One of the first sources for UAT information is your vendor. Set up a meeting with the vendor representative to find out how they would recommend testing the system. By the time you are ready for testing, your vendor should know your audiences, both internal and external, almost as well as you do. The vendor may be able to provide sample scripts, testing areas, and project plans. In addition, your vendor should be able to create a “copy” of your LMS to be used for testing, instead of using the live database. When you’ve obtained information and assistance from your vendor, take the time to develop and customize the UAT process even further. Remember that your time spent on the front end will probably save both time and money in the long run.

The key to UAT is that the testing audience should be able to follow LMS processes from beginning to end, report on success (or failure), and make suggestions for any last-minute changes. Let’s look at a potential UAT process for an LMS end user, who would be a training participant in your general population. The student should be able to locate his or her own record in the LMS, looking for correct employee data, such as name, position, or work location. The student should also be able to find a learning plan or career path that explains which courses he or she should take. You may also want the student to be able to find a learning plan or career path for a desired position, such as the next logical position for the person or even a promotion.

Next, the student should be able to locate a course and then find a class, either online, classroom, or both. The student should be able to register for a class – and then take it immediately if it is an online offering. If the class is a classroom offering, the student should be able to register, find the class location and time, and then go to the class when it is offered. If this is the case for your LMS, you will probably need to make the UAT period long enough to include a couple of weeks’ worth of classes. After the student takes the course, he or she should be able to again locate the record, find a grade or record of attendance, and make sure that credit has been posted on the learning plan or transcript.

On the back end, an LMS administrator should be able to find records of online courses immediately. This includes locating a grade as well as credit on the student’s transcript or learning plan.  For classroom courses, an instructor should be able to record attendance and grades, and then make sure that all grades go to the appropriate transcripts.
Another aspect of UAT should be your reporting and data mining function. You or your LMS administrator should be able to run all reports that were part of the original LMS package, and then cross check the information in the reports to what exists in class and student records. An additional step for the reporting function is to pass the reports to their audience, such as an executive, and have that person review the reports. The report end user should be able to locate information easily, draw relevant conclusions about the data, and ask questions regarding the data. If this doesn’t happen, the reporting may not be complete or it may not be arranged in the most user-efficient manner.

The best way to create an efficient UAT process is to create scripts and feedback forms for the testers. To do this, think through LMS processes, as we’ve done here, and then create a written script. Have users follow the script, add their feedback, and make any suggestions for change that could occur either before the rollout or later on.

After the UAT process, you are ready to roll out. But a full-scale LMS rollout includes marketing, training, and technology, which we will examine in our final discussion on LMS implementation.

Internally, the build out is also a good time to maintain your communications channel with the internal IT department. With this channel open, you can report any issues, have your IT department look at them, and determine if anything is going to hold up the progress of the installation. Another best practice is to ask the vendor if they will allow small “tests” of functions that have been built out, just to ensure that those functions are meeting your specifications. Along with your IT department, you should be able to manage the construction of the LMS without any issues.

We will use the term “installation” to describe your area’s preparation for the full-scale rollout of the LMS. Keep in mind that there is usually not a physical “install” of an LMS. However, you may have some installations to implement while the system is being built. For example, your IT department may have recommended running the LMS on its own server that may need to be installed and tested. Or, your department may need software or hardware upgrades in order to efficiently operate the reporting or data mining features of the LMS. Take the time during the build out to get all of your internal hardware and software installed and tested.

Another part of what we will refer to as installation may be the internal training of your staff. Often part of the LMS contract is a certain amount of onsite or at least virtual, in-person training for the learning staff. This may include learning how to use the system as a learner, as an instructor, as a designer, and as an administrator. Be sure to schedule the training during the “down time” during the build out. Another task you can undertake during the installation phase is to determine the system access instructions and paths – with this information, you can begin building training and quick reference guides for the rest of the population.

One of the final areas of the installation is the initial and continuing population of data in the LMS. First, where is the initial and regular data for your training audience coming from? For example, will the HRIS transfer employee information regularly, or is this information scheduled for manual entry at certain time intervals? Be sure to schedule these data “runs” at the beginning of the LMS implementation to ensure that information housed in the LMS is always up-to-date. Also, consider how you will set up course “shells” and class schedules. Typically an LMS will require you to create the catalog of courses first, such as “Banking 101″ or “Customer Service Basics”, and then create all of the class meetings and schedules. If this is the case, you will need to determine who is going to conduct all of the manual data entry that is required. Some organizations assign members of the training staff to do this, while others may leave this time-consuming set of tasks to the LMS administrator. Alternatively, hiring temporary workers to complete data entry is a possibility, although these people will have to be trained. As with any step during the installation phase, be sure to “test” data to ensure that it is uniform in entry and appearance. For example, after the first data transfer from the HRIS, locate records within the LMS to make sure that the data transferred correctly. For courses and classes, consider having users test the data by looking up a particular course and class meeting.

Once the LMS has been built, the next step in the implementation is User Acceptance Testing, or UAT.

Most organizations have a legal counsel that reviews contract documents before they are signed. But you most certainly want to review the contracts yourself, especially if the legal counsel was not involved in vendor selection. This may go without saying, but sometimes the temptation exists to let legal do all of the heavy lifting when it comes to contracts. In addition to the legal review, consider having a contract specialist from IT or another area review the documents.

When you begin your own contract review, look for the general specifications of your organization’s LMS setup, as well as the functions you plan to purchase and use. Obviously a glaring omission on either your part or the vendor’s part is a reason to have the contracts rewritten. But also take the time to compare your contract to your original business analysis list, just to make sure you’ve included all of the functionality you needed. It’s easy to let more minor needs slip through the cracks when it’s time to write the contracts.

Another area of the contract to review are the costs that may be associated with certain actions either now or in the future. For example, although you may have everything you need for the implementation, the organization may find it needs further functionality down the road. Review the contract for additional cost and how those costs are factored; there may be a consultation fee plus an hourly charge for development, or there may simply be a fee for the customization. If your vendor will charge hourly fees for customizations, go back to your network or colleagues to see if any of them had to customize their LMS after it was implemented. This way, you’ll have an idea of the time it takes for a software developer to customize your setup.  Also, look for any costs that may be incurred for minor changes during the setup and implementation. Reporting is another area that may be costly to change. For example, if your organization finds that it needs a particular report that is not in the standard report base, the customization is just like making a software change. In other words, the addition of one custom report can cost just as much as making changes to your LMS on an hourly software developer basis. A built-in general course library is a great resource, especially for time-sensitive training that doesn’t have to be customized to your organization. But be sure you understand how and if your organization will have access to the LMS vendor’s generic course library. If so, determine if the library is part of your initial costs or if you will be charged on a per-user basis in the future.

In relation to technical specifications, have your internal IT person review the spec documentation to look for any issues. In fact, you may want to set up a meeting between the LMS vendor’s technical representative and yours – this gives them some time to discuss potential issues and plan the technical rollout. Plus, if these groups meet before the implementation, they can easily head off problems when time is vitally important to the LMS rollout.

One of the final pieces of additional due diligence is project planning. Whether you are the project manager or you have a professional project manager assigned, take the time to create a plan for the LMS rollout. From this plan, you should have a good idea of your timeline and you should also be able to see if the vendor is going to be able to meet it. Along those lines, request a project plan from your vendor, as well. With both an internal and external project plan, you can make comparisons, make adjustments, and work to conclude the implementation phase smoothly and efficiently.

Next, we will discuss the initial build out, data population, and installation of your LMS.

First, go to your industry network, such as colleagues in the training and development business or your local ASTD or ISPI chapters. Find out who is using an LMS and whether they are truly satisfied with their vendors. You’ll find that a conversation definitely occurs with clients who are extremely happy or fairly disappointed, so be aware of the “horns and halos” effect. Look for patterns in LMS vendors in relation to your networks’ industries, business needs, organizational size, and training needs. When you have a sizable list of vendors, begin your research on your own first.

Visit vendor websites to determine if any of them serve your industry or companies within your industry. That may be a good place to start, since industry knowledge is a definite plus when it comes to your provider. Most LMS vendors include a client list on their websites, so it may be easy to look over the list and find similar organizations. One way to use the information you find is to contact the companies who are listed as clients on the vendor website. Some people may be wary of talking to you, but some may not be. This approach may give you quite a bit of information regarding the vendor.

For the initial contact with a vendor, you may want to conduct short interviews yourself. Use the list you created from the business analysis in order to construct a list of features and be sure to ask the vendor representative about their ability to provide what your organization needs. And don’t forget to run a “hard line” when it comes to getting answers from potential vendors regarding your organization’s business needs. Try to avoid allowing a vendor to “gloss over” the more minor needs; additional functionality can cost both time and money after the implementation has begun.

While you are looking at potential vendors, be sure to create an internal search committee. This group should consist of  members of your organization’s technology staff, an executive sponsor, potential LMS users, department managers, and staff from within the training and development function. Be sure to explain to the group that the interview process should be like finding the right person for a job – and that there should not be a rush to conclude the search. Once you have your group, create a general interview template for the group members, so that they will know what kind of information you will be looking for when the LMS vendors begin to appear in person for meetings and demonstrations.

When you have narrowed down your vendor choices, begin to schedule demos and meetings, ensuring that a majority of your selection committee members will be able to be present. Impress upon the committee that they will need to do their own research and prepare a list of questions for the vendors. And remind the committee that questions need not be general – they can pertain to each committee member and his or her area. Questions can be tough, as well. There should not be a problem with putting a vendor representative “on the spot” or requiring him or her to ask one of their experts for help. After all, the vendor’s goal is to transform your organization from a prospect into a client.

After the first round of demos, meet with your committee to narrow down the choices. Remember that the fewer choices you have the easier the final decision will be. Once you and your committee have narrowed down the field, have the committee come up with a plan for a final meeting and demo before the selection. By this time, each committee member should be encouraged to come up with more questions to ask the vendor.

When your selection is made, it’s time to move on to further due diligence.

Consider how your staff is currently organized. There may not be many staff members, but each one has a function. Or, you may have various staff in various departments throughout the training organization. Break the staff down into functional areas that relate to the LMS, such as administration, design, delivery, development, reporting, and technology. Use these breakdowns as the starting point for your learning organization analysis.

First, look at the administrative function of the LMS. Who is going to be responsible for initial and regular data entry? For example, courses may need to be set up as a one-time event, with classes being added regularly. Will an LMS administrator conduct the one-time set up, and then move class access to instructors? Or will the administrator maintain control of this function? Plus, will there be a data management “checkpoint” person throughout the LMS life cycle?

Next, consider the overall structure of the policies related to LMS usage. For example, what is the passing grade for courses, both online and instructor-led? Will you have a failure policy that leads to a retake? Or are some courses, such as compliance, a pass-fail basis? Will certain course failures need to be reported to managers on a regular basis? In addition to these questions, you’ll need to assess what qualifies required versus elective training, as well as which courses can be taken online and which cannot.

The third sample area is instructional design. Will online courses be designed outside of the LMS, using Flash or HTML, and then packaged for use on the system? Or do your designers simply need access to a pre-packaged content development system, or Learning Content Management System (LCMS)? From your organizational technical analysis, can you determine if the audience is going to expect social media, such as chat rooms, discussion threads, or blogs as part of their learning experience? If so, you may need to find a vendor that offers a Social Learning Management System, or SLMS. In addition to all of this, if your organization has a de-centralized training structure, will managers or subject matter experts need access to the LMS in order to create and post online training courses?

After design, shift your focus to delivery. Will all instructors have access to the LMS? Will each person who teaches a class or course need to access rosters, record attendance, and post grades when each class is completed? Does the organization need to implement a registration deadline so that instructors can prepare for classroom courses effectively? For example, you may want to consider a registration deadline of a day or two before the event if the class is material-heavy. This will be a great way to watch your budget as the LMS gets off the ground.

Another area to consider is professional development. Who within the training organization will manage career paths and development plans, if they are to be included in the LMS rollout? Or are career paths and development plans even necessary at the beginning? In a related sense, who will have access to training participants’ transcripts? For example, some organizations restrict access to employees only, while others allow access by both the employee and his or her direct and/or indirect managers.

Finally, consider the reporting aspect of the LMS. Which managers or executives will need to see class attendance, survey results, and online course completions? Will this type of information be generated as reports on a regular basis for distribution to the key players, or will those key players be allowed reporting access at any time?  In addition, is reporting simply an intra-organizational function, or will it be used to support regulatory compliance for your organization?

This is certainly a “laundry list” of functions, tasks, and potential business needs within the training organization. But if you start here, you’ll have a much better idea of what information and access the training teams need before the LMS is implemented. Next, we will look at vendor selection and demonstration.

To start with, you’ll want to analyze and assess the audience in general. This may seem easy, but some organizations have a diverse population in terms of technical experience, corporate or organizational learning experience, and even willingness to use online or hosted systems in regard to their personal development. In order to assess your audience, you may want to consider a survey that asks the organization’s members about their technical experience, their willingness to register for courses online, their ability to take courses online, and also their perceptions of learning management system tasks, activities, and functions.

Site visits are also helpful when assessing your audience. For example, a manufacturing environment may not allow for widespread access and use of an LMS, but a corporate environment might. You can also learn quite a bit about the population the LMS will serve by simply observing their work habits, as well as those of their supervisors.

Next, take the time to examine what learning is already in place within the organization. If you’ve already centralized training and development, you probably have a good idea of what courses exist, which ones need to be converted to an online format for LMS delivery, and which ones will need to be listed as classroom in the registration functions of the system.  If you have not centralized learning, the implementation of an LMS is a good reason to undertake the task. Various departments within the organization may have their own training programs that need to be “housed” within the LMS environment. Keep in mind that simply pulling training opportunities into the LMS does not mean that the training and development department has to take them over completely – it simply means that training and development must be aware of each offering.

Step three involves technical analysis. Is the organization’s technical infrastructure ready for an LMS? Does adequate bandwidth exist? Do laptops and desktop computer setups have the necessary hardware and software to offer the LMS and online courses? To discover the answers to these questions, form a solid relationship with the organization’s IT decision-makers before you begin LMS vendor demonstrations. This way, you’ll have access to the people who can “make or break” the LMS and its functionality, and you’ll also be able to ensure that there are no surprises during your rollout.

Step four is business-case analysis. Any department within the organization that plans to use the LMS should be asked what functions they may need. For example, departments with a large number of positions and career path possibilities may need to utilize career pathing, course tracking, and transcripts. But small departments may only want to access what the organization provides via the LMS. If you are lucky enough to have a project manager assigned to the LMS implementation, he or she will most likely create written business case analyses for each area as you interview them for their LMS needs. From these assessments, you can create a list of the features and functionalities that are absolutely necessary, “nice to have”, and not necessary. And you can use your list to narrow down your vendors, eliminating those that cannot provide what your organization needs in a learning management system.

The analysis phase of your LMS implementation is perhaps the most important. Without solid facts about the organization, its technology, and its business needs, the LMS runs a high risk of missing the mark. Next, we will look at internal needs analysis, that is, within the training and development organization.

First of all, what is a combined approach? There is no number, such as 50% of content, or “demarcation line”, such as all regulatory training should be outsourced to a vendor. A combined approach will work with the organization’s budget, infrastructure, staff, and audience to come up with the right combination of internal and external content.

So why would you use this approach? Let’s say your organization is investing in eLearning and you have the budget to develop your own content. But you don’t want to get in over your head. In a case like this, you could begin developing internal content for those items that are more efficiently managed, such as those with a major development process at the beginning and minor changes thereafter. Using this content as your own, you can test your system and its infrastructure before going full swing. On the other side of this, you can outsource those items that may test your reserves, such as regulatory training or general industry learning.

As with any of the approaches we’ve discussed, there are benefits and potential obstacles.  Consider the benefits of a combined approach. You may be able to focus your internal staff’s efforts on customizable, branded, internal eLearning programs while giving the vendor the programs that don’t require too much attention. From this, your organization can be introduced to eLearning on a good scale, that is, on a customized, targeted scale. In terms of time, consider the fact that you could essentially be managing and implementing two separate eLearning projects for your organization. In our previous example, what if you could roll out the organization-specific program as well as the industry-related program at the same time? Essentially, a combined approach would allow you to cover more ground more quickly and more efficiently.

But what about the potential obstacles? As we’ve mentioned, cost is one of the most obvious. You may not have the luxury of a budget that stretches to both internal development and external licensing. And if you’re not sure, spend plenty of time examining both options before you decide to use a combined approach. If you and your staff are handling too much as it is, a combined approach could be difficult, as well. Just because you are looking to outsource content management does not mean that there won’t be any management internally. For example, someone has to manage the relationship with the vendor, billing and payment, and quality assurance. Another potential drawback of a combined approach is spreading your SME’s and stakeholders too thin. We already know that an SME most likely has another job, and that he or she is adding training responsibilities to what already exists. If you ask an SME to review internal content as well as externally licensed content, you should make sure he or she understands the extent of work that will be required. You definitely do not want an SME think that you are overloading them.

As you can see, a combined approach is definitely useful in certain situations, but use caution if you plan to embark upon this approach. Think it through completely and you shouldn’t have any problems. And, keep in mind that once you embark upon an external licensing approach, you can always move to an internal development or a combined approach.

Copyright 2010 Your Training Edge. All Rights Reserved.

Bryant Nielson – Strategic Alliance & Acquisitions Director at Financial Training Solutions a division of CapitalWave Inc – offers 20+ years of training and talent management for executives, business owners, and top performing sales executives in taking the leap from the ordinary to extraordinary. Bryant is a trainer, business & leadership coach, and strategic planner for many sales organizations. Bryant’s 27 year business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering. Subscribe to his personal blog at: http://www.BryantNielson.com

In terms of cost, we will examine both time and money. In relation to time, externally licensing your eLearning content can be quick and efficient. Once you decide on the vendor and sign the contract, delivery may be relatively quick. And there is no run-up to full staffing, like you would need to do with internal development. Cost is another potential benefit. Remember that the cost of both approaches will depend on your infrastructure, the number of users, and the current technological condition of the organization. But suppose that most of these factors are in place: a per-head eLearning course may not be a major cost at all, especially up front.

Another benefit of external licensing is in the management of learning. In most cases, a vendor will manage content and delivery for you. In terms of delivery, if participants are visiting a website there is virtually no delivery concern for you. Content management is also a plus. For example, if your organization is highly regulated, the cost of maintaining regulatory training and all the changes that comes with it may be fairly high. But a vendor that specializes in this type of training has a staff that maintains the content. And all you have to do is wait for the update to be pushed out.

In similar context, you will recall that we discussed the necessity of an internal delivery mechanism that will be necessary for internal development. In general, this is not necessary for external licensing. In many cases, the vendor hosts the courses, which means that your users simply log on via the Internet and take a class. Then the vendor provides you with reports on completions.

There are some obvious obstacles that may come along with external licensing of eLearning content. First, consider content control. Just as content management by a vendor can be a benefit, it can also be an obstacle. For example, if your organization’s environment changes rapidly, you may want the control that comes with developing your own content. Customization of externally licensed content is expensive, if it exists at all, and may or may not work exactly for your organization’s audience.

Along these lines, most external content cannot be branded to match your organization’s look and feel. For some organizations, this is not issue. But for some, who spend time and money creating a brand, this can be a deal-breaker. Participants know that they are not accessing an intervention that was created and branded just for them. Also along these lines, you will not be able to target the content to your audience, which in some organizations can be a deal breaker.

We’ve already discussed cost as a benefit, but we have to discuss it as a potential obstacle when it comes to external licensing. Many vendors provide eLearning on a per-learner basis, which can be cost effective in a small organization. But if you have a larger organization and plan to reuse content on a regular basis, the cost can become an escalation. And although you may see some return on investment versus your cost, what happens when the ROI begins to level off? Alternatively, what if your external courses are simply the ones that cannot be priced in terms of ROI unless something goes wrong, like a regulator citation? In this case, the escalating cost may not be worthwhile in the long rung.

As we’ve mentioned, external licensing of eLearning content may be a great place to start with online learning. Once you’ve built up the time and the budget, you can transition to an internal development approach. Regardless, your role is to make the choice of approach based on your organization and its needs.

Copyright 2010 Your Training Edge. All Rights Reserved.

Bryant Nielson – Strategic Alliance & Acquisitions Director at Financial Training Solutions a division of CapitalWave Inc – offers 20+ years of training and talent management for executives, business owners, and top performing sales executives in taking the leap from the ordinary to extraordinary. Bryant is a trainer, business & leadership coach, and strategic planner for many sales organizations. Bryant’s 27 year business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering. Subscribe to his personal blog at: http://www.BryantNielson.com

First, what is external licensing of eLearning? In the simplest terms, external licensing means that you choose and “purchase” courses and programs “off the shelf” from vendors. These vendors, in turn, host the learning, deliver it to your organization, and manage the content for you. We will examine benefits and potential obstacles of external licensing in our next discussion, but you may already see yours developing here.

So what does the external licensing “recipe” require? First, in terms of personnel, you’ll need your staff to choose and review courses and programs. This means that your staff should have, at the very least, assessed the audience for learning needs and outcomes. With this knowledge, your learning and development staff will be able to narrow down their choices of online courses and programs. Along with staff, you may need SME’s or stakeholders to review the courses, as well. After all, you probably do not want to roll out an eLearning program that does not meet the approval of SME’s or stakeholders.

Once you or your staff has narrowed down the choices, you’ll need to estimate how many learners will be accessing the courses or programs. This is a twofold piece of the process. First, you can estimate the cost with vendors using your estimate. Second, you can run the estimate by your internal IT department to verify that this number of learners can access outside applications at any given point in time.

There are, however, other decisions that you will need to make. What method will you use to deliver the training? Some vendors will host the learning program directly for you, which will require participants to directly access the vendor website. Or, if you have an LMS, you may want to have the vendor host through your system. Either way, you’ll still have to have a discussion with IT to determine if the organization’s technical infrastructure can handle the influx of users.

As a training and development decision-maker, you are probably accustomed to budgeting. But when it comes to licensing your content externally, you’ll have to build a budget based on the current year’s cost as well as coming years. For example, if the course you want to license costs $15 per user, you’ll probably want to create an estimate of how many users you’ll have in two or three years’ time. If your organization is in growth mode, this is an important aspect of your budget. And remember that the budget for external licensing of eLearning is similar to leasing a car: the amount you pay on a monthly basis will be recurring over time, with no eventual ownership of the content. Don’t get confused by a vendor using the term “purchase” to describe your arrangement. What you are essentially doing is paying a recurring fee to use the content. In addition, you should also find out if your fees cover updates to content, especially if the content is changeable in nature.

One of the other things you’ll need is an overall process for your external licensing approach. In other words, map out what you intend to do before you ask your staff to do it. Remember that you’ll want to have an analysis or assessment on the front end, conducted by your staff on an internal basis. Once you have this information, you’ll want your staff to begin looking at courses and vendors before you bring in your SME’s and stakeholders. Give that group your best choices so that they are not bogged down with too many vendors and courses to review. Determine your review and approval process, and remember to include cost in that process. There’s no sense in finding a course everyone loves only to discover that you cannot afford it. The point here is take the time to create a process for external licensing.

Now that we’ve discussed the basics of external licensing, let’s look discuss the benefits and potential obstacles of this approach.

Copyright 2010 Your Training Edge. All Rights Reserved.

Bryant Nielson – Strategic Alliance & Acquisitions Director at Financial Training Solutions a division of CapitalWave Inc – offers 20+ years of training and talent management for executives, business owners, and top performing sales executives in taking the leap from the ordinary to extraordinary. Bryant is a trainer, business & leadership coach, and strategic planner for many sales organizations. Bryant’s 27 year business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering. Subscribe to his personal blog at: http://www.BryantNielson.com

One of the primary benefits of developing eLearning internally is the control that comes with it. As the developer and owner of the content, your organization has the ultimate control of each and every word, activity, test question, and evaluation. This means that if your organization sometimes has rapid or constant changes in policies, procedures, products, or regulations that affect training content, you’ll be able to implement those changes quickly and efficiently. Plus, you can tailor your content to your audience so that it makes a long-lasting impact on the learner.

In terms of time, developing internally may take less time once your process is up and running. For example, let’s say you have an instructional designer who manages the SME, develops outcomes, and creates content, and then passes the prepared storyboard on to a course developer who prepares the course for delivery. This process can become very efficient over time-and end up saving time that you might spend testing externally licensed courses.

Cost is also a benefit to internal development of eLearning. Although there may be an initial cost, which we will discuss in a moment, the cost of designing and delivering your own programs may be lower than external development, especially if external courses are paid by the learner. And once you’ve developed a staff, this cost will also be lower in the long run.

Finally, internally developed eLearning can be branded to match your organization. This kind of seamless development and delivery of learning, even across a diverse audience, may have more credibility than an externally packaged program. With your own branding, your courses can match the overall “look and feel” of the organization’s online applications, such as HR, social media, and internal Internet.

What about potential drawbacks or opportunities? Again, keep in mind that just because a potential drawback exists does not mean that your organization must suffer through it. First, the process of developing internally will require you to either re-purpose existing staff or hire new staff that can handle the process. In addition, the staff you manage will most likely be handling both instructor led and eLearning programs.

In terms of delivery, internal development pretty much requires that you have an internal mechanism for delivering and recording online learning interventions. This can be an “off the shelf” LMS or it can be something that is developed by IT within the organization, but you’ll need it. As we mentioned earlier, if you have courses and programs without a delivery method, you’ve wasted your time and effort.

Also, costs in terms of time and money are also potential drawbacks for internal development. Although we have discussed the potential of saving time in the long run, you may find that time expense is much higher in the beginning of internal development. This time includes working out a process, testing and re-testing your delivery method, and breaking in the staff. Costs, as with any new adventure, may be higher on the front end, as well. For example, you may find that you’ll spend more in year one on staffing and technology than in years to follow. In addition, LMS technologies change, and you may want to upgrade at some point going forward. Along with this, you may find that your internal development has become successful to the point that you have to add more staff to handle content development and deployment.

Remember that your role is to determine how the benefits will outweigh the potential opportunities, or to decide that the potential problems are just normal obstacles for your organization. Next, let’s take a look at external licensing of eLearning programs.

Copyright 2010 Your Training Edge. All Rights Reserved.

Bryant Nielson – Strategic Alliance & Acquisitions Director at Financial Training Solutions a division of CapitalWave Inc – offers 20+ years of training and talent management for executives, business owners, and top performing sales executives in taking the leap from the ordinary to extraordinary. Bryant is a trainer, business & leadership coach, and strategic planner for many sales organizations. Bryant’s 27 year business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering. Subscribe to his personal blog at: http://www.BryantNielson.com