At India Inc, IT is learning time

Learning software aids talent management at Corp India. Chiranjoy Sen explores

WITH increased competition for jobs and the trend being on continuous learning, more and more people are boosting their qualifications online. On top of this, with skilled manpower in short supply, companies in new industry domains like information technology, pharma and retail, are relying on in-house training programmes. The numbers are mind-boggling, the complexities are huge. Adding to the complexity are new skill-set requirements and high rates of attrition. Faced with these vexed issues, what does a company do? Simple. It implements a learning management solution.

   “Learning management systems (LMS) have become an increasingly important tool in business today, not just for the improved training capabilities these systems offer, but also for the business advantage they provide for managing training and tracking regulatory compliance,” says a technology expert.

   That’s exactly what the Hyderabad-based Satyam Computer Services did. It has implemented an organisationwide virtual learning environment – Satyam Learning World (SLW) -to enhance performance of its professionals at the project and service offering levels, and to work more effectively with partners and customers. SLW will include the SumTotal Systems’ Enterprise Suite enabling the tech major to deploy and administer new learning initiatives with higher degree of scalability and flexibility.

   To boot, Aventis Pharmaceuticals, in partnership with IBM, has recently undertaken global implementation of a learning management system based on software from Saba Software. The primary business drivers behind the implementation was facilitation of regulatory compliance by having one system to track, manage, and deliver training globally, using a common platform.

   Says Sudheer Koneru, managing director-India, Sum-Total Systems: “Our products accelerates customer performance and profits by revolutionising management and deployment of talent and knowledge.” In 2005, corporate e-learning has gone up to 28% of all training delivery methods (calculated in number of training hours) as against a measly 8% in 1999.

   What’s critical, Koneru points out, is that implementation of LMS is becoming more a strategic decision, not just a mere HR decision. A Bersin & Associates study says reduction of training costs was the reason only 26% CIOs cited while 34% gave skill implementation and competency management as the prime LMS deployment reasons. The same study also points out that 25% CIOs spelt out managing enterprise-wide initiatives as a key benefit of a LMS system.

   One of the principal drivers of the growth in learning management solutions is e-learning. “The electronic learning market is estimated to touch $21 billion by 2008. According to our own market research and analysis, the e-learning market in India is over $200 million, most of which is carried out in-house. As the market matures, outsourcing of e-learning will also gain a strong hold,” says Karthik KS, founder and CEO of the Bangalore-based privately-held 24x7 Learning Solutions.

   24X7 Learning, with a distinct India focus, draws up end-to-end training solutions across enterprise, academia and government. It enables companies to be successfully globally by upgrading their workforce to compete in the global markets. “We help organisations define their elearning strategy: how to get started, what tools, vendors and approaches to use; how to get effective e-learning at low cost. Says Karthik: “Our LMS product LearnTrak is akin to the administration department of an university/training organisation. Corporate training earlier was packaged, classroom training was a bottleneck, there was a problem of distance, rescheduling was not possible. We focused on these gaps in corporate trainings.” Karthik too says that training implementation is more a organisational decision, not merely a departmental one.

   Training issues in India have become a major bugbear because of the huge skill gap where people like Karthik feel that almost 90% of our graduates and a third of engineers are unemployable. Too bridge this gap, SumTotal is aiming to provide solutions to improve sales channel effectiveness, salesforce readiness, enhance customer service, increasing customer satisfaction, educate a distributed workforce across verticals like retail, healthcare, manufacturing, financial services and hi-technology.

   While strategic manageability and reduction in complexity are more crucial drivers, cost nevertheless is an important factor still — at least among companies in India. “All estimates indicate that e-learning can be delivered at one-third the cost of traditional assisted learning in a sustainable manner. With careful service, the quality can well exceed almost any form of learning,“ says the head of an e-learning institute.