We know that today’s learners are looking for mobile, self-paced, and personalized content which can only be delivered through eLearning. You might be at a stage where you are thinking of either developing new eLearning courses or thinking of converting your instructor-led training into eLearning. You might be looking to outsource your eLearning and identifying the right partner.
Engaging an eLearning vendor enables you to leverage their expertise and to scale up your design and development in a short period. When selecting a vendor, you need to consider many factors before you zero in on one.
In this blog, I talk about five important factors that you need to consider when selecting an eLearning outsourcing partner.
You must consider the following five factors when choosing an eLearning service provider.
The vendor that you chose for eLearning outsourcing should be able to partner with your SMEs and understand the needs of your learners. SMEs are essential to the success of any eLearning projects. SMEs guide the team with relevant content and information and will be involved in approving the content.
Sometimes, your service provider might be located in a different country. In such a case, you may need to face language and cultural barriers. Therefore, in any case, your partner must be able to have clear communication with your SMEs.
A major obstacle in eLearning outsourcing is the knowledge and understanding of the service provider. It is important to understand if the eLearning outsourcing provider knows the latest trends and practices in the industry. Set up a meeting and look at some of the projects they have worked on. You can also request for a demo of similar projects and if possible, speak to some of the team members to alleviate any concerns you may have. It will also help if you can pay attention to their skills, knowledge, and experience levels. Also, don’t hesitate to ask for references.
Confidentiality is a key factor when it comes to eLearning outsourcing. You will be sharing important information with a third party and to ensure the sanctity of the information it is essential to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
It is important to ensure the team members are also committed to maintaining the confidentiality of the information shared with them. The systems and servers of the company should be secure and all data and files that are transferred should be encrypted.
To meet the objectives of an eLearning course, it is important to set up a review process. This is an area which requires your time and commitment. The storyboard must be reviewed at every stage against the learning objectives. Then, the alpha and beta versions of the course should also be reviewed thoroughly. The entire process will help you improve quality and create the best learning experience possible. Check for the review process of your eLearning outsourcing partner before you commit to a project.
In any business relationship, contractual details must be carefully defined to protect the interests of both parties. When drafting the vendor contract, ensure the metrics are clearly defined for success and failure for both the companies. Establish checkpoints throughout the project and define escalation processes if the project goes off the track. Also, to tackle the worst-case scenario, define exit clauses, which will address issues like transfer of knowledge and intellectual property rights.
To conclude, identifying the right eLearning outsourcing partner is the key to the success of a program and to ensure a successful outsourcing experience. When you are outsourcing eLearning, always start with a small project or pilot. Use the experience from the pilot to figure out the right processes and then make the necessary changes and build on your successes.
At Tesseract Learning, our learning and visual architects are constantly innovating and reinventing their approaches to design, develop, and deliver effective L&D programs.
We are leveraging our powerful new microlearning platform, KREDO, to create efficiencies across the training life cycle and to deliver optimal learning experiences.
To know more about our services and how we can be of help to you, contact us or write to me at suresh@tesseractlearning.com.