What buyers say

Andy Wooler is Manager of Learning Management Systems for insurers Royal and Sun Alliance. His task was to purchase an e-learning platform that could be used throughout the organisation. What skills did he require to carry out this task effectively? “First of all, you need a good understanding of the business in which you are operating, because it’s easy to buy products that end up not meeting your needs. You also need to know your way around the various technical standards out there, such as AICC and SCORM, to make sure everything works together. We had to re-engineer a load of content that was incompatible with our platform, so I’d recommend only working with suppliers who have a good record in that area.” Andy put prospective suppliers through their paces by asking them each to come into the organisation for a week, install their system and show it working. “The process was incredibly helpful. We were able to see who could really deliver on their promises and those systems for which we would always be waiting for the next version. In the end we chose Saba, which was looking to build a partnership, not just sell us some software.”

Maria Coles, Learning and Development Manager at retailer Debenhams, had a different problem. She wanted a complete solution to tackle the company’s induction needs, a contract that was eventually placed with BYG Systems. “It’s important to know your way round e-learning, so I’d recommend any training manager to go to seminars and acquire some technical and market knowledge. Also, do some benchmarking in your own industry to find out what your competitors are doing. We chose a company who took a real interest in Debenhams. Before tendering, they came to see us to explore how we worked and what we needed. It also helped that they had experience in the retail sector.”

The need for induction training was also the driving force behind an e-learning initiative at Skipton Building Society. Linda Grant is the Training Manager: “Our objective was to find an organisation who wanted to work with us in partnership, from a blank sheet of paper. Too many suppliers want to work with what they’ve already got rather than shape something exactly to your needs. Other suppliers tried to sell us off-the-shelf packages which cost more than it would take to build something from scratch. That’s clearly ridiculous. I’d recommend training managers working to tight budgets to look for suppliers with whom you can have a shared objective, perhaps someone who is looking to gain experience in your area of business or who wants to retain rights to modify the programme and sell it on to other companies. That way, you get a better deal and the supplier furthers their business interests.”

Royal Bank of Scotland is perhaps the UK’s most experienced e-learning purchaser. Now, with more than 100,000 staff around the world, the company is entering the next major phase in its e-learning programme. Dave Buglass is Head of e-Learning: “Based on our experience, I can offer five tips for identifying the right supplier. First of all, they need to have skilled people fulfilling all roles, whether that’s creatives, scriptwriters, programmers or project managers; they must have a strong 'customer service' approach, actively listening to their client and proactively anticipating our needs; then they have robust quality assurance processes to ensure they get it ‘right first time’; they deal with problems quickly, efficiently and calmly; and lastly, good suppliers deliver - on time, within budget and to specification.”

Case study: Vodafone

Vodafone is the world’s largest mobile phone company, with businesses around the world that have grown at a breathtaking rate. Helping this organisation to grow cohesively, sharing knowledge and learning together, is a massive challenge for any training manager. Gordon Bull is Director of Vodafone Global Campus, the name for the e-learning and knowledge management initiative that has been launched to co-ordinate all training and development efforts around the world.

How did Gordon go about finding a supplier who could match up to Vodafone’s requirements? “At this early stage in our experience of e-learning, we realised we needed specialist help, so we used the services of a small consulting firm to help us conduct a detailed needs analysis and review the suppliers currently in the market. Surprisingly, we found some of the suppliers to be extremely arrogant. What we were looking for was a company prepared to work with us in the long term, with whom we could build a relationship.”

Vodafone chose Click2Learn’s Aspen Suite as the platform on which to base the Global Campus. Chris Wells is Corporate Solutions Director for Click2Learn: “The ideal customer from our point of view is someone who views the relationship as a genuine partnership, who understands that both parties have needs and aspirations that need to be met through working together. It helps if both parties are absolutely honest about what they want and what they can deliver – that way you can co-operate on finding solutions that suit you both.”

Wells continues: “The ideal e-learning buyer is well-connected into their own organisation, they understand the real business needs. Encouragingly, we’re finding that this is increasingly common with our training customers, and very much so with Vodafone.” It’s still early days for the Global Campus, but the foundations for success have been laid, with a successful partnership between customer and supplier.