Vendors / Courses

How to Select the Best eLearning Vendors and Courses
The current generation of eLearning systems place greater emphasis on content quality and instructional design. In order to stay competitive, organizations needs to constantly update information and to give high priority to vendor selection. First, however, companies must put together an eLearning strategy. They should decide what they are trying to accomplish with eLearning. Who will the audience be? What information will be delivered through eLearning? What does their existing technology landscape look like? Is there some understanding of the budget? What is the compelling business need? And, finally, who would be the potential vendors?

Choosing the best options and vendors for each of the different aspects of eLearning (courses, tracking, skill assessment, portals, etc.) is a serious decision. Of course, it affects employee skills and competencies as well as organizational competitiveness. It also is a critical financial decision that can commit company resources for years. Making an informed decision in the beginning is better than informed regrets after the fact. Following are a few suggestions for selecting vendors:

• Compose a selection team with HR, IT, training, and legal professionals
• Obtain executive budgetary commitment
• Determine what your company’s requirements (current and future) and budgets are before contacting vendors (See the “Key Considerations” section for points to investigate)
• Educate yourself by examining vendor Websites and attending eLearning conferences
• Have vendors give demonstrations (IT team members are important here) Question potential vendors
• Narrow down the vendor list by eliminating unsatisfactory vendors
• Re-assess your company’s needs and budgets
• Send out requests for proposals (RFP) and requests for bids (RFB)
• Ask the vendors questions, more questions, and still more questions
• Speak to current vendor clients
• Evaluate vendor responses and narrow the list of potential vendors even further (IT and legal team members are important here)
• Evaluate vendors
• Have second round of vendor presentations
• Select the vendor
• Negotiate a contract (IT and legal team members are important here)

Moreover, organizations must understand agreements and contract issues, as well as copyright and security issues. Before finalizing a contract, organizations should take care of the following:

Clear Understanding of the Contract
You must understand the contract with your vendor. If you need help understanding the contract with your vendor, get your IT person to sit down with you. If you are going to need customized content, you need to go beyond the sales representatives and ask the vendor’s technical staff, somebody who understands the technology, what is required to provide such content.

Knowledge of the People in the Vendor’s Organization
You need to know about the people in the vendor’s organization. You also need to know the vendor’s tech team. Get to know who’s best at fixing what and ask for them by name. Become the liaison between your IT staff and their technical team. User conferences are a good idea. That’s where you get the most valuable information about key players in a vendor organization. You will also have endless opportunities to talk to all the other people who are doing what you are trying to do and learn what not to do.

Resolve Copyright Issues
Many vendors keep the source files and hold the copyright to them, which prevents the organization from making changes to the program. Retaining the source code gives the vendor tremendous power over the client. If you’re dissatisfied in the middle of the project, you cannot fire the vendor without having to start the project over from scratch. More commonly, when you return to the vendor in the future for minor updates to the program, you may discover that you’ll be charged exorbitant rates for the updates. Without ownership of source code, you have no choice but to pay the high fees because it’s cheaper than creating the program all over again.

Bargain for Competitive Rates
If you own the copyright to the source code and content, you are likely to get competitive rates for time and materials, because you can always turn to another vendor. But remember, you should not accept flat fees or percentage fees for changes. By committing to any agreement for minute changes, you will have to pay higher fees. The best deal is to allow the vendor to charge normal hourly rates and expenses for any future updates.

Security and Related Issues
There are security and firewall issues inherent in any vendor relationship that involves external hosting, of course. There are other security issues as well, such as using Social Security numbers as personal identification numbers for logging on. You must have a clear agreement with your vendor about how these issues will be resolved.

If you are looking for a particular content provider, call existing vendors and ask who they partner with—Who’s going to fit in easily with the products you already have? When you get to the point that you have decided on a vendor and you’re ready to make a commitment, you have to decide where the system will reside. Will the vendor host it for you? Will you build it internally?

Using the Vendor as a Resource
When BMW was making the business case for hiring a new eLearning training manager, it turned to its vendors to provide the data and support it needed. BMW’s content provider delivered a binder of preformatted e-mails, posters, and other materials to generate interest and excitement about eLearning.

A Few Things Outside of the Contract
Finally, you probably expect services beyond your contract. You can try; it doesn’t hurt to ask. But don’t expect it. Know when to push and when to praise. Don’t be the person who cries wolf every time something goes wrong. Commend exceptional performance.

Source
Kruse, Kevin. “Avoiding vendor tricks and traps.” American Society for Training & Development.