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And so to the third and, in many respects, simplest option. The off-the-shelf e-learning product is available now and, as such, is sometimes the only feasible alternative. It should also be considerably cheaper than building your own product; if it isn’t you might want to question the price – after all, the publisher is spreading the development cost over many different customers.

Going out – a buyer’s guide
What to look for in an external e-learning content developer

Track record: Find out how long they’ve been in business and what they’ve managed to achieve in this time. Speak to some of their current clients and find out what they’re really like to work with.

Industry knowledge: How much do they know about your industry sector? If you’re a bank, find out what other financial institutions they’ve worked with. It saves time if they understand the issues you’re faced with and the jargon you use.

Financial stability: E-learning development is very often a cottage industry, with many small firms working without adequate capital. Small firms will often provide the most innovative solutions, but if your needs are substantial, you’ll want to work with a firm that will be around long enough to finish the job.

Sound project management: It’s not usually creative ability or technical nous that causes developers to come unstuck, it’s bad project management. Remember that what we’re talking about here is software development and think of the number of software projects that you can remember coming in on time and budget. The best developers have done it all and learned from their mistakes. They help you to sleep at night.

In-house skills: Check that your developer really exists. Do they have the required skills in-house or do they have to contract them all in? You’re safer with a firm that has a foundation of full-time staff that know what they’re doing – and are available for your project!

Responsiveness: From the early days of the corporate video, those commissioning media projects to external producers have experienced that sinking feeling when they asked for a horse and were presented with a camel. Sure, the developer will often be able to offer you good advice that causes you to change your requirements for the better. But what you certainly don’t want is to tie yourself to a bunch of arrogant and inflexible prima donnas more interested in winning prizes than facilitating learning.

A fair price: Clearly you’ll want to pay a fair price for the work, but a fair price is one that provides some room for contingencies and the likelihood of a profit for the developer. Rarely will the cheapest quote be the most sensible option.

Quality standards: It helps if the developer is accredited by the IITT to conform to their Code of Practice for e-Learning Providers. That way you’ll know that their commercial practices have been externally validated, their employees possess the required competencies and that the learning materials they produce conform to the highest standards.

Buying off-the-shelf is also a somewhat lower-stress approach, freeing you from the anxieties of product development and allowing you to ‘try before you buy’.

On the negative side, the ‘one size fits all’ design philosophy can mean a mismatch between what’s on offer and what your organisation really needs. Hopefully you can get around this by a little customisation, if that’s possible, or by supplementing the materials with some of your own. You may also have to fight the rather frustrating ‘not invented here’ mentality that plagues so many training departments and resign yourself to the fact that you won’t have the fun (???) or potential kudos that you’d get by creating it yourself.

Off-the-shelf products – a buyer’s guide
What to look for in off-the-shelf e-learning products

Relevance: You want products that match, as closely as possible, the needs of your organisation. If there’s a mismatch, see if the products can be customised.

Topicality: Hopefully the products will be reasonably up-to-date. Video Arts had to re-shoot a number of their most popular training films when the flares and kipper ties were causing more laughs than the script.

Cultural match: At least a proportion of your audience will resent any voiceover or dialogue spoken in a different accent from their own, as well as any unfamiliar behaviour or references. Clearly, this will be less of a problem when there is no audio or video material.

Modularity: Ideally the products will be designed in a modular fashion, allowing you to pick and choose the parts that you need.

Learning effectiveness: You’re buying the products in order to make learning happen. If the products are pedagogically flawed (try saying that after a couple of shandies), you might as well not bother.

Usability: When training is delivered on-screen, usability is key. They best products require no help pages and no technical support. They are effortless to use.

Technical compatibility: The products need to work with your browsers running on your computers, in turn running with your management system on your network. Don’t take the publisher’s word for it – try it for yourself.

Tutor support: If the publisher does not provide tutor support, remember that you may end up providing this yourself. If support is available, check the response times.

Customer service: Nothing causes a breakdown in relationships more quickly than poor customer service. Check that the publisher is adequately resourced in this area.

Pricing structure: You need a pricing structure that means you pay a sensible amount given the amount of likely usage. Don’t get stuck with a long-term contract that ties you to high volumes which may never happen.

Quality standards: You can have more confidence in a publisher who has been accredited according to the IITT’s Code of Practice for e-Learning Providers.