Last month, I shared a blog post about the need to understand your organization’s learning culture before attempting to introduce a new approach, such as microlearning. But wait… What is a "learning culture" anyway? You’ve probably heard about your executive team’s desire to build a "strong learning culture," especially if you work in L&D. It’s a pretty popular sentiment nowadays and helps to explain why companies are spending so much money on training—$70.6 BILLION in the US in 2015, according to Training Magazine. That said, only 31% of organizations currently describe themselves as having a learning culture, according to Deloitte’s 2016 Global Human Capital Trends Report. Everyone wants a learning culture. They’re investing piles of cash in it. Why haven’t we figured it out yet? The problem is that many organizations are simply looking at the learning culture concept from the wrong angle. A learning culture is not defined by the volume or quality of learning opportunities. Just because you spend money on training resources doesn’t mean you can shift your culture. There’s a big difference between fostering a LEARNING CULTURE and just providing a pile of learning opportunities. Unfortunately, many organizations confuse these two ideas and believe that a well structured and resourced L&D program justifies the inclusion of "learning" in the list values they have hanging in the lobby. It does not. Fostering a learning culture was the theme of a discussion Axonify, President and CEO, Carol Leaman, and I led during the Learning and Performance Ecosystem Conference in March. (You can check out our full presentation on SlideShare to see how we explored a set of exemplary organizations with well-established learning cultures along with the attributes that helped them put learning at the center of everything they do). I’d like to highlight 4 of those attributes here, as well as describe a few related tactics you can use to strengthen your organization’s learning culture: 1. Velocity An organization’s long-term viability is not solely determined by the quality of its product. It’s now highly-dependent on how quickly the company can evolve in the face of disruption. Just look at what happened to Blockbuster, Polaroid, and (most recently) Yahoo. Organizations must be learning constantly to ensure survival. This extends to all employees, who are being asked to flex in their roles and handle more and more responsibility. To ensure maximum velocity, organizations must shift their talent recruitment practices to identify candidates who have demonstrated proven capabilities to learn —instead of just evaluating them based on past experience and existing skills. Besides this, organizations must also embed learning into every employee’s daily experience at work. Through practical, science-based approaches like microlearning and continued reinforcement, employees can ensure they stay up to speed with the knowledge most vital to their roles. This will also help L&D make better use of traditional, event-based training when needed. 2. Narrative Every company has a story, but it’s important to figure out how this story feeds a consistent narrative to help employees relate their roles to the organization’s larger mission. I always use Disney as my ultimate example. During my time in L&D with the Walt Disney World Resort, we constantly and effectively used storytelling techniques as the foundation of our learning approach to both demonstrate desired behaviors and foster a continued sense of connection and added meaning for the Cast. Every company isn’t Disney, of course. But your employees are generating new stories constantly through their work with peers and customers. How are you leveraging those stories to expose successes and foster a greater connection across the organization? In my corporate L&D work, I have used tactics like blogs, user-generated video and scripted stories within instructor-led sessions to help share these stories at scale. This is also where enterprise social tools come in handy as a way to enable employees to share their own stories in the moment. 3. Teaching Most organizations align the idea of teaching (aka imparting knowledge and experience in structured ways) to specific roles—specifically managers and trainers. Unfortunately, this limits the value of employees who don’t have big titles, but do have plenty of knowledge to share—and often unique ways of sharing it. A learning culture requires an understanding of the subject matter and a big title isn’t a prerequisite. Organizations need to focus on helping employees at all levels to share their unique knowledge, experience and perspective. For example, Pixar holds art classes that anyone in the company can attend, an approach that has recently expanded into the public via Khan Academy. Google is known for driving internal learning with Googlers teaching Googlers. Enabling peer-to-peer teaching in this way not only reinforces the value of the teacher but also positions employees as the foundation of the overall learning culture. 4. Enablement Consumers now control the marketplace. Thanks, Internet! The same is true in the workplace, where employees now have options with regard to how they improve their knowledge and performance. Why trudge over to your LMS and take an hour-long course when you can just Google the problem and watch a 2-minute YouTube video? Organizations must wake up to this reality and, rather than fight it, embrace it by finding ways to enable their employees through right-fit technology. Knowledge must be made searchable and shareable using single-source repositories. Employees should be motivated to use and contribute to these performance support resources. This approach not only enables employees to get the information they need, when they need it, but it also provides an opportunity for them to offer meaningful feedback and strengthen their connection to the larger organization. Your organization has a learning culture—whether or not it’s formally recognized. It’s not up to L&D to build anything from scratch. Yes, learning opportunities should still be a big part of the L&D role, but learning leaders must think about the bigger picture, assess the current state of the learning culture and partner with the rest of the organization—including frontline employees—to find ways to bring these attributes to life every day. As the learning foundation strengthens, you’ll notice that the role of L&D suddenly becomes simpler. Employees will find new ways to share knowledge more easily and solve problems more quickly in the moment of need. In case you missed it, here is the presentation that Carol and I did on this topic a few months ago. Written by JD Dillon The post What’s a learning culture anyway? 4 essential attributes for bringing it to life appeared first on Axonify.

Knowledge sharing has always been an important part of the workplace. Historically, organizations have relied heavily on tenured employees and legally required documentation to help people do their jobs. However, as organizations continue to go global and roles become more and more complex, this dated approach just doesn’t work anymore. The best information remains locked away in the minds of your top performers, only to walk out the door when they leave the company. If this sounds familiar, it’s time for your organization to explore best practices and implement technology that will put the knowledge employees need at their fingertips. Here are my curated insights on knowledge sharing for May 2016: 5 reasons your employees aren’t sharing their knowledge from JD Dillon Shameless self promotion! I wrote this post for my Just Curious Learning Blog to address the "if we build it they will come" mentality many organizations have with regard to employee knowledge sharing. Companies are riddled with empty enterprise social networks and poorly trafficked intranets, but they can’t figure out why. Well, this post explains why—based on my practical experience and several years exploring the concept of workplace knowledge sharing. My most important point: knowledge sharing is more about culture than technology. I will continue to explore knowledge sharing themes via various channels, including the Axonify Knowledge Blog, my personal blog and future conference sessions. The introduction of the Axonify DiscoveryZone will give me a chance to get even more tactical in my discussions and show how the right approach to knowledge sharing, plus right-fit technology, can really make a difference for employees in their moments of need. The six key skills of learning curation from Carole Bower Curation isn’t just about collecting content you like and sharing it back out with your network. To do it right, a curator needs both a well-defined process and commensurate skill to make sure the content they share has value to the audience. Several models for curation have been discussed during the past several years. In this post, Carole breaks down her 6 core skills for effective curation. I’d like to call out the importance of "synthesise," or, as Carole puts it, pulling "all the bits together and to join up the dots to paint a bigger picture." Most people are savvy enough to find disparate content on the internet on their own nowadays, but a skilled curator can help them establish new meaning by strategically putting pieces together and shining a light on previously unrelated information. There is a never-ending sea of content out there - whether it be on the internet or in your workplace repositories. A great curator can bring order to the chaos and help you find the right information to help learn and solve problems effectively. Hopefully, you see my monthly blog posts as a great example of the curation skills Carole presents in her article! How internal blogging with Confluence created a culture of knowledge sharing at APT from Dave Pacifico Here’s a great practical example of the benefits of workplace knowledge sharing. Dave’s organization was growing quickly and realized they had to do a better job keeping everyone updated and informed. Rather than craft a big complicated strategy, the company picked a familiar medium—a simple blog—and gave it a try. I like the organic approach. Rather than dictate how the blog should be used, the company let employees figure it how the platform could be most useful based on their needs. I applied a very similar (and successful) approach to enterprise knowledge sharing while with Kaplan. I actually wrote the company’s only internal blog for several years. It was enlightening to see how often my "work out loud" posts from months prior would transform into reference articles as my ideas were adopted. Dave goes on to share some great steps for getting started with internal blogging, but these ideas can also be applied with other knowledge sharing strategies. If anyone ever questions the value of spending time and effort on sharing your knowledge at work, point them to this article! Learning Insights, naturally from Cammy Bean My last curated entry is a short story from my industry peer and accidental instructional designer Cammy Bean. Cammy tells the tale of how her husband used online resources to fix their air conditioner without the need for formal training. She relates this experience to the inability of employees to solve their own problems on the job due to the lack of shared knowledge. I often use a similar example about broken kitchen pipes when I discuss the value of shared knowledge. Too many companies try to control their employees’ learning experiences, and their reasons just don’t make any sense to me. Meanwhile, in many cases, all employees need are workplace versions of Google, YouTube and Wikipedia so they can apply their natural problem solving behaviors between 9am and 5pm (Monday - Friday). I particularly enjoy Cammy’s reference to "natural learning environments" as a way to put knowledge sharing into an enterprise L&D context. Oh … and plus 10 points for the Willy Wonka reference! That’s a wrap for this month’s sharing on knowledge sharing! Keep an eye on the Axonify KnowlEDGE blog in June for my next collection of articles on a major theme from the world of workplace learning. For a behind-the-scenes look into my curation efforts, follow me on Flipboard, where I post new articles on a variety of L&D themes every day. Written by JD Dillon The post Curated Insights: Why knowledge sharing at work is a good thing appeared first on Axonify.

We’re just a few days away from the BIGGEST event on the learning and development industry calendar - 2016 ATD International Conference & Expo. Axonify will be in Denver to meet new people and share our approach to modern workplace learning. You can find us at Booth 139 in the Expo Hall throughout the event. Be sure to say "hi" if you spot one of us in the halls or if we happen to attend the same sessions! Speaking of sessions, we’d love if you would attend Escape Extinction! 4 Ideas for Restoring Relevance to L&D on Tuesday, May 24 at 3 pm in room 217. During this one-hour session, Axonify CEO Carol Leaman and I will discuss the evolving knowledge needs of today’s employees and share examples of how we have helped numerous companies improve their learning ecosystems and achieve considerable business results. Here’s a special sneak preview of 4 key points we’ll discuss during our session: The workplace has changed, but L&D has not. There’s no doubt that organizations have come to understand the value of workplace learning. 84% of executives rate learning as an essential part of their strategies, and $70.6 BILLION was spent on corporate training in the U.S. in 2015. Despite this acknowledged importance, L&D-provided resources are often the least-valued learning opportunities used in the workplace. This disconnect is the result of L&D’s failure to keep up with changes in the workplace and the people they support. Traditional strategies, such as event-based training and eLearning, are not sufficient to drive the knowledge and behaviors employees need to do their jobs and deliver the expected results. To avoid an extinction of irrelevance, L&D must evolve its strategies and tactics to align to the modern workplace ecosystem. Tying learning to business results is not only possible but essential. L&D has been historically and regrettably unable to connect their efforts to measureable business results. For many L&D professionals, the concept of ROI fits into mythical workplace lore somewhere between the sasquatch and a unicorn. Regardless of effort, this disconnect leaves L&D open to scrutiny and unable to provide its value to the overall business. The "right thing to do" approach is no longer sufficient to justify the investment in workplace learning. No, I’m not saying that everything L&D does to support performance must be tied to a definitive ROI. However, L&D must work with stakeholders to identify key pain points and implement strategies that address performance problems in meaningful, measureable ways. If you can’t answer the question "How will we know it worked?" then why do it? You’re supporting humans first, employees second. The brain works how the brain works. While we still don’t know all that much about it and—of course—everyone is unique, people are people and therefore have inherent capabilities and limitations when it comes to learning. To effectively leverage the science of learning, L&D must provide resources that are built the way humans naturally consume and share knowledge. We can’t overcome human nature just because we expect our employees to learn EVERYTHING they need to do their jobs as quickly as possible. One important consideration is the proper "sorting" of knowledge based on expected use. Employees cannot be expected to know everything. Therefore, L&D must separate knowledge that must be retained from that which can be referenced on the job. Learning strategies, such as spaced repetition and retrieval practice, along with performance support resources, including on-demand knowledge sharing and job aids, can then be provided in alignment with these expectations. Their context is more important than your strategy. Have you ever been told "I don’t have time to learn today" by one of the people you support? This statement speaks to not only a possible misperception of learning within the organization but also a misalignment in learning strategy. The workplace is called the workplace because the focus is on WORK—not learning. Therefore, L&D must align its strategies to fit within the context of the workplace and not require unnecessary time and effort from employees who are likely quite busy and possibly stressed out. Microlearning is one approach that can be used to overcome this challenge, as bite-sized and on-demand content fits more easily into natural gaps in an employee’s day. It’s also important for L&D to understand employees’ workflows so they can position learning opportunities at the most opportune moments and locations (physical and/or digital). It’s not enough for employees to find time for learning. They must be as open and ready to receive new knowledge as possible to ensure proper focus and retention.   I hope to see you at our Escape Extinction! Session so you can hear the full story and grab a few practical ideas to improve your learning and performance strategies. If you won’t be in Denver, check out our full presentation on SlideShare, and share your insights and questions via comments below. We’ll also be live tweeting during the event using #ATD2016. Be sure to follow @Axonify and @JD_Dillon. Written by: JD Dillon The post ATD 2016 Sneak Peek - 4 Ideas for Restoring Relevance to L&D appeared first on Axonify.

#ATD2016 is the biggest learning and performance event of the year. With more than 10,000 L&D pros from across the globe in attendance in Denver, Colorado and an expo the size of 2 football fields, it certainly felt like it! Our Axonify team was on the move throughout the conference. Carol Leaman and I presented 4 ideas for restoring relevance to L&D. The team had countless great conversations and met plenty of amazing people. We hosted a fun cocktail reception for our friends and partners. We were also honored with the award for Best Island Booth during the expo, thanks to our display as well as the friendly and informative support we provided to attendees who stopped by.   With so many people engaging in so many conversations during so many sessions, you’d think it would be super difficult to narrow the emergent themes to a short list for this blog post. And it was—at least at first. However, after a few conversations, a 3-hour plane ride and a good night’s sleep, I landed on 4 core themes to summarize #ATD2016. 1. Vulnerability  The idea of embracing vulnerability was prominent throughout the conference. In my Escape Extinction! presentation, I spoke about the inherent vulnerability required to support continuous learning in the workplace. To learn, we must first be vulnerable enough to admit that we don’t know and we need help. This is often a sticking point for organizations that are culturally afraid of failure and may therefore look down upon—or even punish—a lack of knowledge rather than frame it as a learning opportunity. Keynote speaker, Brene Brown, echoed this idea. She discussed the nature of trust and vulnerability as it relates to organizational leadership. To quote "Vulnerability is not weakness. It’s our most accurate measure of courage." I believe this same courage must be supported within our organizations to promote continued learning, strategic agility and performance improvement. Brown was simply amazing! She connected with the audience in a very natural, unassuming way and effectively layered storytelling, research and humor. Check out her popular TED Talk ‘The power of vulnerability’ to get an idea of what it was like to attend her keynote presentation. 2. Learning Tech Evolution (Moving Beyond the LMS) Several sessions focused on learning technology. In one session, the presenter began by asking how many people like their learning management system (LMS). Zero of a possible 300 hands (2 per person of course) went up. This sentiment was echoed during many conversations throughout the event and it isn’t new. (I can empathize from my years within corporate learning). However, L&D pros now have an even stronger understanding that right-fit technology is needed to support modern workplace learning. They are looking for technology that not only pushes content at their audiences, but also allows employees to pull information on-demand when problems arise on the job. This technology must adapt to the needs of each employee and provide actionable insights into learning and performance within the organization. The good news? This technology exists! The L&D community must keep asking questions and realize that there are better options out there (such as Axonify) to support the knowledge needs of today’s employees. Complaining about legacy tech isn’t enough. It’s time to take action and leverage tools that are built for the modern workplace. 3. Formal Training Tactics vs. Big Picture Strategy While sessions on an array of topics were well-attended, much of the chatter centered on formal training concepts, including eLearning authoring software, PowerPoint, leadership development and instructional design. Formal training tactics are and will continue to be an important part of workplace learning. However, as research has shown, traditional training isn’t enough. L&D pros must shift mindsets and become connectors first, creators second. They must embed learning in the workflow and help employees share their knowledge to truly scale workplace learning. Our formal training offerings can then become a more strategic way to support the organization’s learning ecosystem. The evolution has begun, but we still have a ways to go. While there are certainly conversations taking place regarding big picture workplace learning, they can still be drowned out now and then by the more familiar discussions of tools and instructional strategies. Of course, in the case of #ATD2016, this chatter may have been the result of who was in attendance and the roles they currently play within their L&D teams. What do you think? 4. Community is more than an event. I’m always energized by the opportunity to spend 3 or 4 days immersed in the world of L&D with people who are as passionate as I am about helping people do their jobs better. That said, it is only 3 or 4 days. What about the rest of the year? After all, community is more than an event! Too many L&D pros wait for these scheduled IRL (in real life) moments to engage with the larger professional community. Then, they go back to work and get overwhelmed by projects and deliverables. Meanwhile, their organization is trying to solve the exact same problem that many others face,but going at it alone. This isn’t a matter of time or money. It’s about effort and commitment. L&D pros must engage continuously with the community for their own development as well as the betterment of their organizations. We have tools like Twitter, Slack, Blab, Google and LinkedIn. We have professional organizations like ATD and the eLearning Guild. Let’s take advantage, create personal learning networks (PLNs) and dedicate the same amount of effort into improving ourselves that we put into improving our organizations. Everyone will benefit! There are my 4 big takeaways from #ATD2016! Thanks to everyone with whom I had the chance to interact at the show. It was a great event! If you were in attendance in Denver, what did you think? If you didn’t attend, I highly recommend keeping an eye on the #ATD2016 hashtag on Twitter so you can review the various recaps and perspectives that are being shared as your peers return to work. Written by: JD Dillon The post 4 Themes from #ATD2016 appeared first on Axonify.

Meet Millennials. Described as demanding job hoppers with little loyalty, they’re projected to make up half of the workforce by 2020. So, if you haven’t taken notice, it’s time to pay attention. The future success of your business depends on it. A few of the many Millennials of Axonify Millennials know what they want and aren’t afraid to go after it - even if it means leaving what appears to be a dream job for a risky venture at another firm. So, how do you keep a talent pool of Millennials on your payroll for the long term?  How can you help them perform today and develop into tomorrow’s leaders? The answer is through learning. But not just any learning. Don’t expect your 20-year old training methods to work:  this generation has high expectations and little patience. To retain, engage and push this generation to perform at their best, learning at work must mirror how they learn in everyday life. Here’s what Millennials want: Quick and Instant Info. In today’s distraction-riddled workplace, Millennials have no interest in sitting through lengthy training sessions, or reading "how to" manuals and books. They want learning that reflects real-life interactions (think Twitter and Google): short, to the point and immediate (e.g. I’m doing something in my job. How do I do it?). That means, if you want to grab their attention, you’ll need to swap out lengthy classroom sessions for bite-sized learning modules that take no more than 5 minutes of their time. Mobile Access. Millennials are the first generation of "digital natives" and would be lost without their mobile devices. The good news is they’ll embrace learning that’s available via an app—even logging in after hours if it’s really compelling. So, get rid of the notion that learning has to happen in a formal setting and let them learn whenever and wherever they want. You’ll get far better results if you give them more freedom. Social Elements.  Millennials are communicating constantly via email, text and social networks. They’ve established their comfort zones around peer support.  They thrive in this environment. And they react positively to social feeds and discussion groups.  They’re also intensely motivated by a sense of value, and want the opportunity to contribute to the organization’s success in a variety of ways, such as participating in knowledge crowdsourcing. This means you need to stop locking up content behind closed doors and start making it accessible. A central repository of learning content that enables and encourages collaboration allows the entire organization to benefit from shared knowledge. And the more Millennials are able to participate in contributing their knowledge and ideas, the more they’ll feel valued and engaged. Plus, you’ll also benefit from hearing their point of view. Entertainment.  Gaming is embedded in the psyche of Millennials, and they’ve grown to look for entertaining, engaging experiences wherever they go. If learning can be made fun, and offer challenges and a bit of competition, this generation will just eat it up!  After all, why should training be boring? By changing this mindset and gamifying the experience, learning becomes something that they want to do, rather than something they have to do. And when they want to learn, they will participate more and elevate their performance, benefiting the organization as a whole. Personalized Experiences. Millennials are accustomed to app personalization technology, and have little patience for generic anything. They expect learning content to be relevant to their needs and timely. Otherwise, they’ll tune out or just not bother to complete the learning module. With today’s technology, there’s no reason all employees should receive the same type of training anyway. Personalized learning just makes much more sense from a development standpoint for everyone across the organization. So, if you’re serious about attracting and retaining Millennials, it’s time to change your approach. Give them learning opportunities that appeal to the way they want to learn, instead of forcing them to adhere to old-school methods that just don’t work. The secret’s as simple as that. Written by: Carol Leaman The post The secret to attracting and keeping millennial workers appeared first on Axonify.

Extended enterprise learning is all about business.  The business of training your non-employees.  The business of making money, accelerating growth, furthering your reach, streamlining your processes and achieving competitive separation. Extended enterprise learning is a business weapon wielded by the wise to build communities of customers, partners and resellers and provide them learning interventions to measurably change behavior.  The measurable change results in more sales of your primary products and/or your content and happier customers. To push out and manage training to external audiences you need an extended enterprise LMS which is a special kind of LMS that does most of what an employee LMS does but also much more.  Mobile focused, NextGen user interface, social learning, ecommerce, gamification and marketing automation are just some of the key features needed to support external audiences. So what are some ways to drive profit with an extended enterprise LMS?  Here are ten good examples: Sell Content - If there is one thing that an extended enterprise or training for business LMS must do - it must be able to sell content to individuals and/or organizations. Continuing education, assessments, aggregated content, proprietary content, books, kits, conferences, instructor-led, webinars or guides can all be sold to relevant audiences to create a primary or complimentary stream of revenue for your organization. Certify External Partners - Many organizations distribute their products and services via external partners, distribution channels, value added resellers, agents, dealers or franchises. Partners are certified as an organization based on a certain number or percentage of management, sales and service employees that are individually certified.  The end customer gets the advantage of the best technology, restaurant or retail solutions delivered with local professionals that have the proven knowledge, tools and business processes at their disposal. Organizations utilize an extended enterprise LMS solution to create programs of study and assessment to ensure a certain level of mastery to achieve a certification. Automate Partners’ Employee Onboarding - Once you have a certified partner and an extended enterprise LMS in place, best-in-class organizations provide the training and tools to help partners shorten the onboarding time of their new employees. The faster your partner’s employees can start effectively selling or servicing your product the more value.  Most organizations have an internal employee onboarding process and training programs that can be inexpensively modified to be applicable for the external channel for a fee or free. Accelerate New Product Rollouts for Channel-With every new product and service released, a targeted training and certification program is a fantastic way to drastically reduce time to market, maximize channel awareness and positively impact rollout success. Tying LMS gamification and awards to partners that certify on the new products the quickest or the best is a great motivational strategy.    Prospect Education -Continuing education providers, universities and corporations are now utilizing MOOCs (massive open online courses) and other free content as a loss leader to bring in new potential customers. The content needs to be relevant and great to convert prospects into customers.  Prospect learning helps the selling organization accelerate the sales cycle by letting prospects do most of the sales work by educating themselves. As customers educate themselves they voluntarily absorb knowledge about products and services without costly active involvement from the sales force or channel. Free Webinar!  Want to Drive Profit from your Extended Enterprise?  How to Find the Right EE LMS for You - Register Now! Onboard New Customers - Many companies use an extended enterprise LMS to provide free and recommended content based on their recent purchases. Helping your customers use your products better results in happier customers, less support calls and a more engaged client base.  Once you have your customer in your LMS, you can then cross-sell and up-sell by providing complimentary product training or engage in drip marketing to broaden customer awareness of your products and services.  There is no easier place to get another sale than from an existing customer.  Public Service Education - Corporations, governments, non-governmental agencies like the Red Cross need to educate the public on a multitude of topics. Emergency responders, veterans, business owners and job seekers are all examples of the public audience that needs to be trained and it’s not always for free.  The extended enterprise LMS is a preferred delivery method because of low cost of distribution and the ability to measure effectiveness and change in behavior.  Avoid Contract Workforce Compliance Violations — Compliance violations can cost lives at the worst and significant fines in the least and can be solved with a good extended enterprise LMS.  In the retail, energy, transportation, construction and other regulated industries, many workers are an ever rotating group of contractors or seasonal help.   An extended enterprise LMS allows organizations to easily deliver compliance content and verify compliance in a case of an audit or accident with these audiences. Solve Customer Support Problems — Every time a customer contacts your customer support it costs you. You may not be able to avoid all support calls, however, you can minimize the volume of support incidents by designing targeted learning that gives customers all the tools they need.  You can even push training to targeted groups based on call center interactions.  Decreased support calls and trouble tickets translate directly into higher profits - more importantly it translates into more satisfied customers. Expedite Global Expansion — In today’s world of cloud based LMS solutions, any organization can afford a global platform ready to support new channel partners and customers. Through the use of language localizations for both the LMS platform and content, multi-currency commerce and global tax management, it is cost effective to penetrate into new regions at a fraction of the cost of just a few years ago. Conclusion If you are stuck in HR training, break out.  Training external audiences as a business is the way to go.  With external audiences learners consume content because they want to and you want them to because it has a measurable impact on your business.  Whether you want to drive partners to sell more, provide more value to customers or engage the public, get yourself an extended enterprise LMS and start making a difference!   Need Help Finding an Extended Enterprise LMS? Fill out the form below to schedule a complimentary call with myself, John Leh. First Name* Last Name* Title* Email* Company* Tell us about your LMS woes Comments This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Thanks for reading!   The post Ten Ways to Drive Profit with an Extended Enterprise LMS appeared first on Talented Learning.

You need to attract more prospects, train your customers and external sales channel and you heard that this LMS thing can solve your problems.  You Google "LMS" and you find 600 LMS companies, countless advertisements and hopefully a few of my articles. When reviewing the LMS vendor websites, you find it is difficult to discern a difference between the LMS companies and their offerings. You have been tasked to find qualified LMS options for your organizations but it is impossible to qualify all 600 solutions in any reasonable time or cost effective manner.  I know, I’ve tried.  In the last nineteen months, I have only been able to review 90 of the 600 LMSs.  Here is what I found though.  Each of the 90 has met some business need uniquely and a bit better than the other 89. Unique LMS differentiation is based on varying combinations of the LMS vendor’s experience, services provided, regional focus, industries served, functional capabilities, technical sturdiness, license approach, and ongoing support provided. The best way to prepare for the vendor community and find viable solutions efficiently is to have your ducks in a row before you start knocking on LMS vendor doors.  Once they have you in their sights, be prepared for an onslaught of information and sales contact. You need to know your business case, functional requirements and desired professional support needs before you enter that phase or there will be too much noise to sort through intelligently. Before speaking to vendors, I recommend defining the following:   Tip #1 - Define your LMS Business Case Any wise "training as a business" (extended enterprise) LMS buyer knows all the questions and answers about their business case.  You don’t buy a business LMS without knowing how you are going to achieve much more benefit than the cost of the LMS and overall program.  Business cases for an extended enterprise LMSs are usually pretty easy to develop.  Answer the following questions and you will have the start of yours. Who are your intended LMS audiences?  Is it your channel, partners, members, customers, prospects, employees, students, general public or all?  Some LMSs are generalists that do it all (more expensive) and others specialize in an audience type or business function (less expensive). What are the measurable success criteria?  Are you trying to drive content sales, channel sales, # of channel partners, customer renewals, customer satisfaction, product rollouts or global expansion?  What percentage increase or decrease in your metrics constitute success?  Do you have a plan in place to measure current metrics and future metrics to determine the return on investment gain of your learning technology efforts? Do you have budget yet?  It is really important to know your budget status internally and shop realistically.  There is no sense looking at a Ferrari when you have $10,000 to spend.   Is budget allocated, how much, when and for how long?  Do you know the internal process to actually spend the budget? Do you have 3-year usage predictions?  You can’t get to a realistic price evaluation of LMS solutions without having usage predictions.  Who is your target audience(s)?  How big is the audience?  How will you reach them?  How often will they visit the LMS or buy content?  How will the audiences grow over time?  LMS pricing models vary widely.  Being armed with predicative data will allow you to get apples-to-apples comparative pricing.  It also helps vendors get a true understanding of the scope of the opportunity over time and facilitates pricing based on the growth vs. just the initial starting usage. What industry do you live in?  Many of the 600 LMS vendors specialize in industry solutions and provide a compelling mix of product and industry expertise.  If your extended enterprise or training for business LMS is targeting audiences in a specific industry, that is important to note and Google - "LMS for CMEs" or "LMS for Associations."  I am a firm believer that a vendor’s industry experience is an important differentiator because previous clients have educated the vendor and helped close industry product gaps.   Want deeper information about Training for a Business LMSs?  Free Webinar!  How to Find the Right LMS for You - Register Now!   Tip #2 - Define Functional and Technical LMS Requirements Maybe you are not an LMS requirements expert and you don’t know what the hundreds of features actually mean when you look at the available RFP templates or vendor websites.  Not to worry, you can use common sense to at least create a high-level requirements analysis to use as a lens to qualify LMS vendors.  If you can answer the following questions, you will have a head start on your requirements and you can shop for an LMS solution for your training business more effectively: What are the functional use cases?  How is the intended audience going to interact with the LMS?  Do they need to search and find content?  Will content be purchased and assigned to them by others?  How will your audience find the site?  Get accounts?  Who will be administrating?  Delegated administrating?  Who will need reports? Just write simple sentences of the "use cases" or how people will use the site. Those can drive your requirements. Are you going to sell content?  Not all extended enterprise initiatives involve selling content.  Often content is free for customers, volunteers and public education programs.  If you don’t need ecommerce capability that is significant in terms of LMS options and cost.  If you are going to sell content… Are you selling to organizations or individuals?  Although some ecommerce capable LMSs can support both scenarios well, many LMSs specialize in one or the other.  When selling to organizations you need to support bulk content purchases, vouchers, debit accounts, credit accounts, purchase orders, electronic checks to facilitate new and renewal purchases.  If to individuals, you need to browse the content, see comments and ratings, place content in shopping cart and have a secure checkout. How global are you?  There are varying degrees of global capability in modern LMSs.  Deploying content in one language to many countries is much different than managing many language localizations of content and LMS interfaces.  The former can be supported by most any LMS, the latter by a certain few.  Add the tax complexity created by selling content globally and your LMS choices dwindle further.  Be clear about what you really need here.  The fewer the LMS choices, the higher the price. Do you need to share data with other systems?  The sharing of data with other systems in your technological ecosystem is an important automation step for things like account creation, email marketing, external commerce purchases and reporting.  What systems need to talk with the LMS?  What data needs to be shared? Why?   Vendors are all over the board on their support for integrations and it is important to know what you need so you can ask for it. What learning media do you need to manage?  Instructor-led, virtual classrooms, videos, documents, SCORM, xAPI, AICC, podcasts, MOOCS or what?  Not all LMSs manage all types, so it is critical to be specific in what you need to manage. Social and Gamification?  This feature set usually comes at a premium cost not worth paying for if you don’t have a tangible plan to utilize.  Building a social community is critical for any successful extended enterprise initiative but existing corporate social platforms, LinkedIn Groups, Twitter and Facebook work great also and are free.   If you require a social LMS, be specific in what you need and what use cases you want to support.  You will find all LMS vendors say they are social and leave it to the buyer to define how social is social. Mobile?  Let me answer for you.   Yes.  Mobile first and only in the extended enterprise.  Since extended enterprises audiences are not your employees it is impossible to account for all the different devices, browsers and platforms used to access the LMS so you have to be prepared for all.  Modern fully responsive LMSs that change their content arrangement and menus dynamically on any device and give you more mileage and less headaches than a downloadable mobile app strategy. Are you selling or managing continuing education credits?  Most LMSs are not good at managing the complexity of multiple credit types, multiple accreditation bodies and varying regulatory requirements of professional continuing education.  If you need to sell or manage CE, CME, CNE, CPE, CPD or CLE, you need a very special kind of LMS. Technical requirements or limitations?  Do you need things like on premise solution, 21 CFR Part 11, CDN, stage/testing environments, GSA, global scalability, load-balancing, high concurrency, PCI, security audits, rapid disaster recovery and 99.99% (or higher) availability?  If so, make the vendors aware in the first communication to weed out the weak.  Serious vendors won’t be shy talking about and proving their SLA (service level agreement) and track record.   Tip #3 — Define LMS Pro Services Requirements There are currently 3 types of LMS vendors out there.  Those that provide no services, those that provide core implementation and launch services and those that provide full service business consulting.  A big mistake buyers make is buying a full service LMS and try to skimp on the services.  Conversely, expecting help and guidance, but buying a "free trial" cloud LMS isn’t any better.  Just like dating, it is best to stay in your league.  Here are some questions to ask yourself: Is this your inaugural LMS effort?  Many extended enterprise initiatives start small and grow through measurable success.  If this is your first effort, you don’t need to worry about all the bells and whistles.  You need to attract users, have content and make the match.  With the evolution of the true cloud LMSs, buyers can create a trial site in minutes and eventually this turns into a paying live site when the trial ends.  Higher end vendors offer free proof of concept sites which is essentially a free trial or sandbox tailored to the exact business need at hand. Is this a replacement LMS effort?  If you have an LMS and want to buy a new one, migrate your training history and content and recreate (improve) your HRIS, ERP, AMS, Single Sign On integrations and train your administrators, you need to look for vendors that have a defined implementation process with an assigned project team - not just one "business consultant" helping when you ask.  Typically, none of the free trial LMSs provide this level of support. Is the LMS purchase mission critical?  All LMS purchases are important but some are business mission critical especially in the association, channel and customer space.  The LMS in these instances is a core business tool, success is mandatory and a full service business consulting LMS partner is needed.  These type of LMS providers help with business case development, strategy, social marketing, ROI measurement, 24/7 end user support services, localization services, integration services, ongoing improvement services and content development in addition to typical implementation services.   Conclusion I sold high-end LMSs successfully for over 13 years and generated over $50,000,000 of LMS license and service revenues.  I now help LMS buyers buy LMSs.  In my experience with both sides of the equation, training for a business or extended enterprise LMS buyers that know the above information have the best chance of navigating the stormy seas of 600 vendors and finding the right LMS for them. Thanks for reading!   Learn How to Find the Right Extended Enterprise LMS for You Free Webinar — August 28th, 2015 - 12:00pm-1:00pm EST - Register Now! Join John Leh, CEO & Lead Analyst at Talented Learning and Tamer Ali, President of Digital Ignite for this exciting, informative and fast paced session that will outline: Best uses of extended enterprise training Why training as a business is different than training employees Key features needed to attract users and sell content Tips to defining your extended enterprise requirements What to look for in extended enterprise LMS vendors Real-life case studies demonstrating some of the latest user attraction and engagement techniques If you are focused on attracting new users, building a community, selling content and being a profit center in your organization, this webinar is a must attend event for you! Register now even if you can’t attend at this time and we will send you a link to the recording of the session as well as our research paper on this topic. The post 3 Tips to Finding the Best Extended Enterprise LMS for You appeared first on Talented Learning.

By Gauri Reyes, frequent contributor to the Daily Mindflash blog Online training is an effective way to arm your partners and value-added resellers with knowledge. It’s scalable—you can train thousands at once while retaining your own corporate brand in the training materials. A highly trained, extended sales force can increase your revenue through increased sales of your products and services. And, you can sell your online training courses themselves to your partners and resellers, should you choose to do so. When creating an online training program for your partners and resellers, consider the following topics:   Convey the Company Culture Your partners and resellers are effectively an extension of your sales force. As they are often in front of your end customers and are effectively representing your products and services, expose them to your company culture, norms, behaviors, values, beliefs, and vision. The more you align your culture with theirs, at least when it comes to reselling your products and services, the more you can ensure a unified, positive experience to the end customer.   Opportunity Registration & Dispute Resolution If you work with multiple resellers, your resellers could potentially compete for the same opportunity with the same end customer. Avoid sticky issues and reduce inter-reseller conflict by covering topics related to how to register customer opportunities, rules of engagement, and how to resolve disputes when two or more partners claim the right to call upon a customer.   Ask for a Performance Make partners prove that they’re ready to go in front of your customers. You can stipulate that partners complete a minimum set of courses, or a series, before they are allowed to resell your products/services. You can set up training-based certifications and accreditation to give them the official stamp of approval that they’re qualified to sell for you. Also, consider asking your partners to complete a "homework assignment" to prove that they’re ready to hit the ground running. For example, ask a partner to present a product pitch to you (via video, for example) to prove their sales-readiness.   Position Top-Producers as SMEs If you have certified or named partners who have shown loyalty and dedication to your company by achieving a target sales number or other goal, consider positioning them as the "in team" as part of your reseller rewards structure. Beyond providing wholesale discounts, financial rewards or other perks, ask these top-producers to be your subject matter experts (SMEs) for other resellers. And, when possible, ask these SMEs to create additional online training modules for you, to add to your repertoire of reseller training content.   Ping Partners on their Training Needs What do your partners want to better understand about your product/service? What do they need from you in order to effectively partner with you? What existing training content needs to be updated to reflect the rapidly changing marketplace? In addition to phone, email and face-to-face conversations, utilize your LMS as another method to gather feedback. Incorporate online quizzes and surveys in your online training and open up two-way communication through online collaboration tools to ensure that you are creating compelling training content and supporting your partners’ ability to sell your product and services.   What are the best LMS solutions for channel, partner and resellers?   Find out at the 1st Annual Talented Learning LMS Awards Ceremony on October 21st @ 12:00pm EDT !  Don’t miss it!   Reduce Churn Rate Process efficiency is imperative, both internally and externally. Look for ways to streamline communication and reduce the need for lengthy conversations, questions, and problem-solving sessions. Comb through the list of frequently asked questions by partners and resellers and create training content that addresses all questions. Provide clear instructions on who to call when, how to escalate issues, how/who to engage for specific types of questions, and where to find needed information on your website. Weave all these points into engaging, informative training and you’ve got a module that addresses a true business need.   Promos, Incentives, Offers…Compliance Ideally, online training will be completed by every one of your partners or resellers, resulting in 100% compliance. Promotions, incentives, offers and other perks help towards increasing training completion rates. Consider adding a training module that covers these perks (formal online certifications, continuing professional education credits, prizes, giveaways, rewards, volume discounts, etc.) to ensure that all your partners are aware of the rewards of completing (and learning) your online training offerings.   Positioning and Messaging Conveying your product positioning and messaging to your partners is required. Create training content that covers what to say (who to target, etc.) to successfully sell your products and services, and what not to say (who not to target, etc.). Likely, this type of training will require frequent updates, so work content upgrades into your program plan.   Your Products and Services Sensational training on your specific products and services is the crux of any partner or reseller training program. Product training is often the most boringly-delivered training content of all. But, without real product knowledge, at least functionally if not technically, partners or resellers will not be able to consistently deliver effective sales presentations in the field. Pull out all the stops to create unforgettable online training on your products and services.   Reduce, Reuse, Recycle—Create a "Green" Training Program Part of the value-add of online training is the ability to reuse content. If you view your partners and resellers as an extension of your workforce, chances are that a significant portion of your online training for your internal employees can be repurposed for your partners and resellers. Conversely, partner and reseller training (training on products, internal escalation paths and dispute resolution, and company culture, as examples) could be reused for internal employees. Also, portions of your partner and reseller training might be appropriate for your end customers. If you’ve created excellent training content for one group, maximize your benefits by repurposing that content for other groups. What topics do you find invaluable in your training programs for partners and resellers? What order would you list the topics (from least to most conventional use of training for these groups)?  Use comments below.   4 New Talented Learning webinars on all things extended enterprise starting 8/28 - check them out! The post 9 Must-Consider Topics When Designing Partner or Reseller Training appeared first on Talented Learning.

I’ve been researching the global LMS market place for over 15 years -first as an LMS sales guy for 13 years and now as the lead learning technology analyst at Talented Learning.  In the last 20 months, I have personally reviewed 92 LMS solutions and I have a whole list I’m trying to get to. I’m not talking about a cursory website drive-by review either.  I spend a lot of time with each vendor and learn about their business and industry focus, customers, history and success stories before I ever take a look at the product.  In many cases, I even interview their customers about how they are using training and technology for their business. For my paying day job, I help LMS buyers define what they really need and then help find the best LMS for them. I’ve taken a good chunk of all that data, effort and experience and built it into Talented Learning’s fall webinar series.  We’ve  created 5 new webinars on all things LMS and extended enterprise.  I think all are extremely interesting, engaging and insightful, but I could be biased.  We’re ending the series with the 1st Annual Talented Learning LMS Vendors Awards Ceremony. I hope to see you at one or all! How to Drive Profit with a Channel LMS September 16th @1pm-1:30pm EST Sponsor:  BlueVolt Register now to learn how you can increase your channel’s sales and effectiveness with an LMS.  Companies rely more today than ever on their partners, franchisees and resellers to sell and support their products. But are you being smart about how you attract, train and support your channel? Led by myself, this 30 minute webinar will outline proven strategies to get more for less out of your channel.  I will cover the importance of certifying your partner sales team, enticing the channel to participate, providing just-in-time access to job aides for those on the go and how to use technology for training delivery.  I’ll outline some enticing new techniques and technologies I’ve discovered. An effective channel and partner training program delivered via an LMS deliver impressive business results.  Learn how to drive revenue and profit with your channel LMS. Register now for How to Drive Profit with a Channel LMS. Top 10 Features of an Association LMS October 7th @ 11am-12pm EDT Register Now! Sponsor:  WBT Systems If you work in member training or professional education for an association, institute or other member organization, you are going to want to join John Leh, CEO & Lead Analyst of Talented Learning, LLC and Mike Bourassa, of WBT Systems as they present the "Top 10 Features of an Association LMS" webinar on September 30th 11am-Noon EST. Educating members, selling content, providing continuing education credit and managing tradeshow activities are all challenges that associations and institutes face but not typical corporations. As a result, association LMSs need an enhanced feature set to support and they are tough to find. In this fast paced and detailed session, we will cover the following: -Why associations are using LMS technology -AMS vs. LMS -Top association training challenges -Top 10 LMS features needed by associations -Tips for selecting the right association LMS -Case studies, mini-demos and polling throughout Please register even if you can’t attend and we will send you a link to the session recording. Hope to see you there! LMS eCommerce — What Do You Really Need? October 30th @ 12pm-12:45 EDT Don’t be scared by ecommerce functionality.  I’ll teach you what you really need to know on our Halloween special.  The ability to sell content is a core concept of an ecommerce LMS. ecommerce LMSs are also called extended enterprise or training for business LMSs.  As a learning technology research analyst, I’ve reviewed almost 100 LMSs and have documented great variation in available ecommerce features.  It’s much deeper and more sophisticated than just having a shopping cart and check out functions. Some LMSs are geared for global commerce, selling to individuals, members or business to business.  The features sets for each scenarios is different.  It’s not enough to ask if an LMS vendor has ecommerce.  You need to define what you need. In this informative webinar, I’ll outline the different ecommerce feature sets that are available in today’s marketplace and even show some examples from a variety of LMS vendors.  If  you sell continuing education or online courses, this webinar is for you.  Register Now!   2015 Talented Learning LMS Vendors Awards Ceremony November 13th @ 12pm-1pm EDT Register Now! We spent the last 20 months reviewing almost 100 global LMS solutions.   We have literally spent hours with each digging into their features, business focus and capabilities.  We’ve been grouping, cataloging, ranking and regrouping, recataloging and reranking the LMSs the entire time.  We are now ready to reveal our understanding of the current global LMS landscape and the different types of LMS solutions that are available and who we think are the top 10 vendors in 10 different categories.  Categories include Top All-Purpose LMS, Extended Enterprise, Academic, Social and Gamified,  Association, eCommerce and more! Nobody in the world has dug as deep into the global LMS marketplace in the last two years.   We have a very unique take on what is really going on in the market.  If you are starting your research into LMSs or just want to know who is the best LMSs are, register now!   Thanks for reading!  Hope to see you at one of these webinars.   The post 5 New Extended Enterprise LMS Webinars this Fall! appeared first on Talented Learning.

There are hundreds of LMS vendors in the world.  Many are generalists that build comprehensive and confusing LMS products that can manage the learning for any type of user population including employees and the extended enterprise audiences.   The rest of the LMS vendors are specialists in a particular industry or business application of learning.  I’ve found that buyers who buy an LMS for their employees are content with the generalist LMSs.  Conversely, buyers of extended enterprise solutions are very picky.  These buyers tend not to be HR/training specialists but rather professionals from marketing, sales, operations or customer support. These training for business buyers focus on the business problem, solution and measuring the results.  They are not interested in asking permission from HR to use the employee LMS.  If they are tasked to train and certify new channel partners, customers or prospects, they want a solution and more importantly a partner that is experienced in doing exactly - and in many cases - only that.  If they want to sell content and drive revenue, they almost never consider a vendor with tons of talent management and compliance features. In the last 21 months at Talented Learning, we’ve been heads down studying the LMS industry.  We have conducted in-depth reviews of almost 100 vendors, helped dozens of LMS buyers and shared notes with countless extended enterprise experts around the globe.  We crunched all this data and have mapped the different types of LMSs that exist today and what buyers want, need and buy.  Over the coming months we will release a series of Top 10 nominations for the varying types of LMSs we categorized and name the best-of-the-best in our upcoming LMS Vendor Awards Ceremony webinar.   Top 10 Channel LMS Solutions in the World Here are our nominees for the Top 10 Channel LMS solutions in the world.  Every LMS on this list actively promotes channel learning on their website with product offerings, case studies, webinars and client testimonials. The nominated LMS solutions all have varying degrees of sophistication in core channel functionality including domain segmentation, ecommerce, social learning, globalization, broad content support, integration, analytics, mobile delivery, dynamic audience grouping and ease of use.  The vendors in this list range from self service "free-trial" LMSs to heavy duty solution providers. Who are the top 3 channel LMSs?  Tune into the Talented Learning LMS Vendor Awards Ceremony Webinar on 11/13 to find out.   In alphabetical order… BlueVolt  — BlueVolt has extensive expertise partnering with channel sales organizations to create, deliver and verify results-driven training.  The BlueVolt LMS provides a unique approach to measurable channel learning management by creating massive ecosystems of manufacturers, distributors, retailers and buying groups to share product knowledge.    Their targeted industry focus is building and tool industries like electrical, HVAC, plumbing, valves, lumber, welding and flooring.  They have taken gamification to the best level — awards that turn into actual cash or gift cards.  Check out a dozen examples of BlueVolt’s channel case studies here and my review here.   Digital Ignite - The Digital Ignite LMS is a pure extended enterprise LMS designed wholly for the business of high-stakes global training for business.  They provide a deep level of professional service expertise to provide hands-on active assistance in client success -during and after the implementation. DI comes loaded with tools to attract voluntary learners, build an active community of global learners, facilitate ecommerce and enable the growth of a channel business.  The user learner interface looks great and is as non-LMSey that I have seen.  Watch this recent webinar  recording and you will see some great global Intel live demo examples of channel learning and check out my recent review of Digital Ignite.   Docebo - The Docebo LMS is an economical, pure cloud, SaaS LMS designed to support common learning and elearning scenarios - easily.  You can gain access to a free trial of their LMS in minutes, create your channel partners areas, upload content and users and be ready to go live in a week.  They have a "connector" API integration strategy meaning you can turn integration on with a variety of 3rd party systems (virtual classroom, social media, CRM, HRIS, SSO, etc.) by checking a box.  As a result, they provide minimal implementation services and are frequently adopted by small and medium sized businesses deploying their first or second channel learning projects.  Check out their Autodesk, Veeam Software, Sealed Air and other cases here.   eLogic Learning - eLogic Learning is an all-purpose LMS that can support a lot of LMS scenarios well including channel learning.  Their LMS is powerful, deep and modern and they have a great reputation for customer service.  Solid domain segregation, ecommerce, notifications, gamification and analytics make eLogic a good solution for large scale franchise, dealer, agent, channel and partner solutions.  If you need a highly configurable LMS and you require expert guidance and help, eLogic Learning should be in your evaluation mix.  You can see samples of their customers’ successes here. New Webinar — "How to Drive Profit with a Channel LMS" — Register Now! Expertus  — Expertus is not your typical LMS provider.  They started off 17 years ago implementing other LMSs and encountered first-hand many of the functional and technical challenges of the traditional LMS industry.  They saw an opportunity and built their own LMS focusing on end learner usability and engagement making it ideal for the voluntary users of external sales and distribution channels.  Their cloud solution is based on a private cloud model so it can support complex integrations, customer specific workflow, SalesForce integration and other complexities mandated by large, global channel clients.  Here is my review of their LMS and a link to their channel learning section of their website.   LogicBay  — LogicBay is a pure partner LMS and even brand themselves as a Partner Relationship Management (PRM) software.  They developed their encompassing partner solution to specifically support global equipment dealer and partner networks.  They have been designing, hosting and supporting major training & development programs, including sales and service certifications, for companies of all sizes from small franchise systems to leading companies like Caterpillar, Daimler, Mercedes-Benz, Meritor and others for over a decade.  Check out these great LogicBay case studies.   Saba Software — Saba has been in extended enterprise solutions since the beginning of the LMS industry 20+ years ago.  A lot has happened in our industry since then but Saba is still here and still talking extended enterprise.   Although Saba is a TM system with lots of HR modules, their new pure cloud LMS still has plenty of aggressive channel learning functionality including domains, integration, analytics, ecommerce, social, gamification and their own virtual classroom tool.  They have some of the world’s best global organizations using them to manage their channel including Yum, Cisco, EMC, NetApp and hundreds more.  If you have global, large-scale external audiences, it’s hard to find a company or product with better channel credentials than Saba.  Some great examples of their channel clients are embedded in this recent webinar we did together and here is my review of their LMS.   SchoolKeep - SchoolKeep is an up and coming "free-trial" SaaS LMS.  Where many LMSs focus on the training administration, SchoolKeep puts the learner experience as the center of their platform resulting in better learning, increase retention via a pleasurable user experience.  Their LMS is mobile responsive and they have strong ecommerce capability including global taxation and international payments.  There is also an interesting CRM component tracking notifications, email opens and conversion tracking.  SchoolKeep provides a higher level of service than most free-trial LMSs and is a good choice to evaluate for new and growing channel learning projects.   Register for the  Talented Learning LMS Vendor Awards Ceremony Webinar and we’ll let you know our choice for the best Channel LMS in the world. TalentLMS  — The Talent LMS is a free-trial, pure cloud, SaaS LMS.  The LMS is simple and easy to setup, administer and use.  The TalentLMS is a great choice for your first LMS and maybe even your second if you are a small or medium business.  There are no implementation fees (or services) and if your usage scenarios are straightforward, it is hard to beat the license price and ease of this system.  Below is a video I created demonstrating some of the administrative and learner features of the TalentLMS from my trial account when I recently reviewed the TalentLMS.   ViewCentral - What do HP, Ariba, Synopsys, Abbott and many other companies have in common when it comes to channel and partner training? Yep, they use ViewCentral.  ViewCentral is a pure channel and customer LMS.  No need to talk to these guys if you want to manage employees.  They are focused on deploying some of the world’s most complex channel learning deployments for the software and hi-tech industry.  They can do professional level integration into global organizations, order processing systems, ecommerce, revenue recognition, training expenses and big data warehouses.  They are designed to allow for the selling of content in any global location, language, currency and taxation jurisdiction.  ViewCentral has some deep and informative resources on running a global channel training business on their website here.   Conclusion There you have it based on our research thus far — the top 10 channel LMS solutions in the world ideally suited to manage learning for external sales channel, partners, resellers, dealers or franchises.  The solutions are all very different.  Some assume self-service implementation and some assume months of effort to deploy an integrated global solution.  Some are good for any industry and others are dedicated to dominating one or two.  What do they all have in common?  They know that attracting voluntary users, building a community, selling content, changing behavior and making a measurable business impact with channel learning is the goal of most of their customers.   Thanks for reading!   Do You Need Help Finding the Right Channel LMS for You? I can help.  Use the form below to schedule a complimentary consultation call with myself — John Leh. [contact-form-7] The post Top 10 Channel LMS Solutions in the World appeared first on Talented Learning.