that market size statistic again and let it sink in.)

Because extended enterprise audiences are potentially vast and variable, buyers need a scalable licensing structure.

3) Extensive Integrations – Employee-focused learning systems integrate with HRIS platforms and single sign-on software. But extended enterprise deployments typically integrate with numerous other systems and tools, including customer relationship management, marketing automation, ecommerce, content management, customer support and more.

4) Measurability – Because extended enterprise learning programs are driven by specific business objectives, metrics are integral to their success. To prove the impact of learning, organizations need to tie educational experiences to sales, revenue, customer satisfaction, time-to-value and countless other metrics.

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This means that robust analytics capabilities are vital. It also means that buyers often develop a business case to justify their LMS purchase.

5) Business-Specific Expertise – Extended enterprise LMS buyers want to buy from vendors who understand the domain and have a roster of successful clients with similar use cases. This assures them that the system is viable and the roadmap will remain focused on extended enterprise needs, going forward.

Using these requirements (and others) as a baseline, hundreds of vendors are now actively competing to claim a slice of this extended enterprise LMS market opportunity.

Historically, commercial software vendors dominated this segment. But increasingly, open source learning systems are making noteworthy inroads – and with good reason.

How Well Do Open Source Learning Systems Meet Extended Enterprise Needs?

Is open source right for every extended enterprise application? No. Do open platforms offer advantages over commercial systems? Certainly – sometimes.

Let’s look at how open source learning platforms stack up, based on the extended enterprise attributes we outlined above:

1) Voluntary Learners – Open source solutions are highly configurable at the user interface level, with thousands of community-built plugins. This gives organizations the flexibility to create “one-of-a-kind” applications that appeal to specific users in ways that many commercial providers can’t match.

2) Audience Size – Core open source LMS licensing costs are zero (or minimal). Because corporations invest much less in licensing, they can invest much more in educational content, learner experience optimization, systems integration and program marketing.

3) Extensive Integrations – Open source LMSs offer strong APIs and pre-built connectors to a diverse array of other applications. This is ideal for organizations that want to enhance and extend their LMS by easily snapping it into a broader, more complex business technology ecosystem.

4) Measurability – Open source solutions have robust reporting capabilities that support a variety of extended enterprise use cases. Third-party plug-ins add more extensive business-focused analytics for organizations with specialized measurement needs.

5) Business-Specific Expertise – Open source learning systems are configured, deployed and maintained by third-party service providers. Since there are no license revenues, these organizations compete by adding value through the quality of their services. Many are extended enterprise experts with a strong track record.

Open Source vs. Commercial Learning Systems: What’s the Difference?

Don’t commercial and open source LMSs solve the same challenges? Yes, they do – but differently.

In fact, for any given extended enterprise scenario, open source approaches can yield substantially more business value. That’s why open-source LMSs should be included in the evaluation process.

Here are some key differences that can swing buying decisions in one direction or another:

Cost
At lower audience levels (for example, 1,000 or 10,000 learners per year), open source and commercial software costs are comparable. But as the number of learners increases (especially at 50,000-100,000 learners per year or more), the total cost of ownership for an open source LMS is always significantly lower than a commercial solution.

Custom Needs
Generally, it’s wise to avoid customization unless you have no other choice.

Commercial solutions are configurable – meaning buyers can adjust LMS functionality only with predetermined settings provided by the vendor. (Think of checkboxes with multiple options.) Beyond that, modifications are available only as core product features in a future product release. In other words, one-off customer changes (customizations) aren’t part of the commercial software playbook.

In contrast, open source solutions are fully customizable, with all the related advantages and disadvantages (such as the burden of ongoing technical and maintenance costs). Although customization isn’t advisable for small-scale projects, it can be useful for large, strategically important deployments.

Service Requirements
With commercial systems, buyers are generally responsible for configuration and deployment, with vendors providing only minor proactive or reactive help. Large employee-focused LMS vendors can provide more hands-on professional service, but this comes at a steep incremental cost beyond license fees.

In contrast, open source solutions are typically configured and deployed by providers that offer clients whatever level of attention they want and need. Because LMS licensing comes at no/low cost, nearly every budget can afford a service provider.

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Simple Core Requirements
Many extended enterprise LMS clients are buying for the first or second time. Their needs aren’t complicated – yet.

These buyers are usually happy to structure their training business to conform to the capabilities of their chosen LMS. And they usually prefer commercial solutions.

My opinion? The more extensive and complex your LMS requirements are, the more attractive open source becomes.

Top Open Source LMS Platforms

Multiple open-source learning systems are available. These are the most notable choices for extended enterprise applications:

Moodle – The most popular LMS in the world, Moodle boasts over 175 million users across 100,000 deployments. Originally built with academic needs in mind, Moodle has been expanding into corporate and continuing education environments.

Totara – Built as an independent fork of the Moodle code base, Totara was originally designed specifically for workplace learning. In recent years, Totara has expanded rapidly into the extended enterprise space, with applications for associations, non-profit organizations, government entities as well as businesses.

Moodle Workplace – Introduced earlier in 2019, this platform is Moodle’s new answer to Totara’s success in the corporate learning market. Moodle Workplace looks promising, with multi-tenant support and other functionality that makes it a viable contender for corporate extended enterprise implementations.

Open edX – This massively scalable open authoring tool and LMS comes with its own large, supportive community. It is built on the same platform that powers edX.org‘s popular online courses. This system is used extensively in higher education and employee training, and is now making inroads in the extended enterprise space.

Open Source Service Providers

Independent professional services providers are critical to the success of open source LMS platforms. Hundreds and hundreds of open source development specialists operate today, representing every geographic location and extended enterprise use case you can imagine.

I’ve personally worked with a variety of these organizations, including eThink Education, Extension Engine, Kineo, MindQuest Learning, Raytheon Professional Services, Remote Learner and Synegen. Each brings unique strengths to the table.

Which Commercial LMS Platforms Compare?

On the commercial side of the corporate extended enterprise space, you’ll find no lack of options. The companies listed below are just a taste of the vendors worth considering:

Extended Enterprise Specialists
These are pure extended enterprise solutions, designed exclusively to support external audiences. For example, BlueVolt, NetExam, Learndot, Skilljar and Thought Industries.

Cloud LMS Vendors
Easy to procure, deploy and maintain, cloud LMSs are a good choice for serving extended enterprise audiences, employees or a combination of learner types. Popular examples include Absorb, Docebo and SAP Litmos.

Employee-Focused LMS Vendors
These are big, well-known platforms that focus primarily on employee onboarding and compliance training. But these systems are also able to support large-scale, global extended enterprise initiatives. Recognized names in this group include Cornerstone, Saba and SumTotal.

Conclusion

As a new decade begins in 2020, some representatives from commercial LMS providers may still be holding their noses when they talk about open source.

But those vendors aren’t blind. They see how the market is shifting and they know just how powerful open source competitors can be in the right situation.

Large-scale, high-stakes extended enterprise education is certainly one of those scenarios. And as more organizations find success with open source learning solutions, the extended enterprise door is ready to swing open, even wider.

Thanks for reading!

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The Hidden Value of Open Source

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Until recently, most open-source learning solutions served the academic market. Not anymore. Now, corporations big and small are leveraging the unique strengths of open source to deliver world-class learning solutions at an affordable price.

Do the advantages of open source make sense for your organization?

Join John Leh, Lead Analyst at Talented Learning, as he hosts a roundtable discussion with Randy Jones, VP of Business Development at eThink Education and Laura Kiley, Channel Partner Manager at GO1.

You’ll get practical advice and insights, including:

• Business and educational benefits of open source
• Anatomy of an open source learning system
• Examples of successful solutions
• Differences between open source and a commercial LMS
• Role of content in employee and extended enterprise solutions
• Tips for getting started

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The post Is Open Source Ready for Extended Enterprise Learning? appeared first on Talented Learning.

Is Open Source Ready for Extended Enterprise Learning? original post at Talented Learning

Need to Calculate LMS ROI? Here’s How Business Leaders Do The Math

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Because extended enterprise learning involves multiple disciplines, we sometimes ask other experts to share their insights. Today we feature advice from Ajay Pangarkar, CTDP, FCPA, FCMA and President of CentralKnowledge. Ajay is an award-winning blogger, author and LinkedIn online course instructor who helps learning practitioners develop the financial acumen they need to align training initiatives with key business objectives.

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Why is LMS ROI Analysis Important?

If you’re responsible for organizational learning, you’re probably planning new or improved instructional programs for the coming year. To make this happen, you’re likely to need new hardware, software and various other resources. But how do you decide what to spend?

Many people would say, “If it’s in the budget, just buy it.” And this could work for insignificant or inexpensive items like training materials or related office supplies.

However, modern learning experiences usually require significant technology purchases. For example, you may need to invest in a learning management system (LMS), applications for certification tracking, ecommerce and collaboration, as well as content authoring tools.

Big-ticket items like these are considered capital investments. They must be pre-approved by business leaders and financial specialists who use standardized methods to justify technology purchases. Below, we’ll examine two key approaches:

• Cost-benefit and break-even analysis
• Net present value (NPV) analysis.

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Two Ways to Evaluate LMS ROI

Method 1: Cost-Benefit/Break-Even Analysis

At first glance, results-oriented learning programs are considered a cost. But leaders will also consider them an investment – if you frame the benefits appropriately. Consider this simple scenario:

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ABC Company sells productivity software for $200 per user. ABC just released a new version with additional features. The cost to produce this application is $120 per unit and the sales volume is 4000 units per year.

Mary is ABC’s president. She believes a new elearning course could help marketing and sales teams increase sales by at least 700 units in the first year without causing any work disruptions.

You expect this course to cost $60,000 – including equipment, technology, content development and design. In addition, ABC must account for $200,000 per year in existing learning-related fixed costs.

Before approving the course, Mary asks you to provide a financial assessment to prove that this endeavor makes business sense.

Should ABC Company Invest in a New Course?

Many training practitioners would say, “Yes, certainly it makes sense.” This conclusion is based on the assumption that an elearning investment of $60,000 will incrementally increase sales by $140,000 (700 units x $200 per unit), so ABC will gain $80,000.

But this is only part of the story for business leaders, because they also compare the difference between current and projected sales and costs.

In this case, at the current sales level of 4000 units, ABC earns $120,000 in operating income (column 1 below). But after including the $60,000 new elearning fixed cost and expected sales increase (column 2 below), it’s clear that ABC would actually lose $4,000.

ABC Cost-Benefit Analysis By The Numbers

Because the new elearning course would decrease operating income to $116,000, Mary won’t support the decision to move forward.

At this point, many learning practitioners would sell their souls to convince Mary she should sign-off anyway, because training always makes sense. Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but learning doesn’t always make good business sense.

It’s true that by rejecting the elearning initiative, ABC won’t gain 700 units in additional sales. However, the company won’t incur the additional $60,000 in elearning fixed costs, either.

Worst-case, the current profit level will remain unchanged. Sales might even grow, given the new functionality available in ABC’s latest release.

What Could Change Mary’s Mind?

To win support for the elearning course, you could:

• Work with sales and marketing teams to increase sales by 50 units or
• Find a way to reduce elearning development costs by $4,000.

Either of these actions will create a “break-even” outcome. Of course, ideally, leaders aim higher than break-even. They’re looking for profitable outcomes.

In this case, profitability mean increasing sales by more than 50 units and/or reducing costs by more than $4,000. As a learning professional, you don’t control sales performance. But you can control elearning costs.

Recommended Course of Action

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To reduce the fixed cost of developing the new course, take time to review all of the elements – from related technology to content development.

Next, identify what’s absolutely essential to create and deploy the course. These are your “must-have” requirements. Others are only “nice-to-haves.”

Unless you can convince Mary that “nice-to-have” items will yield tangible business benefits, the budget won’t increase. And without an increased budget, you’ll need to let go of those non-essentials.

Method 2: Net Present Value (NPV) Analysis

I once worked with a major pharmaceutical company on a new prescription drug launch. Educating the sales team and the medical community about the appropriate use of this drug was vital.

Management expected a 15% ROI from this product and 15 years of revenue growth. Most of the internal costs – including training – were expected to occur during the first 3 years. The remaining costs were expected to level-off over the product’s lifecycle.

These inputs guided our learning investment decisions. Leaders call this “capital budgeting.” It’s based on a classic ROI concept called Net Present Value (NPV). NPV analysis considers the value of an activity’s so-called discounted cash flows over its lifespan, based upon an expected rate of return.

The Net Present Value Equation

In other words, NPV is the difference between a project’s present value for every year of cash inflows (typically from revenue or savings), and the present value for every year of cash outflows (usually expenses) that support the project.

When the present value of total cash inflows exceeds the present value of total cash outflows (PV Inflow > PV Outflow), NPV is positive. In this case, the investment should be approved.

In contrast, when the present value of total cash inflows is less than the present value of total cash outflows (PV Inflow < PV Outflow), NPV is negative. In this case, the investment should be rejected.

Should You Purchase This LMS?

For example, imagine you’re considering the purchase of an enterprise LMS to support employee skills development. This new LMS costs $80,000. Maintenance costs $5000 per year and the LMS will last 8 years.

The investment is expected to improve employee productivity in ways that increase cash inflow by $25,000 per year.

Your leaders expect a 15% ROI. But to inform their decision about this capital investment, they apply NPV analysis.

The immediate cash outflow for this LMS purchase is $80,000. And every year over an 8-year timeframe, improved employee productivity is expected to increase cash inflows by $25,000. During the same period, LMS maintenance will cost $5,000 per year.

This means that net annual cash inflow = $20,000 ($25,000 – $5000).

However, because this $20,000-per-year net cash inflow occurs over multiple years, the present value is actually different each year. (In other words, the $20,000 you’ll gain in Year 1 is worth more today than the $20,000 you’ll gain 8 years from now).

To determine each year’s current net cash inflow value, leaders apply an annual ROI “discounting” rate. In this example, it is 15% each year. This equalizes the yearly amounts.

In this example, NPV equals about $9,750. Because this result is a positive number, you should approve the LMS purchase.

What About The Drug Launch?

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Let’s return to the pharmaceutical example. Leaders weren’t achieving the expected level of profitability over the product’s 15-year life.

Revenue forecasts were conservative, so increasing sales to reach the profit target wasn’t a realistic option. The only choice was to re-evaluate and reduce internal costs.

Leaders recognized the importance of training in supporting compliance and legal requirements. They asked the training team to identify ways to reduce costs and/or reallocate opportunities without degrading the impact of learning activities.

As a result, we reduced overall training costs by 10%. And along with cost reductions from other internal activities, the company exceeded profitability expectations.

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Speaking the Language of Business Leaders

Ultimately, you’re not responsible for determining LMS ROI. The decision rests with your organization’s leaders and finance department. But here’s how you can inform those decisions.

For any major learning technology investment, be prepared to answer these questions:

• What is the initial cost?
• How long will this training asset last or be used?
• What are the expected operational costs?
• What savings or positive financial results will this technology contribute during its life?

You’ll also want to plan training programs with measurement in mind, right from the start. For more guidance about how to do that, I invite you to check out a LinkedIn Learning course I offer: Measuring Training Effectiveness.

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Final Thoughts

This brief overview of cost-benefit and NPV analysis is intended only as an introduction to what’s involved in capital investment decisions.

It’s not necessary for learning practitioners to become experts at ROI evaluation. However, awareness of the process can improve your ability to secure funding and will give you a leg-up in consulting with decision-makers.

So, in the future, whenever you need to develop a proposal to win funding for significant learning technology resources, I encourage you to work with your finance team to build a robust business case. Even if you don’t receive purchase approval, your proposals will be better aligned with business objectives and your financial acumen will definitely impress your organization’s leaders.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This post has been adapted, with permission, from posts published at eLearning Industry.

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The Economics of LMS Replacement

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Stuck with a learning system that no longer meets your needs?

Join Talented Learning lead analyst and CEO, John Leh, as he shows you how to take charge of the LMS replacement process and lead your organization into the modern learning age. You’ll learn how to:

• Analyze your currently spending
• Define what you need in a new LMS
• Outline the best license model
• Develop realistic budget expectations
• Build a business case your stakeholders can support
• Find vendor intelligence you can trust

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Need Proven LMS Selection Guidance?

Looking for a learning platform that truly fits your organization’s needs?  We’re here to help!  Submit the form below to schedule a free preliminary consultation at your convenience.

The post Need to Calculate LMS ROI? Here’s How Business Leaders Do The Math appeared first on Talented Learning.

Need to Calculate LMS ROI? Here’s How Business Leaders Do The Math original post at Talented Learning

Podcast 31: Inside Open Source Learning Systems – With eThink CEO Brian Carlson

WELCOME TO EPISODE 31 OF THE TALENTED LEARNING SHOW

To find out more about this podcast series or to see the full collection of episodes visit The Talented Learning Show main page.

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EPISODE 31 – TOPIC SUMMARY AND GUEST:

The learning technology world moves so fast, it can be hard for practitioners to stay ahead of the curve. That’s why I invite innovation leaders to share updates in these 30-minute audio sprints.

For example, today we welcome a leader in the open source learning community, Brian Carlson, Co-Founder and CEO of eThink Education.

Join us as we discuss the latest developments in open source learning systems. You’ll also hear why these advances are important – especially for extended enterprise education.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Open source learning platforms like Moodle have driven closed source LMS vendors to reduce their price points dramatically over the years.

• Open source learning systems are widely used. In fact, with a whopping 176 million users, Moodle is the world’s most popular learning platform – not just among educational institutions, but associations and corporations, as well.

• Professional services are a key differentiator for open source learning solution providers, particularly compared to proprietary LMS vendors.

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Q&A HIGHLIGHTS:

Let’s start with a quick look at your background as a learning systems innovator…

I began my career as a teacher for two years on a small island just off the coast of Australia. It was a sustainable development position with an organization similar to the Peace Corps, and I loved it.

Then, after I returned to the States, I worked as a technical consultant for six years at a company which, through multiple acquisitions, became part of Ellucian, the largest student information system company in the world.

What prompted you to start eThink?

I’ve always been entrepreneurial in nature. And while I was at Ellucian, working with different colleges and universities, I saw open source as an interesting opportunity.

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Moodle was just emerging as an open-source learning platform, and my business partner Cheryl Patsavos and I realized we could do very well by capitalizing on that. So about 12 years ago we founded eThink as a Moodle services provider.

So you started with LMS services for the education market?

Originally, Moodle focused on higher education and K-12 markets, so we began by supporting those clients. But because Moodle is based on open source, it quickly evolved to support nonprofit, government and corporate needs – including extended enterprise applications.

So we continued to expand our services to support a business-oriented derivative of Moodle called Totara. And our Totara services have been a tremendous success.

How do you describe eThink’s mission?

Ultimately, we empower organizations to maximize their learning initiatives through fully managed solutions.

In other words, whatever an organization wants to achieve – whether the use case is internal or external, and whatever the industry may be – we configure a solution that best meets the client’s objectives. This may come from any combination of products we offer, as well as partner solutions that work with ours.

So you’re kind of like a software company, but much more, because you’re software agnostic, right? Plus you provide all the support clients need?

Yes. That’s what makes us different. We’re not the only vendor that provides open source learning solutions. But we are 100% focused on services that meet our client needs. We have to be.

That’s how we keep our client base. It’s important to be pretty unique on the services side and deliver a lot of value.

Maybe we should take a quick step back. People may know of Moodle, but they may not understand open source, in general. Could you briefly explain the concept and what it means for learning systems?

Sure, John. On a day-to-day basis, we talk to many people who are confused by this because they aren’t immersed in technology.

Open source just means that the code base is freely available on the internet, and everyone can look at it line-by-line. Also, anyone can add to the code. This community involvement is how open source software improves over time.

Got it…

Open source software is actually surprisingly common. Think of the smartphones we use. iPhones are based on Apple’s closed source mobile operating system, but Android-based phones are open source products.

Interestingly, when Apple launched the iPhone, it dominated the smartphone industry. But now only 10% of us are iPhone users, while 85% of us use Android phones. That illustrates how open source can shape a market.

Wow…

Another great example of an open platform is WordPress. Almost everyone I know runs a website on WordPress. There are closed source blogging options, but they’re not nearly as popular.

We’re one of those WordPress users at Talented Learning, but I’ve never thought much about the open source angle. So for these open source initiatives, who creates the core code?

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You know, there are books written on each open source movement. But with Moodle specifically, it started in Australia when Martin Dougiamas was working on his graduate thesis project in late 2001.

His university relied on Blackboard LMS, which was the predominant academic learning management system at the time. They had nearly 100% market share. It was absurd. Since Blackboard was the only game in town, the price points were very high.

Ouch.

So Martin decided to publish a free code base on the internet, similar to open source projects in other industries. This way, universities everywhere could apply their deep academic and technical talent to contribute various code elements.

With this public, community-driven approach, any educational institution can run a less expensive alternative to Blackboard LMS.

Sure…

Actually, Blackboard prices have come down considerably over the years because of new competition from alternatives like Moodle.

And almost every open source story I’ve seen starts with this kind of question:

“What would it look like if we had more eyeballs and more community involved in product development and made it a free project?”

Excellent.

Then for every open source effort, there are logical next-step challenges like how to maintain the core code, and how to fund staff who can make sure that the best ideas are added and there’s some quality control.

Different business models have emerged to address these administrative issues. Yet they all start in a similar way.

But Moodle’s growth, in particular, has been fascinating. It quickly became the most widely used learning management system in the world – both in academia and in the corporate space. And it’s still the leading platform.

Wow.

Most people don’t realize how popular Moodle is. But worldwide, no one else is even close. In global market share, it beats every other product by a mile – especially in certain categories.

Moodle adoption is so massive because people can easily download it for free and configure their own implementation. Or, if they need assistance, they can rely on services like ours.

On the corporate side, there’s a perception that Moodle isn’t really designed for the business market. Do you agree?

Definitely not. It’s true that Moodle was originally built for academia. And when Martin first started, he gained a lot of traction in colleges and universities. That’s where this perception comes from.

But today, if I look at our Moodle-related sales over the last two years, probably 75% of net new logos are from outside of academia. Many people find our business emphasis very surprising.

So, with such deep global market penetration, is there any direct open source competition?

Others have tried. You need to scale and you need enough contributing members for an open source effort to find its legs.

Moodle has been up and running for about 18 years, so it certainly reached the critical mass needed for success.

Makes sense.

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Over the years, a few other organizations have come and gone because they never received the amount of traction needed for a successful open source project.

They may have looked at the core Moodle code and decided to add some elements to create what’s called a fork of that code. That’s what Totara did. And no one else has done it as effectively.

Totara approached this with an eye toward extended enterprise professional development. And Totara has definitely found success.

Right.

Totara’s channel model is similar to Moodle’s. And in some cases, Totara’s offering competes with Moodle, which has led to improvement of both products. When one takes a step forward, the other tries to match or beat it, which is great for customers.

Isn’t Moodle creating its own corporate version?

You’re right. In response to Totara’s success, Moodle is creating its own corporate-focused version called Moodle Workplace.

We’ve been a big contributor to that for the last two years, while it was mostly in stealth mode. But recently, they made it public. And honestly, they’ve got some great new functionality – great UI and UX changes.

This move is important, because Moodle is already used by corporate, nonprofit and government entities for professional education. But they needed to address this more strategically by wrapping their story around it and including specific functionality to back it up.

Interesting…

Frankly, I think they’ve done a nice job. We can already see that Moodle Workplace is very competitive.

We have clients that look at all three options – Moodle, Moodle Workplace and Totara. Some say Totara is a better fit for their specific needs. Some choose Moodle and others go with Moodle Workplace.

We stay agnostic. We put the solutions in front of our clients, but we let them choose. We listen to their need set and mock-up what the functionality would look like in those scenarios. But Moodle Workplace is making things more interesting.

Today, nearly 1000 different learning systems are available. 99% of them are commercial off-the-shelf, SaaS or cloud-based systems. Why would I choose an open source LMS over those?

There are so many reasons why it makes sense to at least consider an open source solution as a finalist when selecting an LMS.

First, the business model is flipped on its head, compared to closed source solutions. We don’t own the product – the community does. In other words, a license doesn’t lock you into a specific vendor for software or service. This gives you much more control.

Great point.

Another consideration is our flexibility in manipulating code and configuring it to meet specific needs. This flexibility really shines through with integrations.

These days, most organizations need to integrate all sorts of different things with their LMS. Upfront, you may not be aware of everything you’ll need. Instead, items surface down the road. And when they do, we’re here to help you adapt.

That certainly makes sense for extended enterprise scenarios, where integrations are especially important.

Right.

So let’s talk more about cost. Open source code is free, but once you add-in professional services, does the cost advantage hold up?

Core Moodle is a free solution. But we joke that it’s more like free like a puppy than a free beer.

Obviously, if you run this “free” solution on your own servers with your own people, there’s a cost. But if we do it for you, we believe we can do it at a lower price point. 

Okay…

But from a broader perspective, data from the last couple of decades shows that open source solutions like Moodle and Totara have actually forced LMS price points down as much as 90%.

It’s certainly in that ballpark for per-user-costs, compared to the early 2000s.

Impressive.

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This has forced commoditization of closed source LMS solutions. But I tend not to lead on cost alone. That’s because proprietary LMS vendors aren’t our only competitors.

We compete with other open source solution providers, as well. And that competition incentivizes us to be incredibly proactive when it comes to service.

We’re highly consultative with our clients. And our responsiveness borders on obsession.

For instance, we respond to service tickets in less than an hour. Compare that with the average response time from other vendors, which can be closer to several days. That’s significant.

Although (like most vendors) you don’t want to lead with cost, I bet it makes a big difference at scale.

Yes, a massive difference.

Sure. Because it’s not uncommon for a small company to have a lot of customers.

Yep. Some of our client sites serve over 100,000 users. Several are approaching a million users. For them, it becomes extraordinarily inexpensive. But closed source learning platforms don’t seem to scale nearly as well when it comes to price.

So, what should associations or businesses know about customization? If they modify open source code, won’t that lead to complications in the future?

That’s precisely the basis for our business model, John. I can’t tell you how often prospects say, “We want to choose you because we can customize everything.” And we say, “Nope, you don’t want to customize.”

And then you show them a better way…

Yep. Nearly 100% of our solutions do not involve customization. Instead, we focus on configuration. Because when you customize core code, you’re adding a need to re-customize after future releases. That potentially adds costs and even some management risk. We don’t do that.

Good to know.

Moodle has over 1300 free modules available. So most of the time when someone says, “Can you do this?” it’s already been done. We can find it on the open source community. Or if it isn’t available, but the value is justified, we can develop a module.

For example, we just developed a Cvent plug-in in conjunction with our client, The Ohio State University. Rather than targeting students or faculty, it’s designed for professional certification training partnerships in the nonprofit sector.

This is a great example of a situation where you should create a module rather than owning it yourself. Hundreds of organizations are likely to find it useful. Our client saw the value in developing and sharing this module because they won’t have to maintain it. This approach essentially eliminates future cost-of-ownership for them.

Nice…

That’s the open source model. It’s the power of community. More often than not, we can apply or enhance something that’s already available, rather than trying to develop it from scratch. This avoids future risk or cost.

Excellent. So, let’s say I’m shopping for an extended enterprise LMS. What are the top three reasons why I should consider open source…?

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The Hidden Value of Open Source

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• Business and educational benefits of open source
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The post Podcast 31: Inside Open Source Learning Systems – With eThink CEO Brian Carlson appeared first on Talented Learning.

Podcast 31: Inside Open Source Learning Systems – With eThink CEO Brian Carlson original post at Talented Learning

In-House Upskilling: Is Amazon’s Strategy a Smart Move?

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Because extended enterprise learning involves multiple disciplines, we sometimes ask other experts to share their insights. Today we feature advice from Daniel Newman, Principal Analyst at Futurum Research and CEO of Broadsuite Media Group. Daniel is an author, speaker, blogger and educator who works with leading technology brands to help businesses around the world embrace the benefits of digital transformation.

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Is Corporate Learning Ready to Fill the Skills Gap?

For years, I’ve wondered if digital transformation would make today’s colleges and universities irrelevant. That day may be coming sooner than any of us think.

Case in point: Recently, Amazon announced that it’s investing $700 million to upskill 100,000 of its employees, so they can work more successfully in today’s fluid digital business environment. These upskilling efforts are expected to involve employees in all functional areas of the company and at all experience levels.

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This kind of commitment is bold. But here’s what’s even more impressive. Amazon isn’t sending these employees to graduate school or other external institutions.

Instead, participants will develop new knowledge and skills at the company’s own Amazon Technical Academy and Machine Learning University.

What Can Amazon’s Upskilling Plan Teach Us?

The concept seems straightforward enough. Amazon aims to make technical education more accessible by letting employees participate in relevant classes, pursue job-related apprenticeships and earn certificates that qualify them for new positions elsewhere in the company or beyond.

The scope of this initiative is huge. One in three Amazon employees will engage in upskilling to become more technically proficient in their current position – whether they’re a marketing professional, business analyst, warehouse supervisor or coding specialist.

Why is one of the world’s best-known employers making such a massive upskilling commitment? Amazon’s leaders realize that every job is essentially a technical job in today’s marketplace. The company’s future depends on the competency of its employees, and Amazon can no longer rely on other sources to train its workers effectively.

Breaking Down the Amazon Upskilling Investment

What does this new corporate learning strategy suggest about the future of work? And how is it likely to impact the rest of us?

First, let’s break it down. The $700 million Amazon upskilling investment is tied to a broader workforce initiative that includes employee benefits like a higher minimum wage ($15 per hour), 401K and parental leave. Even if the entire budget were applied to training alone, the investment would equal about $7,000 per employee – not that much, by corporate training standards.

This makes me wonder if the initiative is really as ambitious as it sounds. Or perhaps digital transformation will help individuals realize that they’re overpaying academic institutions for education that employers don’t need.

Either way, with such a low initial per-employee investment, Amazon will likely need to continue upskilling employees on a regular basis.

Will Non-Technical Workers Still Fit-In?

Amazon has made it clear that both technical and nontechnical employees will participate in training – but every job is becoming more technical. That means there will be a need to develop non-technical business competencies such as critical thinking, leadership, public speaking and other soft skills.

However, as Amazon sees it, people with soft skills will also need at least some technical acumen if they want to play a valuable role in advancing the company’s agenda.

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Of course, this is true for all of us outside of Amazon, as well. Data fluency and technical competency are essential for any organization that wants to embrace digital transformation. So employees who want to help their company leverage new technologies will need to develop technical acumen, regardless of their professional focus.

For example, consider human resources specialists. To be more effective, they should learn how to leverage automated tools and AI technology to recruit and retain employees.

Mastery of coding, itself, isn’t required. However, a new level of technical understanding is important for HR professionals who want to achieve better results.

This kind of technical comfort and capability is vital for anyone working in 2019 or beyond.

How Can Smaller Businesses Compete?

Clearly, not every company is Amazon. Many don’t have the resources to build their own on-campus technical university. But what happens when an employer can’t afford to offer this kind of upskilling benefit? And what if effective training programs aren’t available in the local community?

Let me frame those questions another way. Which employer would you choose?

• A larger company where free upskilling is always available, so you can sharpen relevant skills on an ongoing basis, or
• A smaller company that asks you to find your own skill development outside of the organization and pay for it yourself.

Truth be told, as digital transformation unfolds, the “haves” are separating themselves from the “have-nots.” It’s not just about having sufficient money to fund transformative efforts, but also about having the right people with the right skills.

And this need for technical acumen extends to the broader workforce at-large. For instance, demand is stronger for writers who know how to improve their content quality with apps like Grammarly, or how to increase their output with AI-powered productivity tools. Those who don’t master advanced technologies will ultimately accomplish less – and earn less – than technically savvy writers.

The same equation works for other functions. Jobs are becoming a challenge for anyone who hasn’t yet jumped on board the digital transformation skills train. That’s why employers are seeking creative solutions to close the gap.

Is In-House Upskilling Really The Answer?

Some believe Amazon’s upskilling initiative is just a bunch of hype. Cynics think it’s a PR stunt designed to get attention – which has happened. But as I said, $7,000 per employee isn’t a steep investment.

The result could be nothing more than a lot of static PowerPoint slide decks describing technical terms. On the other hand, it could lead to powerful learning experiences that revolutionize Amazon’s talent pool. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, here’s what we know:  Work is changing rapidly. Future-minded employers can’t afford to sit back and expect employees to prepare themselves for the coming skills mismatch.

Universities aren’t adapting swiftly enough. And Amazon is no longer willing to wait. So in a preemptive strike, the company has committed to bridging the skills gap on its own. This may not be easy for Amazon to accomplish. But acting now to develop a future-ready workforce could be a very smart business move, indeed.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This post has been adapted, with permission, from a post published on the Futurum blog.

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The post In-House Upskilling: Is Amazon’s Strategy a Smart Move? appeared first on Talented Learning.

In-House Upskilling: Is Amazon’s Strategy a Smart Move? original post at Talented Learning