Actually it means many things which is why the term itself should be kicked to the curb with serious force.

Just because a system lists itself as an extended enterprise does not mean it comes with multiple domains (which with some vendors includes customized) nor with multiple portals or my preferable term – “multi-tenant”.

You may see an “extended enterprise” which not only refers to the company’s employees, but also their customers and channel partners.  Or you may see an extended enterprise which focuses on the B2B, B2C or both.

That is the problem with the term and as such it creates quite a confusion in the marketplace.

It goes to Number 11 (Spinal Tap reference)

The problem is that there is no one size that fits all.  Rather, it depends on a wide variety of factors including price (which always comes into play).  Therefore, I am going to provide the following:

• $-$$$$:  Price point based on 500 users.  In some cases it will be noted if it is based on a higher set of users, since there are platforms that prefer a minimum or focus on larger size businesses including associations, etc.
• Multi-Tenant: Some people refer to it as portals and sub-portals. Although this is not proven, I believe that some of these folks refer to licorice Twizzlers as  delicious.  A multi-tenant is actually defined in a parent-child relationship. Whereas you have a parent (main company) and then its channel partners, etc. who are children. One channel partner/customer (which might be a company – often seen with TP) is a child. The parent can see every child including their data, but the child can only seem themselves and not any of the other children or the parent.
• TP – No this does not refer to toilet paper or toilet papering a house who gives you crummy candy during Halloween.  Rather it refers to a Training Provider, which is a firm/company that sells 3rd party courses through B2B or B2C channels. More often that not, B2B channels.
• B2B – Business to Business
• B2C  – Business to Customer
• CP – Channel Partner.  There are some systems who target only channel partners.
• SB – Small business
• SMB – Small to mid size business
• MB – Mid size business
• M2L – Mid to large size
• LB – Large business

Defining the employee size

You can find a lot of LMS companies who provide different information on the size of business.  For me, I define company size by:

• 500 or less employees: SB
• 501 to 1,500: SMB
• 1,501 to 5,000: MB
• 5,001 to 10,000: M2L
• 10,001 and higher: LB

For B2B, B2C – I do not define by a set of numbers.

Whom do you Love

Expertus One  ($$$-$$$$)- Still the best multi-tenant platform in the market. The system works at all levels: across the global enterprise, B2B, B2C, Channel Partners, mid size, mid to large and definitely large.

Each update takes the platform up on notch on its competitors.  Big wins for me include:

• On/Off synch for mobile devices
• Native app available in iTunes/Apple and Google (Android) – very few vendors have native apps
• New social which offers expert network, skills training ratings (using a slick interface), built in web conferencing (their own and they also offer WebEx and GoTo Meeting), wizards on the admin side which not only saves time but is easy to use
• Each tenant can have its own look, brand, logo, etc.

The one item that I see as needing improvement is the look and feel of the reports – but I have been told this will be in the next update (a few months from now).

If you are someone who is considering some of the bigger dogs like Cornerstone or SumTotal, I would seriously look at these guys.  Personally, I think they crush the monsters of midway aka CoD et al.

eLogic Learning ($$-$$$) – Another solid performer who continues to get better and better.  SMB, B2B, Channel Partners, small biz, SMB, mid size.  The UI continues to improve but IMO it stilll lacks the slick interface that I so desire.

Big wins:

• On/Off synch for mobile devices, also supports Tin Can API
• Easy to use interface
• Supports 3rd party APIs – actually most do, but again, if you asked “hey can I have Slideshare in my system”, they would say yes. Some systems say yes but really do not want to do it – and it is quickly recognized
• E-commerce included
• Nice classroom management
• Each tenant can have its own look, brand, logo, etc.
• Tin Can API

Besides UI tweaks, my only other real complaint is their setup fee. Just as ExpertusOne is a high.  That said their pricing for users is moderately priced and I believe extremely affordable for what you get.

BizLibrary $-$$. While I find their LMS name, “Company College” a minor challenge (I think it is a disservice to the product itself) there is no mistaking the oomph of this solution and where it started out to where it is today.  Small biz, SMB, mid size (will work), B2B, TP, Channel.

Big wins:

• User interface is easy.  Again, would love to see it become more slick and crisp, but hey I want every system to be that way. At least it does not look dated.
• Video blocks – You can have video clips or videos or video teasers shown on the home page and even the course catalog – providing a new way to explore content, beyond just the typical text info that is regularly seen on systems (you can still do it with theirs too)
• Custom tenants – each can have its own look, branding
• Compliance

One item I wish they would improve:

• On/Off synch. They don’t have it – and I still don’t understand why not (of course, a lot of systems don’t – what is taking so long?)

Docebo $.  The platform continues to impress. The personalization, localization, multiple tenants- each with its own logo, etc., CEU tracking, themes, easy to use on the front and back end.  Another shoe in for sweet. The UI is strong and the price point is very inexpensive. TP, B2B, B2C, Channel partners, small business, SMB.  Although mid size will work.

Big Wins:

• Comes with free courses and course marketplace – one click to add to system
• App marketplace – click and quick – it is in your system
• Did I mention the personalization – each end user can select their own language – ideal for global
• Each tenant can have its own look, logo, branding
• Literally a one stop shop of a system
• Tin Can API
• Comes with LRS (learning record store – which is still a major work in progress – the LRS premise that is, not the LMS)

One item I wish they would improve or add:

• On/Off synch

I like you, do you like me?

Firmwater $-$$.  A solid performer all around and still a nice winner in the SMB space.  B2B, Channel, TP. Employee size small to mid size.  You can’t go wrong with the system, but what is taking so long with a more modern UI? (as you can see this is a huge peeve of mine)

Epignosis – Talent LMS $.  Very clean interface that comes with a strong set of features. But it does not come with talent management, so the name is somewhat wacky.  As aforementioned, the UI is clean, but some the admin side which uses some icons, etc. – that while is simple to use, still doesn’t blow me away with coolness. Small biz, SMB, B2B.

Absorb LMS $$- Still quite strong as a multi-tenant platform.  Charges a $5 per learner (one time fee) but it is still moderately priced. HTML5 UI which is very slick and easy to use.  The add on Mercury module should be included (but that is my personal vibe).  Once the leader of multi-tenant, but no longer.  I see them more along the lines of SMB and up – including large.  B2B, B2C, Channel and TP.

NetDimensions - $$-$$$$. The system as a whole is quite robust including digital signatures, online/offline synch and a very nice UI. It’s latest social just doesn’t wow me, so if that is something you are high on, then move on.  B2B, Channel and maybe B2C. Mid size and up.

Certpoint $$$-$$$$.  Another player in the space that not only fits the build of an extended enterprise but also as a multi-tenant.  Ideal for large size and up, although I’m sure they will argue that they can be in the mid size and up category.  I’m just not a fan of the hierarchy look for them, but they do offer on/off synch and a solid set of features.

Accord LMS - $$.  From a feature standpoint this platform can do it. It’s UI still needs improvement.  Small biz, SMB, mid size, B2B, Channel, TP.  Service is outstanding.

I can make you smile, if just for a little while

SuccessFactors $$$-$$$$. A true extended enterprise with a nice UI. I have some concerns about how SAP will play with them (right now they are separate, but who knows).

I dislike that the platform does not automatically include at no charge a SSO between it and SAP. Sure they offer it for a fee, but heck any LMS that interfaces with SAP offers the same option for a fee.  Works in the B2B, B2C, Channel side. Upper mid to large – although I suspect I will receive an e-mail from them saying otherwise.

Can I say hello?

LogicBay  $$-$$$- Never heard of them? Don’t worry, I suspect you are not alone. What makes this platform so unique is that its target is more along the lines of manufacturing including logistical companies.  The UI needs some major tweaks, but they are here because of their target market – especially from my perspective the logistical companies, including trucking.  Mid to Large, Channel.

Bottom Line

What may mean one thing to one person does not mean the same thing to another person.  That is a big issue when it comes to extended enterprise versus multi-tenant (or as some refer to it – portal/sub-portal).

It would be grand if all was equal, but not even in real life does that apply.

I wish it would.

E-Learning 24/7

An addict for games. Not just any type of game mind you, rather one that I can win at.  I readily admit to playing my Xbox 360 late into the night forgetting that I have to rise and shine early.

I admit that I tell myself that I am only going to spend an hour on my iPad playing Plague and then realize that three hours have gone by and I still haven’t decimated the planet with my new disease.

By the Numbers

If you have been calculating the points while viewing the stats you would have seen:

• Gamification market will reach 2.8 Billion dollars by 2016 (M2 Research)
• 70% of the Global 2000 will have at least one gamified application by 2014 (Gartner)
• 53% believe that by 2020, gamification will be wide spread (Pew Research Center, based on those surveyed)

You also have probably read (not sure if you received any points) that gamification is the next big thing in e-learning.  

I’m here to tell you that what you are hearing isn’t wrong, it’s just plain misleading.

Gamification – What some say it is – isn’t what others claim it is

Take a look at the following:

It says, “This is not a pipe”.  You say, “wait it is a pipe”.  But it isn’t (if you know what it is, place it in the comments section).

So, how does this apply to gamification?

It applies because the term itself can be easily misconstrued by others.

Some people define gamification in the e-learning space as games themselves – sim games for tests, or games for learning.  Others define gamification in relation to online gaming, like World of Warcraft – which is accurate – this is why some of the numbers above are misleading. 

Because what they are not saying is that gamification in e-learning will be billions of dollars by 2020.

Not at all.

But that doesn’t mean gamification cannot exist nor work, effectively – on the contrary – it can.

Incentive Points = Learning

I recall a few years back talking to a vendor whose product included incentive points for their learners.  They told me that their clients (customers) were stating that they were seeing a huge uptick in learners completing courses and thus achieving more incentive points (which led to them winning gift cards).

The clients who told them that had wrongly assumed that by the learners completing the course or task, were actually learning and retaining information.

While I am sure some folks were, the majority I surmise were not.

That is because I believe – just based on human nature – that people realized that the more points they received, the faster to the goal of winning whatever and thus it was all about the points and not the content.

If I had to go through a course in two weeks to receive 25 points and I needed 100 points to get a prize – then I am going to zip through to get those points.  How much will I retain is another matter. 

Especially if the objective is tied to completing via a linear method – which sort of defeats the purpose of WBT to begin with – i.e. a non-linear approach.

If I have to read 10 comments by my fellow learners to get 50 points and it is again tied to a tangible incentive – guess what? I’m reading – but more likely I’m skimming.  Sure, some people won’t do it, but overall depending on what do they win – if it is good – then they will do it.    If I have a competitive nature to begin with and work for example in sales, where incentives come into play in general, what do you think I will do?

We don’t need no stinking badges 

Gamification can be effective is used properly, but it has to go beyond just a leader board and has to go beyond just accruing points for the sake of badges.

Badges are great in various social media, but getting a badge because you completed five tasks and completed two courses in less than a week, is not.

There has to be a real gain and benefit to the learner, the training/learning department/division and the company itself.

Even in education there has to be real value – real attainment to a learning goal or objective.

I’d rather have a learner understand and synthesize the information and validate it in a real life course scenario to accrue the points than just have them zip through a course to do so.

Even those who tie the “points” to an assessment are missing the point. An assessment or test is not fun.  Gamification in learning must be fun and must be applicable to real world (especially in adults).

If you offer neither than your points and point totals are as useful as those crummy toys you would get at a carnival. 

What motivates me, may not motivate you

Let me be clear on this – I think gamification can rock and I am a huge believer in incentives tied to learning, especially in education/academia. However, I am not a believer that everyone sees it the same way when it comes to incentives.  The reason your gamification may not be achieving the ideal results you are seeking, could be:

• Everyone has different motivators – some people are motivated by tangible items, some by money, some by praise
• A motivator is tied to an incentive. If I am motivated by tangible items (excluding your company’s coffee mug) or money – then I am more likely to complete the tasks/courses/social things required to achieve so
• If I am not an “A” personality or do not see the value and benefit of the whole gamification, then I won’t be involved

Even if I am forced (also known as mandatory) to do the gamification components, I won’t retain the information because I don’t want to – it easily can become a game 0f how to not do things.

But if I am either a highly competitive person or the company has instilled a competitive atmosphere – you can guarantee that people will maximize the gamification of the platform.  

The total score though is whether I have actually learned is the information itself or just getting the points for being active and fast.

Fun

Having a LMS or learning platform that has some form or massive amounts of gamification just won’t cut it.  You have to make it fun.

For whatever reason, I see a lot of platforms that are not “fun” when it comes to gamification capabilities.  Partially it is tied to the client who is setting up the courses, tasks, etc., and part of it is the LMS.

If you play any type of game – whether it is online or not, you do it to have fun.  So why would you think someone wouldn’t want the same experience?

One LMS platform that is heavily geared towards gamification is Growth Engineering.  Heck they even call it a gamification LMS. 

Another LMS that has a nice set of gamification is Wisetail.  Wisetail pitches themselves as a learning ecosystem, but it is a LMS (it has one major problem: no e-commerce – if you are wondering).  

It’s UI is super slick and immediately says, “look at me, I’m fun to use and best of all, I have gamification that can engaging”.

Bottom Line

Gamification is coming. But it is not going to be an immediate blockbuster because it still has some bugs to solve.

And everyone knows that a game with bugs in it, is no fun at all.

E-Learning 24/7

Your platform is not working.  I found some bugs here and they are not the crawly kind.  My issue is important and your tech people have not responded.  I ordered a hamburger without cheese, got home and it has cheese on it. (I was just seeing if you were paying attention. But is it me or do you often get ripped off going drive-thru?)

Complaints – Legitimate Gripes

As someone who has had the wonderful experience of buying (leasing) a LMS and the issues that arose beyond that, I can tell you that I feel your pain.  There is nothing worse that spending the money, selecting the system, implement it, then it runs into problems and your end users – blame you.

You buzz the assigned project manager or tech support person and listen to the whole “we hear you” and get back to you verbiage. Then you wait and wait some more. In 30 minutes you have had it – “It must be three hours now. Why are they not calling back? Don’t they realize that people are complaining?”

Next you call your salesperson and chew them out like a piece of meat that has too much grizzle.  You want and expect results or there will be hell to pay.

They listen. They will solve it.  They hang up.  Then they do one of four things:

• Call tech support and see what is going on
• Write it on a piece of paper and say to themselves, I will e-mail/call support later
• Do nothing
• E-mail support and hope someone responds

Meanwhile you are quite content and say to yourself, “I showed them”.  Right.

#5  Salesperson says one thing then fails to back it up

I hear this complaint all the time from end users.  As a complaint goes it is always in the top ten of gripes. What makes me sick to my stomach (or maybe it was that chili) is that this gripe has been around since LMSs arrived on the scene.

Now there are plenty of salespeople who are honest, and truthful, but it only takes a small group of nefarious humans to ruin for everyone else.

If you think “nefarious” is too strong of a word, trust me, if this happens to you, the term will be rated G compared to what comes out of your mouth.

What drives this approach?

I see two factors:

• Person really doesn’t know the product inside and out and so they tell you want you want to hear. “Yep, our system works all the time with Oracle.” Then you find out that they have to heavily customize it – charge extra – and the interface is buggy
• Person is all about sales and not about you. I know of some highly seasoned salespeople that do this frequently to potential clients

#4  Demo Dupe

I seriously believe the song “I never promised you a rose garden” was written by someone who once worked at a LMS company.  The demo switcheroo is a big time gripe.  It follows a similar style

• You see an amazing demo with all the bells and whistles
• You hear the tell, you are drooling
• You buy the LMS
• It doesn’t come with everything you saw in the demo
• You are mad
• The salesperson says, “Oh, didn’t I tell you that” OR “Yes, I mentioned that in our call” – of course you remember they didn’t

#3  The system costs more than what they quoted me

I always remind people to have their pricing itemized with each factor listed – (i.e. 1,000 seats, 500 active per month – $20,000), tech support 9 to 5 EST (free – included at no charge), 20 project management hours (no charge), webinar training ($500 for three sessions), an autograph by the CEO (priceless – no I’m just kidding).

However, I have seen quotes that drop everything together including the discount OR itemize some items and not others  OR some itemization and some stuff written within a paragraph – which people often skim.   One of the zingers that appear frequently is the API angle.

You ask if they can integrate your APIs (on whatever). They say yes. They fail to mention that it will cost you X dollars per API and it will take six weeks to add one.  The latter is becoming a common gripe.   I remember seeing some pricing online by a LMS vendor and then when I got the contract it had different pricing on it.  You see they had items you needed but they did not mention it on their web site.

What items fail to appear often when people post or tell you about their pricing?  Setup costs – and they can be anywhere from inexpensive to outrageous – even for systems that are low cost.   Skinning for additional portals/tenants, etc. E-commerce – especially those who charge a yearly price.

Removing their name from the platform.  See the price doesn’t mention that it costs extra to pull their name – so when you ask for it (and you should always find out) they will pull a rabbit out of their LMS hat and tell you it costs ABC (please realize that for the majority of vendors they remove their name at no cost).

#2 Not listening

I often wonder why LMS vendors have their salespeople focus more on their qualifiers than asking the right questions first before “seeing if you are ideal for them”.  How about, “how many employees/customers will be using the system.” There are some vendors who will only deal with clients who have over 10,000 employees – so this quick qualifier will streamline the process. Or there are vendors who only work in certain industries/verticals. So, asking what is the client’s industry would take care of that.

But noooo. You have to listen to a series of qualifiers to see if you are the right fit – whatever that means. Listen, assuming that the two qualifiers above are not factors, unless you are from Planet Neptune and have 65 eyeballs you will qualify – and even in my Neptune weird creature example – you will find plenty of vendors who will take you.

I once had a boss who would say, “I know you can hear me, because I can hear my own words.”  I think this should apply to every salesperson who is pitching their product.

#1 Tech Support

• Company receives issue via e-mail, support center or phone – or any combination
• Company place the issue into its queue
• Company sends e-mail to whomever is the LMS administrator or contact person – notifying them they received the issue and are working on it
• Company using their own tech priority level – rates the issue, low, medium, high or for some clients – get it fixed now
• If it is low, you have a better chance of hearing crickets then getting it solved in a day or so – but don’t worry you may get multiple e-mails telling you it is being worked on
• If it is medium, someone is doing something about it, but it still may take a day or two to solve it
• If it is high or get it fixed now – then someone or some folks are busting their buns (it is a Rated PG site here) to solve it. They may follow up with you or your LMS administrator for more information and even have you on the call for a period of time or whatever.  Typically they follow up via the phone, your salesperson may step in and follow up too – after all you probably sent them the issue too
• If the issue takes more than a couple of days – it is likely that you have contacted tech support to complain and even talked to your salesperson. E-mails do not apply here – although what does it hurt to send one to tech support, your salesperson, the head of tech support, even the head of sales, etc.
• Issue solved.
• Then next time, you re-live the experience again

Excluding massive bugs or issues that are totally brand new to the company, tech support should be relatively quick and painless. There is a reason why some vendors have a knowledge base, community forum moderated by company employees and super users, and other – they are trying to minimize phone calls to tech support – because – it costs them money every time someone calls or sends off an e-mail to solve a problem.

Rather than hiring 45 salespeople, why not hire more than five tech support/customer support people to solve the customer’s issue? 

For clients – the only people who should contact tech support are either the LMS administrator, whoever is running training or e-learning division or a combination of both.  I’ve actually heard horror stories where the customer allows anyone to call their vendor’s tech support.

This should never happen.  Also, there are plenty of times when the tech issue is due to the client and not the vendor. 

For example, I recall a few folks telling me that their system didn’t work with Windows 2000 (yep, they had it on their computers and it was a large size public company). The LMS didn’t support it.

I remember asking them if they asked the vendor if it worked with Windows 2000 – guess what? They didn’t.

Bonus: Sales Training – What is it good for? Absolutely everything, say it again!

I am always stunned at the number of vendors who provide ZERO sales training for their staff.  Not only that, they never listen in to sales calls to see if their salespeople are doing it correctly and following the VP of sales approach or some type of script or process.

Now since the e-learning industry’s core is tied to training, you would think that having sales training would be a requirement.

Bottom Line

There are hundreds of books out there on how to resolve customer complaints. Hundreds of videos, even a ton of them on YouTube. Books written on the subject of listening, effective tech support, sales training, sales support and service and great customer service.

You can surf the net and find all these topics and more readily available and free.  Rather than do nothing, do something.

It requires the LMS vendor to fix what is not working.

The problem though is they don’t see it as an issue.

They see it as yours.

E-Learning 24/7

Perhaps you see it as an extension to an already in place, ILT (instructor led training) program. Or as an extension to classes at your school or university.  Maybe you see it as a component within a blended learning environment.

But what if it was more than that.  Much more.

One stop shop

Offers a multitude of services to customers. Typically is a location or business.

Walmart Way

• One stop shop – containing everything you need
• Some Walmarts include groceries and auto services – including oil changes and alike
• Net sales of 466.1 billion (Walmart, end of fiscal year ending in January 2013)
• Amazon.com 13.18 billion dollars in revenue – Q3 2012 (Engadget, 2012)

Whether you like Walmart or not, it changed the retail landscape forever. As a result, numerous businesses started to copy its format. The biggest is Amazon.

So why am I telling you this? Because the one stop shops are now appearing in learning management systems, for the better.

The new LMS

If you are taking a deep look around the LMS market you may be hearing a new buzz word, “ecosystem”.  Some LMS vendors have used the term in the past because they themselves saw their platform as a one stop shop.  They probably offered you the ability to buy courses through them eliminating the need to go directly to the 3rd party vendor.

They also may have offered the ability to create courses for you, at a fee.

The problem though is that what was available in the past, no longer applies today.

Why? 

Because in today’s global market (not just with e-learning), the expectations of consumers has changed.

If they have a smartphone or tablet- they have downloaded apps.  If they are taking college type courses online for free, they are likely to be visiting a MOOC.

If they want to take courses on how to learn software or business or whatever, they may be watching videos on YouTube – for free or paying a fee to use such sites as Lynda.com.

If they desire to take courses through a marketplace or exchange they might be going to Open Sesame which offers the ability to buy and download courses – to use in any LMS.

Maybe they found a LMS that included social and performance management (assuming that is what they wanted).  Perhaps they wanted a human capital management platform containing various sub-systems including learning, performance, compensation, etc.

Or they decided to implement an ERP and interface it with a LMS.

Without realizing it, consumers (end users) were pursing one stop shops through e-learning.

The problem though is that none of the above constitutes a true ecosystem – a complete package wrapped into a system.

Ecosystems the LMS Way

I loved the term that vendors started to push in 2012 and continue to do so in 2013 – “scalability”.  It makes me laugh. What they are trying to do is to offer an alternative to an open source platform which allows unlimited users.   They assume that you will go “hey, I could have had a V-8 and a LMS that enables me to have unlimited users and all the features I want.”

The spin of course is that the open source platform you would download – and yes, it isn’t free after you customize the whole thing, can provide something that is only for you – designed the way you want and include only the features you want.  I know what you are thinking – I have created my own ecosystem – my own Frankenstein.

Yes it’s a monster, but it is not truly an Ecosystem

Right now you are saying to yourselves, “he keeps mentioning this ecosystem, but he hasn’t told me what it actually is and it is bothering me.” I hear you. No, I really hear you – telepathically.

My definition of an Ecosystem

For me a true LMS ecosystem consists of the following – all of it – not just pieces:

• One click – they select it and it zings right into their platform – they can also remove it with one click
• Courses included into the system at no cost – more than five – ideally more than twenty
• Apps, add-ons, plug-ins or whatever terminology you want to use – the customer simply clicks what they want and whalla it goes into the platform – think ala carte without the hassle
• A store or exchange – could contain not just the company free apps but also apps from other end users either for free or fee (the end user sets the price)
• Within the store or exchange or perhaps they call it a marketplace – 3rd party apps/add-ons/plug-ins can be installed for free or purchased through a 3rd party – but again.. you do it there – and one click install.  Examples of the freebies would be perhaps the standard ones such as Skype, Slideshare, Evernote or less common ones such as MailChimp, 280 Slides, GradeGuru, EyeJot, Palbee
• From the fee perspective – add-ons, apps or plugins could include Salesforce.com, Zendesk, Freshbooks, Echosign, Nimble
• Course marketplace – LMS vendor offers courses from 3rd party vendors – you buy it auto installs, also end users can create their own courses to use within the system – either offer for free or fee based – one click install
• M-Learning – native app, online/offline synchronization – supports HTML5
• Social Learning – you can tie this back into the apps – that is how I would do it
• Pre set list of APIs – again can be done numerous ways, and with some directories on the net having more than 1,000 of these things – you can get them and be ready to rock n roll
• Features that already exist – event management, e-commerce and alike – again, the features that are already in place are there because it is a LMS. If you want to go more robust with your event management take a look at Cvent

I don’t see the performance/talent management and some functions of a human capital management as part of an ecosystem – because it is not universal. A lot of people do not want it – and even though it could be turned on or off, it often is an additional cost for each module.  If you want to include it at no charge within your platform – and end users can turn on/off or one click then it is doable.  But from my perspective it does not make this a true ecosystem.

What is great about the apps and add-ons is that you can offer a CRM, web conferencing tool, video messaging, etc. – that people can select from and one click into their system.  You do not have to include it, and as a complete ecosystem – it is customized to the client’s choice. If they want to remove the app, they simply click out or delete it (however you set this up).   If they want to add more – they can.

Where’s the App?

Here are a few places to check out apps, add-ons, extras, etc. – that any vendor could put into place if they wanted to, and yes, if you want to use them on your own, you can certainly do that.  These are my favorite sites.

• Go2Web20
• Zapier - they offer a free package but also fee based. Oh, you can create your own Zaps – apps
• Discovery Education Web 2.0 apps
• Appappeal - over 3,000 apps
• Wibiya

Bottom Line

 People want choices, they want simplicity, they want easy – which offers them the ability to do it themselves and  they want a one stop shop. 

If you think about it, Walmart and Amazon offer the exact same things.

The difference is that they are not a LMS ecosystem.

But you should be.

E-Learning 24/7

For my forecasts, the magic 8 ball does not apply. Nor does looking into a crystal ball speaking mumbo jumbo and watching it cloud up and show the future.

Nope, it is based on studying the market and analyzing it.

Fortune Forecast Cookies

Have you ever opened up a fortune cookie and said to yourself, “How did it know that about me?” or hold onto that magic strip of paper and place it in your wallet or purse for safekeeping?

Well if you did, then here are some forecasting fortune cookies you should save for a rainy day or honestly, right now.

Pan, Zoom and Pan again

This feature is showing up all over the place. From an interaction (listed as interactivity) to a feature within the product.  Because the industry as a whole is a lemming, I expect more vendors to come on board.

HTML5 output

I am still stunned that this is slogging away. Right now I am doing a survey on authoring tools (more on this at the end of the post) and so far 100% of all respondents state that HTML5 output is required in an authoring tool.  I do believe that HTML5 output will continue to grow as an authoring tool feature.  It is time to realize that Flash output just isn’t enough anymore for folks.

Layers, Triggers and Actions

If you are an e-learning developer or instructional designer this has always been a favorite feature of authoring tools. The problem has been (in the past) that the rapid content authoring tools have avoided adding it as a component.  Not anymore.

In just the past month, I have seen quite a few vendors add this capability in their product – and for the most part they are all RCAT products. The numbers clearly indicate that is on the fast track for real growth in the coming year. 

If you are an Authorware fanatic missing the old days, you are still going to miss it – because while these capabilities are being added to tools they are still not at the level of Authorware.  I for one, like that because it has run its course (look a pun!).

Audio Editing

Another feature on the rise. The problem though is it is extremely basic. How basic? Audacity which is free – destroys it.  How hard is it to offer such a capability within your product? Hmm..not much.

Interactivity (Interactions)

While it is true they have been around a long time – what is making this different – are the number that come with the tool, especially with cool capabilities.  It is as if someone finally turned on the light bulb and said to themselves, “Sheesh, why should we give Raptivity the entire market for interactivity templates.”

How many interactions am I talking about? Well some vendors have more than 15 come with their product. Others have at least 10.  So what is missing? HTML5 templates.  Anyway, I expect this number i.e. number of vendors to offer more than 10 interactive templates to rise.  And I’m sorry a FAQ or glossary interaction is not what I had in mind.

Speaking of templates…

Uber number of templates

The days of giving five or 10 are sooo gone.  Nowadays I am seeing vendors offer 15, 17, 25 and even 30 templates. Each can be customized – to a degree.  Templates have been around for decades and often look like the ones you get with PowerPoint – which are lame.  These new ones can go from lame to snazzy and snazzy is ideal.

Screen capture and recording

You would think this has always been a standard with authoring tool products – but you would be wrong.  Thankfully that is also changing.  More and more authoring tool vendors are offering a screen capture and recording feature and again, it makes 100% sense. 

Why allow TechSmith or someone else to have the market for screen capture/recording when you can have one that does at least the same thing, if not more.

I expect to see this to be another growth feature.

Video recording, web cam recording

Adding video via YouTube or mp4 or Quicktime or whatever has been in place for a long time.  What is new – ability to record your web cam or add video from a third party device – DV camera or even – shall I say it – mobile device.

Some vendors who are doing the web cam record include it with the screen capture and record, others are incorporating a more robust video record capability – including HD.

The leaders in the video recording via a DV camera or mobile device – smartphone and tablet are the video learning platform providers. But don’t assume that their video authoring product is only to be used with their platform – no sir-re, you can use it with your own LMS (you just have to purchase it separately).

Wake UP! Slow growth mode alert..Slow mode growth alert

Here are some features that are in super slow mode – but shouldn’t be.

Gamification

Right now you are probably saying – what is he talking about – my authoring tool offers this and so do plenty of others. True, but what they are calling gamification is not gamification. 

Some gamification that hits the “Gee Whiz.. that sounds swell” rankings

• One vendor has a gaming raceway for quizzes. Oh boy! I remember pushing my pen around my paper in junior high creating a race game too.  Now I realize I needed to add a quiz to it. 
• Another vendor includes a FAQ under gamification – why not give everyone a free rock with that?
• A few vendors include game templates – Yipee! Nothing says fun like templates of static images. Me first!

Video editing

Seems like a natural fit, right? Especially when they are offering video recording. But noooo. 

There are only a small handful of vendors including video editing. I don’t care if it is only three tracks and basic, include it.  Bonus points if you make it more robust – if you can find one that is free that is quite robust – you can have it in your product. 

Scenario Builders with your own voice and text

Just the other day I saw a really cool scenario builder that came with a bunch of avatars and had a voice playing. You could also change the text. But what it lacked was the ability for you to upload your own voice.  It also lacked the ability to customize your avatars or upload your own face and customize your avatars.

There are some vendors who offer the scenario builder and the ability to add your own voice.  However the ability to do everything I just mentioned above is extremely limited.  I guess that is why I loved Go! Animate, but it is just a piece you can put into your authoring tool as a mp4 or some other format – which I forgot.

Back in the early 2000′s I remember offering my end users avatars with our learning platform. People loved them and then to no surprise, wanted to have their own faces on the avatar bodies. 

How many people today want the same thing? I’ll give you a hint – more than a bag of candy.

Thinking out of the box

There are plenty of vendors who are doing this – but here is just a short sample of those who are offering components that should become a staple in authoring tools as a whole.  With the exception of two features, the rest of these are in growth mode but not enough to cause a run on red soda.

• Storyboards – this is a staple to any instructional designer or e-learning developer – yet is rarely seen in authoring tools in today’s market – “exception  – extremely rare”
• Spell checker – should be an automatic feature – it isn’t – small number, I expect solid growth
• Image editing – several vendors are offering this – I expect more to follow suit – but not huge numbers by the end of 2013
• Speech to text and vice versa – small growth. The text to speech has a better chance at solid growth
• Action script programming, HTML extensions and other advanced feature sets targeting e-learning developers. Miniscule growth – despite a real demand more advanced feature sets for e-learning developers and instructional designers

Bottom Line

At one time you needed the Oracle to tell you where the future was heading.  Thankfully we have other options. 

But if you still believe in crystal balls and alike than I recommend visiting the magic 8 ball.

And let me know what it says.

Bonus note: I have a survey on authoring tool features that will be used for a blog post in April.

Please answer the four questions and you will be eligible to win one free license from a variety of authoring tool vendors that were listed on my top 20 rankings for Feb. One of the questions will ask you which  of the authoring tools you would be interested in winning.

Six of the top 10 are available including dominKnow, Articulate Storyline and ZebraZapps. The last authoring tool survey I conducted last year made a huge impact in the feature sets you currently see today in many authoring products. This is the best time to let the industry know what you want to see going forward.

E-Learning 24/7

Snap! does not work with a 64 bit Windows OS that has/and you using PowerPoint 2010 – since Snap! interfaces directly with the product (ribbon? who knows, I never got to see it). Why? Great question and no answer.

Lectora’s Snap! is not the only product which has an issue with a 64 bit Windows computer but in combination with PPT 2010, I’m unaware of any other. Many products in the general market do not offer 64 bit but they still work in the 64 bit – by using the 32 bit driver. I am unsure if Snap! does work with 64 bit and PowerPoint 2007 or below, because I have PowerPoint 2010 and a Windows 64 bit computer. So, no Snap!

Lectora Snap! Empower on the other hand does work, since it is a self-contained product and does not directly go into PowerPoint 2010 (but you can upload PowerPoint slides into it). This review then is all about Snap! Empower, so sit back and read or stare – your choice!

Snap! Empower

When I looked at the product, I immediately thought on the song by Snap – called Power! Maybe they should make this their theme song – just spit-balling here.

Good

• Robust feature set – properties, elements, templates, video editing, image editing
• One click Publish
• Lots of video options for output (but a couple make no sense)
• Over 70 templates including ones for games, quiz games, interactions, components
• Ribbon header design
• Library pulls in your video, audio, flash and image files right from your video,image, flash, audio folders on your computer – GREAT IDEA – although I wish they added HTML5
• Easy to move images right into the blocks on the templates
• Spelling – I am always surprised at the number of authoring tools who do not have this feature
• Page analyzer – estimated time load depending on your speed – again a great idea!

Average

• Right click capability
• One click share to Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, YouTube or their own Snap! Channel – of course if your company blocks all social media sites – I guess you are hitting the Snap! Channel first
• Audio recorder and adding audio
• Text, shape, button and similar

Poor

• Timeline right on the main window – it was distracting – put it below and make it smaller – If I want to expand it in size – I will
• Duration (same issue as above) – but keep size

• Previewing – it offers it but the terms and icons are strange – “pages” “project” – you only know it refers to preview when you hover over it

• Initial helpful tips – I wanted to punch my screen – dump the popups that go all over the place when you click certain items – first time around
• A couple of the publish as mobile video devices – Palm Tre Pro? Blackberry Curve? Blackberry Touch? Droid X (very popular in 2010) – Why not add the handheld phone from the early 90s?
• Missing publish as a mobile video device for iPhone 5 (has it though for iPhone 3 and iPhone 4, but not 4S)
• Offers the general publish as a mobile video device at 100% – but are they referring to all mobile devices or tablets or portable gaming players?
• When you move over a video MP4 file onto your page, it converts to FLV video – but when you decide to publish and select video – you can output the entire project as a MP4

Here we Go

When you enter the product for the first time you see an opening screen offering you to select any of the sample projects or jump right in. Going forward – as in each time you open up Empower – you can continue to see the screen or select “don’t show it again”.

The first time, I went right with one of the project templates. It was simple enough and I was able to pull one of my images “Sigmund the sea monster” right into one of the sample images. However, after that, I could not stick another image into the other “sample image” blocks.

After looking around at the elements and clicking on various items, I realized that the template itself “Revolver-1″ (the initial one is “revolver” but when I saved it. I added the “1″) was the culprit.

So I had to click the “”lock” to unlock it and then I could edit it.

Oh, wait did I mention the “lock” and “eyeball”? Of course not, but now I am. Unless you have used a product like Photoshop or other programs that have layers, etc. – you wouldn’t know about the ol “lock” and “eyeball” feature.

• Eyeball open – element is viewable on the page
• Eyeball closed with a red bar across it - element not visible on the page
• Lock closed – element is locked, you cannot change it on the page
• Lock unlocked - element is unlocked – can make changes

As you can see, the “Revolver-1″ has changed color to lite blue. Now you can edit. Click the white arrow (hard to see, but trust me it is there) and the window expands to:

Now you can make your changes. A slight issue I had with Empower! is that when I wanted to change my “central image” instead of opening up the library – where all my images were located (and again, pulled from my image folder on my computer) – the product instead did the “browse” requiring me to look for my images.

While you can go to your “library” and select the image and then move it onto the image it is replacing it – the easiness is not so simple – especially when you have the Revolver-1 element open.

I’d rather be able to right click the image I am changing on my page window and just insert the other one, then go through the this element dialog.

Not all the element dialogs offer as many changes as the one that is visible, but you get the idea.

Speaking of funkiness, changing the name of my page header added a new level of frustration. For the longest time I couldn’t figure out how to change it. After several minutes, I realized I had to go into my elements, find “main title” and then change. Again, how about a simple right click?

When you are done with your changes and ready to move onto another element to tweak, make sure you click the white arrow to close the dialog and then click the “lock” to close it, otherwise you see how angry you can get – I bet really angry!

Once it is locked, you can now go back and select another element or in many cases simply click on the element on the page and make the changes. I was able to do this with my text field.

I think you can see how the product goes from nifty to irritating all in one quick moment. Overall, I thought the page look was doable and loved that they went with project-page-etc. rather than the “slides” thing – which I hate.

A ribbon for you

• Save – Save the project
• Page(s) – Preview pages – honestly there could be a better icon for it
• Project – Preview project – similar issue as Page(s)
• Publish – Publish as a Single SWF, Publish as a video, Publish as a video on a mobile device, One click share to Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, YouTube or Snap! Channel
• Text – Self explanatory
• Shape – Oval, rectangle, triangle, block arrow, caption bubble
• Button – Basic, text, graphic, invisible
• Image – Add an image, again browse option on your computer but does not go right to your Library tab – images
• Video – similar to above, but adding video
• Audio – Add audio to the page, similar to above issue
• Flash – Add flash to a page, similar issue i.e browse instead of going to our library
• Record audio – Dialog box appears, easy to record
• Video editor – Play, Set Start, Set End, Ouput options: Video & Audio, Video only, Audio only, Preview
• Image editor – Zoom, Crop, Brightness, Resize, Rotate, Flip, Undo, Save and Close
• Feedback – uh, leave feedback

Missing the Pop

• No audio editing – makes no sense when you have video and image editors

Sizzling

The product comes with

• Over 100 templates – Some are cool, some are not
• 77 components – Beyond the common ones include: Whiteboard, Fiery Text (that one was fun), Form Calendar, Animation (Motion XML), Media RSS Feed (more in one sec.), RSS scroller (includes option for Media Feed), Video Feed, Video Text Mask
• Media RSS Feed – comes with the following- BBC, ABC, ESPN – you can also add your own “custom feed” – not sure why ESPN was selected – I guess they think everyone loves sports or ESPN. I’d rather have the ability to add multiple “custom feeds” in the dialog box, but that is not possible
• Video Feed – again comes with a few: Link TV, AC360, Global Oneness Project Films (huh?), Discovery, NASA and you also can add your own custom feed. I want to know who picked these video feeds. I mean honestly, who thinks NASA when deciding on video feeds?

Bottom Line

Lectora compares this product to Articulate Engage and frankly I think that is a mistake. Snap! Empower blows away Engage on multiple levels and as such I’d put this product against some of the rapid content authoring tools that offer simulation options.

Toss in SCORM 1.2/2004, add a few more standard features and make changes to some of the capabilities and this product will be competitive against some of its higher priced authoring tool brethren. But let’s not stop there.

Want to really empower it? Go SaaS.

As for Snap! make it work with PowerPoint 2010 in combination with Windows 64 bit computers.

Because right now, you are missing the power,

To make it crackle and pop.

E-Learning 24/7

1976. VHS VCR comes home – literally if you bought one.  Beta is better, but VHS wins.  Beta player owners realize the game is up – and decide to cryogenically freeze players until the masses realize what they are missing.

1978 – Laserdisc debuts in Atlanta, GA.  Far superior to anything before.  Beta folks run out and buy it.  VHS still dominates. Beta folks strike out again.

1981 – MTV arrives. Video Killed the Radio Star debuts. Everyone watches it – because it is the first video to be seen on the station.

Flashback

1980′s – VCRs are huge – I mean big as in large items on top of your TV. They are also big in the market – people are buying them.

Flashback

1990′s – VHS still dominates. Masses own a VCR.  DVD players appear in 1994.  The masses start buying them in droves in 1998.

1995 – Real Media arrives on the internet scene streaming an entire baseball game that probably no one watched.

Flashback

2000′s – HD-DVD shows up, so does Blu-Ray. Beta and Lasderdisc fans rejoice! Blu-Ray wins. People who bought HD-DVD players – learn that they make great flying objects out of five story buildings.  Beta folks still waiting for Beta to return.

2012 – Mobile video consumption rises up to 5.4 percent, which may seem nominal, but it is a 64 percent increase from April of the same year. (Ooyala, Nov. 2012)

2013 -  LMSs are not the only learning system in town. The new kids of the block (please no jokes here) are Video Learning Platforms. While they have been making roads in the educational markets for the past few years, some solutions start to target the corporate market too.

Grab your Video

Video in e-learning means something quite different than video in its usual term.

• Screen recording and capture – often seen in demos or software or web tutorials
• Screen recording and capture with audio narration
• Live broadcasting – Steve is in Long Beach, Anna is in Moscow – the communicate in real time with or without a live audience – i.e. watching via their computers or mobile device (may include synched slides, but not a requirement)
• Taped live broadcast – taped earlier at some point and then posted for people to view
• Video itself -  streamed, recorded, edited then posted, posted without editing,  etc.  – may/may not include audio incl. background
• Video captured with a smartphone, tablet, digital camera (if available), DV and HD DVC (digital video camcorders), web cam, etc. – may/may not include audio incl. background

Not your Mom and Dad’s VCR

While a video learning platform might have multiple products at the end of the day it is built upon two key components (which they all have in some form)

• Recording device – Some call it a recorder
• Video content management system – this is where all your wonderful videos get housed, including audio podcasts (some offer this feature too), audio, slides, etc. – this is the backbone of the platform

On the recorder side you have a device that can record a variety of things – from your web cam to live broadcasting to screen recording and captures to meetings and much more.  All the VLPs have a recorder (they may call it something else though).

Recorders also

• Stream your video
• Publish your video  – more on this in a sec.
• Deliver live presentations/events/meetings/webcast – to name a few
• Synch documents, slides with your presentation
• Other options – depends on the vendor

VCMS

The video content management platform is a requirement if you are going to use the VLP as a standalone and not in a LMS – yes you can interface (more on that shortly).  The other requirement is that..uh, you know.. uh RECORDER!

Typically the video content management platform consists of (please note: that some vendors call their VCMS something else)

• Media Library – Where your videos, audio, etc. is housed
• Folders – think categories – you can put videos in each folder depending on topic, company (if you are offering a B2B angle), departments, events, basically however you want it
• Encoding  and Processing
• M-Learning support – all devices including iPad and other tablets
• Can interface with learning management systems – including educational focused LMSs – always contact your vendor if you want to go this route — i.e. interface/integration/extension
• Ability for end user to see the videos – i.e. check out which videos they want to view, click on them, watch them, and yes even buy them (some vendors offer e-commerce)
• Analytics and Reporting – If you are expecting similar to a LMS it is not going to happen, but for most folks they want to know how many times did Sue watch the video, which videos did she watch, how long did she watch, video rankings – can include “most popular”, “highest rated”, “most commented”, “most liked”
• Access control – Think Admin control
• Can group a set of learners/viewers to see ABC videos and then set a group of learners or even one learner to see a totally different set of videos
• User names/passwords, etc. – similar in many ways to the LMS side of the house in terms of user names/passwords
• Video search – think video search engine
• A sharing function of some sort – might be via social media
• Slide synching
• HTML5 support
• SaaS or on your own servers – they can do both, but ideally prefer SaaS (they host it)

Optional (not all VLPs offer this, hence optional)

• Video transcript – this is a must IMO because it enables your viewers to see the text below (not as close caption)
• Narrative transcript – When the person says “dog” it goes right to the video text transcript where the word “dog” is shown, often this is displayed on the VLP screen (not on your video) with specific clips, so you just click the clip which already contains the word or words and watch it – and yes see it

This is great because you no longer have to watch the entire video or try to hit rewind to go right where the person talks about what you want to hear. Narrative is a must feature IMO.

• SCORM compliant
• 508c compliant
• Offline viewing
• Video editing
• Plugins
• E-commerce
• APIs – as in their (video learning platform itself) API is open
• Player templates
• Playlists
• Close captions support
• Social components – beyond the share functionality
• Users can “like”, “rate”, “leave comments”, “share”
• Users can download videos
• Transcription services – already in the platform. Vendor has an agreement with a 3rd party which will transcribe your entire video and publish the text to match the video. This is a nice feature because you do not have to do it yourself – which is available to you as well.

It is all done within the platform, so you do not have to send the video to be transcribed to the 3rd party vendor, wait for it to get back and then publish. It is all self-contained.  This is typically an additional cost – i.e. having an actual human (which is how it works) transcribes your video.

Another capability of transcription services is the ability to change the language. So if your video text initially is in English and you want to change it to German you can via the platform. Again, similar to how the transcription service works, with a real human being translating the text.

Always an additional cost.  Please note that this is in reference to the video text transcript and not the user interface or VLP layout.

• Supports H.264, MP4, MOV, WMA, AICC, etc. – always check with the vendor – they all support HD
• Skinning and Branding inc. your own logo (not all the vendors offer this option. If they do it is often included at no charge.) If your VLP is on your own servers most of the vendors will allow you to customize the CSS.
• Custom domain
• Multiple layouts. Knowledge Vision offers 85 different layouts – that is a lot
• Multilingual – as in the user interface, labels, etc. – again not everyone supports multiple languages (besides English). Don’t assume that when they say “we support multiple languages” it means they support nine languages. One vendor supports 25 languages, another supports two.
• Can change labels, headers, fonts – not everyone offers this ability

Video Break

Uh it is an actual video break. So here is a video for you:

Video Break is over

Video V-Costs

You might be thinking wow this sounds great, but I bet it costs a fortune and you would be incorrect.

VLPs are actually very inexpensive when compared to the LMS market.

Fees are not necessarily charged by seats (i.e. active users) which can create confusion when trying to compare pricing apples to apples.

Costs

• Charging by the number of recorders you purchase and the number of usage hours.  A recorder is tied to a machine (computer). So if you have five people using one computer for the recorder, you get charged only for one license. If the same five are all using recorders on five different computers it equals five licenses.  The usage hours  (which are quite high) equate to the number of hours which can be recorded/viewing. Using this pricing model, the number of people viewing is unlimited.
• Charging by active users
• Charging by active presentations.  Active presentations are defined by the number of videos on the platform. The time of each video is irrelevant.  For example, you have 20 videos uploaded, of which eight are ten minutes in length and the rest are 85 minutes in length. Number of active presentations is 20.

With this pricing model – unlimited viewership, unlimited people accessing the system. 

• One flat fee – Appears in open source platforms. Be aware that an open source platform is just how you imagine it – you have to fully customize it.
• Charging by number of users, storage and bandwidth

Many of the vendors have a setup fee – but this is not universal.  The same with support – can be the whole thing or just parts and then you pay extra for additional support levels.

Top Five Video Players

1. Panopto - Very finesse, but lacks the ability to remove their own logo, skinning – as in your colors not doable, no social. Offers recorders pricing model and also active users model – you choose. Does offer educational pricing.  Targets education, non-profit and corporate markets.  SCORM Compliant.
2. KnowledgeVision - Wonderful platform, loads of features – uses the active presentation pricing model.  Offers three editions – may offer educational pricing – please ask.  The KV Studio is the product to look at.  Targets education, non-profit and corporate markets. SCORM Compliant.
3. Kaltura – Open source platform, extremely robust.  The platform is not free – you have to pay. They do also additional packages and add-ons, and there is a cost.  What I love is their Exchange marketplace which lists an extensive list of partners that can integrate, support or work with their product. Reminds me of similar marketplaces like Google Apps or Intuit. No SCORM support. Can create a channel in the Roku store.
   
4. Vidizmo – Has a nice set of features. Back end is easy to use. Pricing model is active users. Has potential. SCORM Compliant. 
5. MediaCore - UI is similar to YouTube, but they lack video text transcript, narrative search and a few other feature sets. Heavily focused on education market.  Not sure if they have any corporate clients. While the site says you can customize the colors of your system that is incorrect (according to a person I spoke with at MediaCore).

Bottom Line

Video Learning Platforms are here to stay and more importantly, ready to take off both in terms of usage and feature sets.

If I was looking at entering the e-learning market as a vendor, I’d take a hard look at the VLP space and then I would jump in feet first.

Just making sure that I don’t hit a beta video player that someone has finally realized isn’t coming back.

Because it isn’t.

E-Learning 24/7

Back again to bring this first in a series of rankings for the top ten learning management systems for 2013. As many of you will around know, these rankings are just the first in of series. That said, just as a reminder:

Here is how these new rankings will work throughout 2013:

• Debut this month, update in July, final top 25 in Dec.
• Vendors can move up, down or out of the rankings – after all it is on-going
• First ranking are the top ten, July rankings are top 25, final rankings are the top 25
• Listings can always be found on a new page called “rankings” which will appear in one month – thus eliminating the need to do a search (if applicable)
• Rankings are based on my directories which are updated monthly; I also keep a separate directory which will contain more vendors than listed within the visible directories – reason being it offers clients (those who hire me – buyers to have an added bonus, of course it contains much more info); that said the monthly directories provide key info and in future updates have new columns added
• There is never a quid pro quo, pay for play or whatever with my rankings. I’m not a lead gen for the vendors listed – rather the goal is to provide you with vendors that meet numerous criteria including UI, features, support/service, mobile, feedback from current and past clients and future game plans
• 100% independent. No spin. You want that – there are plenty of places out there that offer it. You will never find it here.

Okay now that is covered, let’s jump right into the action.

#10 Interactyx – Topyx

Where have you been my friend? Back from the dead, I surmise. Actually not really, but they have rebounded to overhaul the user interface – and I am told continuing to do so. Still listed as a social learning management system, they have made some new strides that really work for me.

Pluses

• Big win still with the communities tied to not only groups but also specific courses. They were the first ones to do this, and still a big plus in my book
• Unlimited users – a rarity in today’s market
• More collaborative features
• Support of the iPad, thus mobile learning. It actually has gotten better.
• Overall a huge improvement

Minuses

• Charging to remove their name of the system. Why? I mean besides making additional money, I would never want to have their name on the platform. As a former training director I had enough problems with users buzzing me about whatever, but having the name of the vendor too would not be good.
• E-commerce fee per year. A big peeve of mine in general. E-Commerce with many vendors is included nowadays. If you want to charge, charge once.

#9 Absorb LMS

Remember back in my authoring tool list, I mentioned one well known LMS vendor who dropped significantly in my rankings? Well, here they are.

The system is still very strong and they have updated their UI. Ideal for folks who want a multi-tenant system or also known as an extended enterprise. So, why the drop?

Pluses

• HTML5 interface – big win for tablets in general, especially the iOS devices
• New UI – always a good thing. Their original UI was always smooth so it only gets better
• Mercury Module – specifically the banners component, although new stories is interesting – it already exists in quite a few systems, same thing with contests and polls

Minuses

• Paying extra for something they call the “Mercury Module” – features: Contests, quick polls, news stories, banners/videos (called banners) so that you can advertise or promote new courses, events on the home page
• Kicking to the curb their “SmartLab LMS” which was pitched as more robust system – stronger customization for the front, a few new features and while it was initially built for one client, they started to move clients from the Absorb LMS to SmartLab and even recommended to some current clients (who had just bought Absorb) to consider upgrading at a later point to SmartLab. Anyway, not sure how that played out when they had some clients who moved from Absorb to SmartLab and then ended up going back to Absorb – not an ideal customer service move IMO.
• A little late to the game for some features that others already had in play

I still see it as a strong system, especially for extended enterprise, but I have some minor concerns (based on feedback from some current clients) that causes me to place the system at #9.

#8 Docebo

A very inexpensive system that continues to pack some nice features. What are those?

Pluses

• Tin Can compliment – but no native app and no online/offline synch
• Available in 30 languages
• Personalization capability for each end user – including selecting their own language, which may be different from another end user in the same system
• Choose quickly between a simple streamlined version and their advanced – IMO, I would use their advanced
• Courses includes – simply click and whalla in the system – via their marketplace
• Interface with Salesforce.com (but you need to already have SF)
• Easy to use interface
• Built-in help desk
• Integrates with WordPress
• Comes with App store

Minuses

• Marketplace now included courses you can buy from other content providers – how is this different from some vendors of today who can add content from 3rd party vendors, when you call them? It isn’t.

#7 eLogic Learning

A very nice system that continues to get better. Pricing is solid and support is fantastic (everyone should be like this).

Pluses

• New video component (coming soon!)
• Competencies
• Integrates with Office 365 via API
• Very good for extended enterprise systems and even standalone systems i.e. without going multi-tenant
• Tin Can API with online/offline synchronization – AWESOME!
• Mobile works on all devices including the Kindle (Amazon)
• Certificates can look differently from one to the next
• Easy to use

Minuses

• I still believe there is room to grow with the UI, especially Admin side

#6 IMC-AG Clix

At the end of 2012, was #4, now it is #6. Listen this is a very good system, but it has stumbled a bit – especially on the mobile side (more on that sec).

Pluses

• M-Learning offers online/offline synchronization
• Schedule integration with Microsoft Outlook
• Audit trails
• Integrates with Office 365 with API
• Robust features
• Strong for multi-tenant (extended enterprise) and even if you just want a system with no extended enterprise
• Lots of languages to choose from

Minuses

• What is taking so long with that new UI?
• Charges extra to use their mobile features – per user per year, plus per year for the mobile component – what the heck is going on here? This to me is a huge minus which has caused them to drop

Pricing is mid-tier.

#5 BizLibrary – Company College

One of the first vendors to include the video boxes on the home page, rather than just the text for course title, etc. The UI is still very good and support is very good too.

Pluses

• Next to video blocks – users can preview and leave comments, ratings
• On the home page the product is able to recommend courses based on what courses have been started and completed – per user
• Lists latest and newest videos (which are courses), most popular, highest rated or by course duration
• Peer recognition
• Users can share and send courses to fellow users (LOVE it)

Minuses

• While the UI is vastly improved, on the admin side it needs a slight touch – but don’t get wrong the product is doable and nice
• No Tin Can and thus no online/offline synch

Pricing is extremely inexpensive.

#4 Instructure – Canvas

Great educational learning management system. The best one on the market. These guys cream the competition and offers enough to please virtually anyone looking for an educational LMS.

Pluses

• Open API
• Facebook and SMS (text) notifications
• Very ease to use
• Can leave text, audio and video feedback
• Parents can enroll as well, while I get the value of it – if my Mom enrolled when I was a kid – I would not be hip on that – can we say “Big Brother”? (K-12)
• State standards (K-12)
• Mobile – including on the iPad, including their grade book, which they call SpeedGrader
• Platforms for higher education and K-12

Minuses

• No online/offline synchronization which is bizarre since education is going the way of tablets – including iPad rather than purchasing laptops and desktops
• Cannot interface with digital textbooks – which I see as a continuing growing market. I mean the only way they can do it is via API, which isn’t something I would do

Pricing is very affordable.

#3 Competentum- ShareKnowledge

The best SharePoint LMS on the market. Yes, there is a still market for SharePoint systems and I recommend finding a system already built on it, rather than doing it yourself (which many people do).

Pluses

• Easy to use interface – which often does not happen with SharePoint LMSs
• Social learning
• Comes with an authoring tool
• Mobile – support iPad
• Works with SharePoint 2007 and 2010
• Works with many 3rd party authoring tools including Articulate, Captivate
• SCORM (in case you were wondering)
• Integration tool included
• Branding and skinning

Minuses

• No SaaS solution, but this is not unusual in the SharePoint market – I hope that changes
• Authoring tool is fairly poor

Pricing is affordable.

#2 Panopto

A video learning platform hits the rankings. Video learning platform – you might be asking what in the heck is that? Well, it is a new sub-genre of e-learning, whereas it is made of two components. A recorder which can record videos, demos not only on the desktop/laptop, but also with a mobile device such as the iPhone and iPad. (on a side note: next week’s blog covers the video learning platform market, including six vendors who stand out).

The other component – a video content management system.

Pluses

• Can record live events and stream them or place them on the platform for future viewing
• Can zero in with a mobile device in recording, even with a DV camera – so it is not just a wide shot when recording – which is awesome function for product demonstrations, heck even when showing someone how to do whatever..
• Take notes during live presentations
• Built in video transcript under the video, with a keyword search (example: Type in “dog” and the transcript goes to the text each time “dog” is presented, then you click the text and guess what happens next?
• Goes to the time code in the video presentation (already recorded and posted on your platform) where the person is talking. No more having to watch the entire video
• Can capture PowerPoint presentations and match them to the person talking
• Can upload using Camtasia and other similar screen recording and capturing
• Video editing
• Podcast viewing
• Video library access broken down by videos, so let’s say a group of people can only see “sales training”, well the other videos are blocked from viewing and the sales training is only available
• Awesome feature set
• M-Learning – can view on tablets, including iPad
• Similar to TEDS in that the videos appear on the home page and people can click and watch

Minuses

• Cannot skin on the SaaS version and even if you host it on your own servers you have to do it via CSS code (this is not uncommon in the VLP market, but it still is a minus in book)
• Has a little bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, simple
• While the UI is solid can be vastly improved

Pricing is based on two factors: Unison the platform and Focus – the recorders.

For Focus it is the number of recorders you purchase (think per machine. So if you have three people accessing the same machine and using the recording, you pay for only one license. If people are recording on different machines, then the fee is per machine, which in this case would be five licenses and on the other product Unison.

If you are using Camtasia or similar products and have no need for a recorder device NOR one for live streaming, you do not need the recorder. However you will need the Unison product (whose pricing is separate). 

That said pricing is affordable. Other fee is hours to use – which the base is 6,000 users at the cost of $3,000 USD. Unlimited people can access the system and use it. The whole thing – recorders and hours are yearly.

Disclosure: I am using the Panopto platform for my newest compliment to my blog – eVoluton by E-Learning 24/7, which will launch April 15, 2013 – and I believe will change the way you receive insight, product reviews (some will still be on the blog), etc. on the net.

That said, even if they weren’t providing the platform for me, I still will love the product. Anyone who read my post on a previous conference show from 2011 will have noticed comments on Panopto.

I personally believe the VLP market as a whole will be big. If I am looking to get into the e-learning market, I would go this route.

#1 ExpertusOne

Still the best LMS on the market. Perfect for those looking for a multi-tenant system (extended enterprise) and even just a system in general. Feature wise this product is fantastic.

I could go on with a lot of the capabilities for this product, but I won’t. Rather I will list just a few:

• Mobile support including online/offline synchronization and native app
• Best multi-lingual interface I have ever seen – everything changes to the whatever language you want – including the admin side
• E-commerce and SSL included at no charge
• FDA validation
• Workflow engine
• Lists the most popular training courses, highly rated training courses, new training courses, most active users on the home page (you can turn that off if you want)
• Social learning
• Native video player

Minuses

None I can really think of – that is why it is #1.

Pricing is mid tier.

Why isn’t:

SuccessFactors – I really liked this system in my previous rankings, but with a few new items I am hearing in relation to SAP, it drops it out of the top ten.

Specifically:

• Seems heavily focused on the Performance mgt. angle, as well as a HCM (Human Capital Mgt) platform. Actually IMO I believe it is more of a HCM that offers learning as a module, than a LMS first and foremost. 

SumTotal: Expensive system and what you are buying is name IMO. Personally, this is a human capital management system which has a learning component.

Saba: See SumTotal. Strong in social, but also a HCM and as previously noted: They also told me they saw their system as a performance management product, which is fine. Yeah you can use it as a LMS, but why?

Cornerstone on Demand: Again, buying a name. This is really a HCM and yes it has a LMS, but they continue to have issues with their UI. An extremely poor UI IMO. For all that money they have, you think they would invest it into a better UI. Admin side is quite robust – but as a reader noted to me: it is overwhelming – too much. A similar point I mentioned in my review.

E-Learning 24/7

Authoring tools are always changing – some for the better, others for the worst.

Therefore, new rankings are in order.

Here is how these new rankings will work throughout 2013:

• Debut this month, update in July, final top 25 in Dec.
• Vendors can move up, down or out of the rankings – after all it is on-going
• First ranking are the top ten, July rankings are top 25, final rankings are the top 25
• Listings can always be found on a new page called “rankings” which will appear in one month – thus eliminating the need to do a search (if applicable)
• Rankings are based on my directories which are updated monthly; I also keep a separate directory which will contain more vendors than listed within the visible directories – reason being it offers clients (those who hire me – buyers to have an added bonus, of course it contains much more info); that said the monthly directories provide key info and in future updates have new columns added
• There is never a quid pro quo, pay for play or whatever with my rankings. I’m not a lead gen for the vendors listed – rather the goal is to provide you with vendors that meet numerous criteria including UI, features, support/service, mobile, feedback from current and past clients and future game plans
• 100% independent. No spin. You want that – there are plenty of places out there that offer it. You will never find it here

Top Ten

I always prefer going from 10 to 1, it builds excitement.

#10: TechSmith Camtasia Studio – I’ve debated numerous times if a product that is more of a screen recorder with added feature sets deserves to be in an authoring tool set. However,with the added mobile piece, creation of professional videos, relay capability with various products including VLPs, it makes sense.

#9 iSpring Solutions- iSpring Suite - PowerPoint add on products are still a hot item in the space. This solution reminds me of Articulate Studio in terms of its capabilities, but at a lower cost. The new iSpring Pro 7 – currently in beta adds additional powerhouse features, including PPT to HTML5 output (which right now is a standalone product).

#8 Zenler Studio – Another PowerPoint driven product with some very cool feature sets including: eBook, screen recording, narration, simple to use, scenario builder (win!) and SCORM/AICC. While it support mobile, it cannot output to HTML5. Offers three versions.

#7 easygenerator- Proof that you do not need to be based in the states to have a very cool product. Features include adaptive learning, collaboration, scenario builder, SCORM, question pool/assessments and SaaS. They are reporting that in March 2013 you will be able to output to HTML5. IMO you want the fee based product. The freebie has limitations and frankly isn’t worth using.

#6 Brainshark - I have never been a fan of these guys in the past, but that has now changed. While their Slideshark app for the iPad is nifty, it is not the only product that showcases PPT and is free. That said, the enterprise version is really strong.

Features include: branching, assessment tool, convert slide notes to computer-generated audio via text-to-speech converter (11 voices/accents according to Brainshark), skinned, send links to access courses via social media, output to MP4, certificates and SCORM. Yeah it is another PPT spin product but does stand out.

#5 Epic – GoMo Authoring tool - Again an example of a cool product from outside of the states. This is really a product ideal for mobile which is quite intriguing. Features include: ability to view (offline) or via a native HTML web app, preview feature for iPad – ideal to verify that what you are publishing for mobile actually looks and works as it is intended, iPad, Android and Blackberry support (why?), SCORM and assessment tool.

#4 Courselab - Hey I am still a big fan of this product. It is ideal for instructional designers and e-learning developers, which is a rarity in today’s space. That said, the version I am talking about this time is the commercial one, although the free version will suffice for many folks.

Features on the commercial side include: 80 templates, VML/SVG vector objects, avatars – to a degree, object library, available in multiple languages including German, Russian, Arabic (very rare), Dutch, Japanese (rare), Spanish, French and English. Browser support includes Chrome, Opera (extremely rare) and Safari on the iPad. Oh it also supports IE, Safari on desktop/laptop and Firefox. Includes screen capture.

#3 ZebraZapps - I saw this product at TK13 and was totally blown away. The pro version is really geared towards instructional designers and e-learning developers. The app store is awesome and I wish more vendors would follow suit. As noted in my review of TK13, ZZ not only offers their own creations but also apps created by end users.

Rather than have a layout similar to Storyline (which reminds me a bit of Photoshop), this layout has something they call message centers with objects: including wires and nesting, which is hard to describe – so click to see an example). SaaS based, SCORM supported, layers and much more. The simple version could be used with someone who has limited tech skills, but I still believe that is ideal for instructional designers and developers.

#2 Articulate Storyline – I have to say that they are quite close to taking the number one spot, but they fall just a tad short. Why you may ask? Because they are having some slight issues – which I have heard from some end users and even from some Articulate folks at TK13. Also no offline/online synch unless via a LMS (which supports it).

Lastly this is still a work in progress product in the sense that they are still finding bugs and issues with the product, which while the fix with updates, it isn’t ideal for any authoring tool.

That said, this is still a really impressive product. For those who are wondering if they will ever offer a SaaS based version, I have been told it is under discussion and likely sometime down the road (not sure when that will be).

#1 dominKnow Claro - Still number one. Features include: SaaS, online/offline synch with their own tool, besides via a LMS that supports it, templates, multilingual (they report that the UI is available in 60 languages (beta right now) and the product itself supports nine languages), objects, branching, collaboration, HTML5 output (win!), people with zero to limited tech skills will find it easy to use, plus it offers enough ZOOM for instructional designers and e-learning developers.

Avatars, RLOs, media asset library, narration and web cam recording, screen recording and capturing, Tin Can API and I could go on and on.

Bonus Pick

I’m really intrigued by Go! Animate- which is not really an authoring tool but enables you to create scenarios with actors/avatars which can be lip synched with your voice. Plus each character (and they have a lot) can be fully customized right in the product. Output to MP4, so you can stick it into any authoring tool that supports it – as part of a course or standalone page. Mobile comes via MP4, but no Tin Can support. I walked away saying WOW.

Why isn’t?

• Lectora on the list? Not a top ten IMO. Solid product but frankly there are a lot of products that beat it.
• Rapid Intake – Hasn’t really done anything in the last several months. At one time very forward thinking, now run of the mill.
• Studio 09 – Again solid product, clearly in top 25, but I’m waiting to test Studio 13 to see what it can do. Articulate has told me that they will be providing me a version prior to release, so a product review can be done.

Why not Captivate

• Lags behind top tier products such as Claro, Storyline even Rapid Intake when it came to output to HTML5 and a few other features. For such a huge company as Adobe, the lack of forward thinking (first) is surprising.
• It is #12 (why – see first bullet point). Sure it works for instructional designers and those who are new to the space as a whole, but my take is that they can’t decide what to be – either a pure instructional designer/developer product – which they are not, or a rapid content authoring tool with some ID feature sets (which they are)

Bottom Line

So the first set of rankings are in. Before you say – what about LMSs, video learning platforms, and other – don’t worry – they will be posted next week and follow the same formula for rankings (as listed above).

Fluidity is the name of the game and if anything stands out – products that were hot months ago, may no longer be now.

But it can all change in just a short while.

Just as these rankings could too.

Update: Have a chance to win a license to one of these authoring tools, plus a few others – Survey   You must complete the entire survey (3 questions) to enter.  The only vendors who did not provide a license from this list are: Techsmith,  Brainshark, Zenler, Epic. 

Other vendors who are offering a license: MadCap Suite (in the 11-20 rankings of Feb 2012), easyGenerator (11-20 rankings), Mzinga Publisher (11-20 rankings), Training Bricks (11-20 rankings), Cm-Group Luminosity (11-20 rankings), Go! Animate (Bonus Pick) and ProProfs. 

E-Learning 24/7

It comes from fellow readers who send me e-mails or talk to me via social media. It comes from people I meet at events. It comes from me talking to vendors, buyers, monitoring the industry all the while taking notes and seeing the trends/patterns appear right before my eyes.

Web site stinks = product stinks

What has always amazed me are number of e-learning vendor web sites whose design looks like it came from 1995 when Netscape ruled the land. Frankly, it is unreal.  I mean look at any other industry, any industry and check out their vendors’ web sites.

I’d love to identify the top twenty worst LMS vendor web sites out there – but there are way too many to pick. The same for authoring tools.

You also can’t leave out m-learning platforms, assessment tool providers, web conferencing, audio conferencing and a couple social platforms.

Is it really that hard to make it user friendly and visual?

As a vendor you may say to yourself, “well it is not stopping anyone from contacting us or buying our products”, but you would be erroneous.

Here is what people have told me about poor web sites (most people bring up LMS vendors):

• The site looks bad so the product must be bad as well – the most common comment I hear from people
• I can’t see the product – no pure demo, and no screenshots – so the product must be poor
• I can’t find what I am looking for, it is too confusing – so I leave
• The screenshots are too small. I can’t click them to see them bigger. How is anyone supposed to see the product?
• The site stinks – the product stinks

What is equally of note are the number of people who tie bad web site design to poor product. In just the past month, it is the most common statement I hear from folks.  Which then brings back the “well no one is complaining” comment.

• Most people never complain. When I worked in radio, my program director told me less than 1% of your audience will ever call you
• How often have you had someone train you or present a workshop – and they were awful – but you rated them as excellent?
• Nowadays, you have 45 seconds to make an impression when someone visits your site – if they can’t find or see what they need – they are gone, so why would they contact you?
• How many potential customers left without ever telling you? I will tell you – a lot!
• When you visit a site – do you stick around if it looks dated?
• Lastly, there is a reason people like the “WOW” factor in UI, the fresh, crisp and modern look – which is a continuing trend; they want it – so why would you keep your awful look at your web site, when you product doesn’t have it.

Some examples of cool web sites (this does not mean the product rocks – it may or may not – rather it is the look of the site)

LMS – this includes sites that show a fresh, modern look

• OpenClass – you will notice that each screenshot can be expanded and you can also scroll to see more images to expand
• Coggno
• Administrate - granted it requires you to scroll down (not a fan) and has more text than needed, it still is a fresh and modern look
• Litmos - modern look
• Panopto - modern and crisp, I’d want to take a dive into the site
• Seminar - modern look, but scroll down (wish it wasn’t) – however, I’d scroll down and explore
• Upside Learning
• aNewSpring - When you click “tour” you see the product by section

Authoring tools

• Articulate Storyline
• iSpring Solutions

App and Add-ons marketplaces

You knew it was only a matter of time, but vendors who offer apps for consumers to select is on the rise. The added twist is the ability for end users who have created apps to include them in the marketplace either free or fee based.

While content marketplaces have existed and are also increasing, the app side of the house is moving much quicker.  Here are the ways vendors are doing it (which explains why it works):

• Vendors create their own apps – it maybe as simple as a new gadget such as learning game
• Vendors include an API marketplace and list it within their app marketplace or as “add-ons”, “extras” – one vendor who does the extra angle quite well is aNewSpring
• End users create their own apps and include them in the app marketplace so that other end users can select and add them into their product or authoring tool (the LMS and authoring tool spaces are the biggest app gainers)
• Apps can be free or a small fee base – on the vendor side they typically are free, although I have seen one LMS vendor have freebies and fee base; on the end user side most are free, but I have seen fee based
• We are not talking advanced apps here that cost a fortune to build – unless they come from a 3rd party company who is selling them – this is a new angle but I surmise it will grow by the end of 2013

What I really love about these new marketplaces is how easy it is to install them. The end user simply clicks “install” and it does it automatically.  Thus the end user does not have to deal with the vendor to get it installed nor deal with figuring out how to manually install it.  Simple and easy!

One authoring tool vendor who really hits a home run with apps is the app angle authoring tool – ZebraZapps which includes the app builder within the product.

If I wanted to get into the act, I would offer an app builder within my product – there are plenty of them out there or you can create your own – without dropping $$$$ to do so.

Quick Hits

Here are a few more items I’m seeing on the growth track

• LMS vendors including content/courses at no additional charge – either they built it themselves, came from a 3rd party partner or a combination of both
• Some vendors have it within a marketplace where the end user chooses what they want and simply click it to install automatically
• Each end user in a LMS has the ability to personalize their pages, no more everyone gets it and that is it
• An anti-Skillsoft attitude when it comes to finding 3rd party content, similar to those folks who are anti-Microsoft or anti-Internet Explorer
• You knew it would happen – the anti-Facebook like page for social – Many people I have talked to recently mention this when it comes to social, I recently had a client who told me they wanted social but not a Facebook like page
• Social tied to groups, individual courses and alike – Topyx was the first to do this, now others are starting to follow
• No sales follow-up; when I was at TK13 I repeatedly heard this from folks, this is always has been a huge problem in the space, but apparently it is on the rise – especially with those who do not follow up on a phone message (beyond the standard lack of e-mail or contact us forms on sites)
• Languages included – no more you select your preferred language and then pay a fee for each additional language, now vendors are including numerous languages: either as a language pack or what is becoming more common – automatically with the system at no additional charge

Bottom Line

We are only six weeks into the new year and already trends are appearing right before our eyes. Some are a continuation from the previous year, many are not.

This is an exciting time to be in the e-learning space.

An exciting time, indeed.

E-Learning 24/7