Recommendations for Building an Extended Enterprise
The leap to create an external-facing e-learning effort from an internal effort might not be as traumatic as some might perceive at first. The Cisco experience presented some insights into external Internet learning efforts:Start now and improve as you go.Business imperatives, rather than development soundness, should determine time to market. If a business problem can be solved through a solution that offers limited features, bring it to market and let the early adopters run with it. Improvements and additions can always be made in response to customer feedback.Leverage industry expertise (partner for partners).If speed to market is a key consideration for creating a reseller learning network, outsourcing components of an Internet learning infrastructure is a valuable strategy. It avoids the pitfalls of reinventing the wheel and reduces administrative pressures on planners.Focus on relevant and timely content.The 80-20 principle works for content selection as well. Planners should deliver content that has a wider audience appeal and should offer resellers anytime-anywhere customer access. Focus first on easy wins with impact.Marketing and IT are key.Coordinating with IT on the development front, even with an outsourced solution, is critical to success. Only through coordination with IT can possible integration issues be identified early in the process. When creating tools for the reseller or partner channel, marketing will eventually bring the solution to market. Sound program management will ensure that both stakeholders are on any task force or team that gets pulled together.Drive solutions from the user perspective, not from available IT tools.Obvious as it may sound, many e-learning projects become a victim of a technology-centric thinking instead of focusing on user needs. Leveraging excess IT capacity for Internet learning is a tempting proposition; however, if the tools and the infrastructure do not offer the flexibility for realizing customer success, the project may be at risk of failing right from the start.Evaluate the funding and resource model.The business model behind a program should be robust. A sound business proposition is easier to sell to senior management for funding. Besides upfront investment in the program, recurring expenses and cash-flow requirements should be identified.Measure and track relevant metrics.Customer success proven through business metrics carries weight within and outside of the organization. Without empirical evidence of success, continued support for the project becomes subject to the vagaries of discretionary budgets.Balance innovation and standardization.Although innovative solutions help to create a buzz around an application, reaching learners should be the primary motivation behind such innovation. Planners should first ensure that quality instruction and communication is enabled at the last mile for the maximum number of learners.Create virtual project teams from the beginning ... and keep them engaged.Cross-functional collaboration ensures necessary alignment with organizations, such as channel development, human resources, training, marketing, finance, and IT. Ensuring sustained representation and input on the project through a virtual team or task force enables organizational buy-in into decisions.Involve executive stakeholders.Executive support and sponsorship is necessary for global adoption of an external learning program that impacts learners across theaters, regions, and channels. Project planners and managers should keep executives tuned to the project outcomes, progress, and impact on revenue.
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