Have you tried a Google search on “Third Party e Learning” lately?  Shifting through 5,910,000 hits will definitely put a dent in your productivity!  It’s great that the results came back in 0.25 seconds but if it takes 2 minutes per hit to determine whether that website is relevant to your needs, you will need 98.5 years to review all the results.  Don’t get me wrong, the internet is a wonderful source of information and an invaluable tool in any selection/purchase effort, but used incorrectly it can lead to frustration and more often than not, the incorrect decision.  In this article, we share best practices we have found over the years in helping our clients select the right third party content provider. 

Where Do I Start?

At this point, I am making an assumption that your organization has had the Make versus Buy discussion and concluded that buying third party content is the best approach for this content need.  You now need to start the selection effort.  Selecting eLearning courses is like selecting any other good/service.  It all starts with your requirements.  Define as specifically as you can exactly what content you need.  When defining your requirements, there are several items to consider:

  • Does the training need to be approved by a regulatory/compliance body?
  • How many hours of training do you need?
  • How many users will be trained and how often do they need the training?
  • If it is technology related training, what specific version do you need?
  • Do you need assessments?
  • Does the course(s) need video/animation to effectively convey the content?
  • What communication standard does your LMS support (SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004 3rd Edition, AICC, etc.)?
  • What is the learning objective you are looking to satisfy with this content?

To RFP or Not to RFP?

Each organization’s procurement practices are going to be different and may dictate a specific process for the Request for Proposal (RFP).  Depending on how many users you have and the number of hours of eLearning you are looking to purchase, this may be a relatively small cost or it may be a relatively significant expense.  Our approach is that no matter how small you believe the expense might be; some type of RFP will expedite your selection.  We advocate a simple 2-3 page document describing your company, your need, and your timeframe.  This document will save hours of answering the same question from the different vendors in your search. 

Who’s on First?

Now that you have your RFP, how do you determine who to send it to?  If the content need is fairly generic (OSHA 10, DOT, Food Safety, etc.), then your short list should always include the big players in the content world (ElementK, Mindleaders, Skillsoft, etc.).  Their size usually provides an economy of scale that is tough for the other providers to beat especially if you are looking for a sizeable catalog (100+ courses).  A good search should also leverage your friends.  Leverage your network and talk to other companies to find out who they have used and how effective they were. 

Finally, open the browser and use as specific of a search term as possible.  Don’t fall into the first page, pay per click trap.  Many times the results that are on the first page are there because they paid to be there.  Spend the time to view 5-10 pages down and try several different search terms.  Create a checklist of your 3-5 key requirements.  Any vendor that does not identify a solution for those 3-5 key requirements on their site is knocked out from your search. 

Between the big players, your network and the results of your internet search, you should have 5-10 companies that appear to meet your needs. 

Pick Me, Pick Me!!

You have the vendor proposals, now what?  It is important to distill the responses down to just the facts.  We create a summary scorecard of the vendor responses.  Take the information that is most important in your decision making process and document in your scorecard.  This allows your selection team a quick read to compare the key points.  It is likely that you will have 2-3 vendors that stand-out above the rest.  These are the vendors who you should invest the time to perform a more thorough review of their demo courses.  Request access to their demonstration environment and review their content in detail.  Between the proposal responses, interactions with the vendors, and the course review process, you likely will have a favorite.

And the Winner is…

Once you have consensus with your selection team on who the winner is, it is time to finalize the deal.  Before you sign the contract, there are a few final steps to confirm your choice.  It is a common mistake in the selection process to skip the reference check step.  You can learn about customer support, user satisfaction, implementation process and other valuable information which may sway your decision.  It is also good practice to request a sample course to load into your LMS to confirm interoperability.  Don’t stop your testing if the course simply plays.  Walk all the way through the course and execute the scenarios you know your users will encounter.  Just because the vendor says they are SCORM 2004 compliant does not mean their definition is the same as your LMS vendors.  The final step in the selection journey is the contract negotiation process.  Make sure you fully understand the fine print and that the contract is flexible to change as your business changes.  Here are a few standard scenarios which should be addressed in the contract:

  • What is the renewal pricing?  If the courses are successful, you want to make sure you have price certainty for renewals.
  • What happens mid contract if you need to expand your licenses?  Is it prorated with the same end-date as your original licenses?  Do you now have new licenses with a different term?  Do you have a minimum license block that you have to purchase to expand? 
  • How does the contract treat employee turnover?  Are you forced to buy a new license or are you licensed on currently active users?

Enjoy the Expanded Catalog!

With the selection complete, it is now time to enjoy the expanded content you can offer to your users.  Take time to make a “splash” announcement and generate some excitement over the new content.    Also, make sure that you measure satisfaction and usage to justify your investment.  Your LMS should have the ability to associate a survey with the course completion.  Take advantage of this functionality to collect feedback and ensure your organization is getting a Return on Your Investment.