Have legacy systems handcuffed your enterprise? If you speak with John May, Capgemini Academys learning solution architect, hed be the first to admit the company’s 15-year-old print-based learning platform was creating more problems than solutions. This means it’s time to change the learning content management strategy now.
When we step outside of our learning silo, we find that virtually every function in todays organizations is sustained by a content strategy driven by a content management system that enables content developers to create dynamic content and reuse it across multiple formats. The ultimate outcome is business growth.
The technology market research firm Radicati Group estimates the enterprise content management market will bloom from $5.1 billion this year to $9.3 billion by 2017. High Impact Learning Organizations like Capgemini Academy are investing in state-of-the-art learning content management systems, like Xyleme, to keep pace with the drivers of change.
Our conversation with May highlighted several impactful reasons that your existing learning content management strategy is likely in need of an upgrade:
1. Learning content management needs to be centralized
In any industry, a fundamental principle to managing your services is control. Capgemini Academy publishes a large number of information technology courses. The organization has roughly 100 internal trainers in addition to external support professionals who need access to effective and efficient learning content.
The company was using a legacy system that needed excessive maintenance to keep it up and running undercutting its ability to control content. This significantly contributed to the company’s decision to integrate Xyleme’s LCMS solution.
“It improves the speed of design and the amount of reuse,” May indicated.
At the same time, the company’s previous system required users to develop learning content on non-standardized Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files, and a significant number of these materials were stored outside of the print-based learning system. This made it much more difficult to locate specific documents or learning materials because individual trainers often retained the original files.
Being an international company headquartered in Paris, Capgemini frequently provides multilingual courses, which required heavy lifting in terms of translating every item into another language. Even individual documents needed to be translated multiple times because the company’s legacy system didn’t allow the organization to keep track of whether a file had already been translated. Going further, designers and trainers weren’t able to isolate the translated versions.
Xyleme has all but eliminated this issue.
“[There’s] greater visibility and a more structured approach to publishing,” May said. “We have version control.”
Most importantly, content development is separate from content assembly, with the LCMS playing a central role in delivering streamlined learning services.
2. If your learning content isnt single-source, it isnt reusable
Reuse is a linchpin for efficiency in content management across all industries. Without a single-source platform as a central resource, content rapidly multiplies in a haphazard manner. With such a high number of trainers, Capgemini has authored upwards of 60,000 documents, and the result was an inconsistent volume of learning content. This creates another issue pointing toward a shift in learning content management strategy.
Xyleme’s LCMS drives reuse because authors develop content just once as a single learning object. They can then grab and integrate learning content as they see fit to create, reassemble or update training courses.
“The specific benefit of Xyleme is publishing to multiple delivery formats from just one ,” May explained.
Conversion was a major focus for the company last year. Capgemini itemized and prioritized the courses, and designers formatted each learning item to ensure it follows template style and intellectual property guidelines.
By migrating to Xylemes platform, Capgemini developed standardized output stylesheets for Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and PDF format. Configured content is then imported into the LCMS and automatically converted into XML-based learning objects.
“Learning objects that are already in Xyleme’s [LCMS] are reused more than what was done in the past,” May said.
Learning is driven by content that has a consistent look and feel. Capgemini trainers can focus on delivering effective courses, while designers easily adapt or assemble single-source training materials based on clients needs, which would have been a massive headache prior to migrating to Xyleme’s LCMS.
3. Globalization drives a need for mobility
Is the world flat? It depends on who you ask, but there’s no question the business universe is rapidly shrinking, and LCMS enables companies to keep up with the pace of change. Content will be future proof, meaning it is optimized for the output delivery systems of today and tomorrow. This is crucial to your learning content management strategy.
Capgemini’s legacy system was primarily geared to connect with printing facilities. What’s the downside? Digital discord. You can’t support e-learning, mobile capabilities and efficient reuse.
“A great advantage is that [Xyleme is] boundary-less,” said May. “We’re working for a global organization – and we’re more and more doing training globally.”
By coordinating Xyleme’s LCMS with Capgemini’s learning management system, the organization is on track to become a fully paperless workplace as they implement their new learning content management strategy. In other words, all content will be digital, which will enable content reuse and save the company significant expenses.
In a fully digital framework, learners can access and download content using their preferred device. This supports greater flexibility, while also reducing the costs needed to deliver training materials and instruction in a paper-based format. You can imagine the expenses associated with travel and logistics. A digital learning environment enables immediate access to training wherever a learner may be.
Capgemini Academy goes into greater visual detail in the following video:
