Elearning - February/March 2009 - (Page 14)

Trendlines Corporate SaaS to Grow Nine out of 10 companies plan to grow their use of software-as-aservice (SaaS) this year, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. More than one third of respondents (37%) plan to replace onpremises software with SaaS to drive down total cost of ownership (TCO), Gartner found. Those surveyed cited cost-effectiveness and ease of deployment as primary reasons for adoption. Other major drivers included replacing on-premises solutions that had not met performance expectation or changes in sourcing strategy. Most respondents were either currently using SaaS, or planned to use it within the next 12 months. European firms trailed North American companies when it came to plans to increase investments in SaaS or subscription model products. (See table.) The U.S. has been an early adopter of SaaS, with more than 20 percent of respondents indicating use for five years or longer and 60 percent having adopted it in the last three years. There is a firm belief in the market that the current global recession, which will force firms to cut discretionary spending in 2009 and 2010, would see budgets redirected from enhancing on-premises solutions towards SaaS solutions. The full report, titled “User Survey Analysis: Software as a Service, Enterprise Application Markets, Worldwide, 2008,” is available at www.gartner.com. The CMS Conundrum Table 1. SaaS Investments European respondents (yes) Do you expect significant increases in new SaaS investments? Do you expect slight increases in new SaaS investments? N. American respondents (yes) 15% 15% What is the first step in implementing a new CMS? Planning for scalable deployment, according to a whitepaper from SiberLogic. “You should plan to roll out your solution in phases that will not represent too much of a shock to your user community,” the whitepaper insists. “If you have a small team of writers who have been prototyping structured, collaborative authoring prior to deployment, you may well be able to deploy a relatively full-featured CMS with few phases. But in many organizations the documentation team develops and produces their deliverables in an unstructured, document-centric environment, and it will be counter-productive to introduce too many changes at once.” Why be so careful? “A CMS solution often represents a major change to current processes and will not be successful without preparing — not just training — all team members,” the report states. And content contributors are not the only group that need to be involved before deployment. Several specific key factors should be addressed in order to ensure a successful CMS implementation and rollout. For more information on how to download “Preparing for a Successful CMS Implementation, visit the Website www. 2elearning.com. under resource center.” 49% 62% Source: Gartner, Inc. 14 February/March 2009 Elearning! http://www.gartner.com http://www.2elearning.com http://www.2elearning.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Elearning - February/March 2009

Elearning - February/March 2009 Contents Editor’s Note News Social Networking Popular Learning Needs Technology On Competency Management IT Employment Drops Trendlines Deals Learning Roles in Talent Management Informal E-Learning and Web 2.0 Cover Story: Learning Your Way to Profits Collaboration Trends, Strategies 12 Wishes for LMSs, LCMSs Tips: Recession-Proofing Your Job Case Study: Military Training Case Study: City of Arlington, Va. New Products Pop Quiz Last Word

Elearning - February/March 2009

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