Elearning! Fall 2007 - (Page 31) Best of Breed Assembling a Learning Strategy SAAS, BEST-OF-BREED GO HAND IN HAND Increasingly, more and more organizations are turning to Software as a Service (SaaS) technology to implement an LMS that meets their unique business demands and solves their organizational challenges. SaaS, also called “ondemand,” is hosted and supported by a vendor as a service that is accessed by users via the Internet without the need to deploy and maintain an onpremise IT infrastructure. A well-established SaaS vendor focuses on key strength areas to provide “best-ofbreed” solutions that meet the organization’s identified needs on a broader scale. For example, GeoLearning is a pure-play, on-demand LMS platform provider that has developed strong partnerships with industry leaders that offer complementary tools. In addition to its LMS, GeoLearning provides clients with SuccessFactors for performance management, WebEx for Web conferencing and KnowledgeAdvisors for training analytics as part of its overall best-of-breed solution — and therefore offers an integrated suite of functional products and services. SaaS is quickly catching on as the preferred way for organizations to acquire access to business applications because it eliminates all the headaches, hassles and risks associated with traditional on-premises software. The adoption rate for ondemand learning management systems is skyrocketing. According to a research report recently published by Gartner, Elearning! Fall 2007 31 SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE (SAAS) ACCOUNTS FOR UP TO 70 PERCENT OF ALL E-LEARNING AND WEB CONFERENCING, MAKING IT EASIER FOR LEARNING LEADERS TO ASSEMBLE BEST-OFBREED SOLUTIONS THAT DELIVER WORLD-CLASS FUNCTIONALITY QUICKLY AND COST-EFFECTIVELY. B Y S U S A N S WA N S O N Enterprise-wide learning and performance technology has become increasingly complex and more strategic over the last few years. New trends in online learning and an increasing emphasis on learning’s impact on business results have spurred the development of new learning management systems (LMS’s) and an overwhelming array of choices. But costs continue to rise as organizations seek increasingly sophisticated LMS functionality, powerful learning tools and advanced analytics capabilities. In some cases, the high cost of implementing and hiring the IT staff needed to maintain an enterprise LMS has become prohibitive. Compounding this problem is an increasingly dispersed workforce, partner net- work and customer base that requires access to learning from across the country and the world. As the enterprise LMS moves beyond simply operating as a training tool and evolves into a crucial component of a company’s suite of software, the LMS must also be able to integrate with other applications and ensure a seamless user interface and functionality across the spectrum. The challenge for e-learning buyers is how to select an LMS that meets their business needs and integrates with the overall IT infrastructure of the organization.
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