Defining the horizons … A look at some of the past and future of elearning … And how it may be relevant to Harbinger Knowledge Products and Systems

The Indian elearning industry Is largely focussed on services Successful and critically acclaimed products are not easy to make and involve large investments Successfully run projects are the key to revenues … …though a winning product, as we shall see later, can be a critical step towards growth

A step backward: what makes a project tick?

Some critical success factors for projects Speed Cost Quality Client Relationship Skills

Some critical success factors for elearning projects Subject Matter Expertise: leads to more focussed instructional design Innovation in design: leads to a better learner experience Conformance to elearning standards: leads to the project / learning program being widely deployable Measurable returns on the learning: leads to repeat purchase

Concerns about sourcing work from India Language barriers Connectivity Cultural variations in the way work is perceived and delegated Physical distance that may lead to lack of common understanding

Clients are not just concerned about … What is done But also how it is done (because they cannot always see our work and they use it a way of judging reliability, which is so critical in the service industry)

What do clients want to see ? or ‘what achieves the comfort levels that may result in customer satisfaction?’ Process Reviews Sign Offs Past work –what matters is not so much the technology as the attention to detail and –the basis for the course structures and –the diversity of the courses and treatments (simulations, emulations, scenario based learning and so on)

Who are the stakeholders? And what are their concerns? The Training Manager: Will the program be completed on time and on budget? The CEO: Will the program improve the bottom line of our financial performance? The Functional Specialist : Will the program show measurable results in the performance of my division? The Classroom Instructor: Will elearning replace traditional modes of instruction?

Except for perhaps the classroom instructpr, this is just another way of stating the cost-quality- time trinity that we saw earlier

What are most commonly asked questions when an elearning project is initiated? Will it be cheaper? Will it work? Will it be on schedule? Will it be effective?

Will it be cheaper? The cost concern – showing ROI Travel Time / Costs Records and adminstration Cost of participation (learners) Cost of participation (instructors) Development Time Software / Hardware Costs Maintenance Costs Measurable performance improvements Support costs – mailing, printing and the like

Will it be effective ? This needs to be addressed by … –Showing performance improvement vis-à-vis control groups –Informal feedback from the learner –Structured feedback from the instructors

Will it work? A need to address concerns around –Technology per se –Technology as applied to elearning

Will it on be schedule? This has to be addressed by … –Showing a process that has capability, maturity and repeatability –Past record of projects –Certifications / Assessments

Harbinger a medium sized player in the Indian elearning market with extensive experience

Offerings Content Development Services and Repurposing Products – Authoring Tools and LMS –Traditional authoring products like DW, Flash and Toolbook have required some programming knowledge Consulting

Current Presence in the Verticals Engineering Instrumentation Banking and Finance Phamaceuticals Information Technology Process and Chemicals Defense Educational Institutions

Strengths Ability to innovate in products (authoring, connectionless elearning) Expertise in technology solutions and 3-D animations Large development team Professionally managed

Sizing up the Competition In products – Satyam In services – TIS, NIIT, Mentorix In consulting – TIS

Current Presence in the Verticals Engineering Instrumentation Banking and Finance Phamaceuticals Information Technology Process and Chemicals Defense Educational Institutions

Possible ways of sourcing business as an entry strategy Through products (e.g. Elicitus) that could later lead to courseware Through content conversion projects through cost advantages Through third party arrangements for sole provider of technology solutions, once again through cost advantages Through innovative ways of tackling existing subject matter

So what are the sectors one might want to examine?

Elearning in the year that went by … a bird’s eye view (all data as in US Industry Report Oct 2002) Total amount spent on training in the year $ 54 billion Total amount spent on outsourced training$ 15.2 billion Percentage of companies that reported growth in their training budgets (14% reported no growth and 34% showed a decrease) 52% Percentage of companies that had a separate budget for technology based training 24% Percentage of companies that have used case studies / role plays in TBT 85% Percentage of companies who have used computer based games and simulations in TBT 57%

How the verticals fared … a quick glance … Sector% age of companies showing increase in total training budgets Rank Finance / Banking / Real Estate / Insurance 721 Health / Medical Services 692 Retail and Distribution 692 Educational Services / Academic Institutions 418

Technology Based Training in the Verticals … Type of Industry / % of companies Finance / Banking / Real Estate / Insurance Health / Medical Services Retail and Distribution Educational Services / Academic Institutions Having separate budgets for TBT Using Internet / Intranet / Extranet for TBT

More on the verticals – the design vs development face-off Type of Industry / % of companies Finance / Banking / Real Estate / Insurance Health / Medical Services Retail and Distribution Educational Services / Academic Institutions %age of Training outsourced % age designed externally Decision Maker is Training/ HR Decision Maker is Individual Learner’s Dept

The question … Is there a vertical that is –Large –Accessible –Stable and –Growing … that we are not accessing?

A choice … Retail and Distribution vs Higher Education Institutions / Universities

Retail and Distribution in the US today – some observations A $ 2 billion industry and growing at 5-7% The industry is in a maturity phase – so price cutting is common across most categories To counter price cutting, leaders in high-end categories have resorted to better customer service The nation itself is ‘greying’, so the consumer mix has changed More speciality retailers have come up Convenience has become the key due to rise of dual income households and lack of discretionary time (total time – work – play) Influence of IT has grown Online shopping has emerged as a supplement to traditional shopping (but will never replace it)

Ways of classifying the retail players Size Type of stores – from high end speciality retailers to discount stores Benefit offered – convenience vs ‘experience’

Functions in Retailing Site Selection Store Layout Ordering, Merchandising and Planning Customer Service Cash Management and Investment Hiring and retaining staff Pricing Retail Communication and Loyalty Programs

Retail and Distribution : looking inside –Customer Service: Soft Skill based customer contact procedures –Middle Management: Data based operations management and financial management –Senior Management: Data and judgement based strategic decisions

What kind of programs could be built … Customer Service: Soft Skill based customer contact procedural training Middle Management: Data based operations management and financial management training Senior Management: Data and judgement based strategic decision-making training / education These are of course, in addition to standard programs that cut across large organizations such as Social skills Sexual harrassment Legal conformance

How can we approach these? Customer Service: –Screen based emulations –Role plays Middle Management: –numerical simulations of operations –Problem based learning for financial management Senior Management –Game based learning –Scenario Based Learning that could use branching

Who should be approached? Training Managers / Human Resources Senior Management Functional Heads

What kind of skill sets may be required? Numerical modelling skills Instructional Design / Content Creation skills Animation (2-D and 3-D) skills –maybe one could create a virtual store to show progress of consumers and goods Visual Design Skills Programming Skills –(in roughly descending order)

The world of elearning can only grow from here … and retail might just be the next big sector.

Thank you.