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CEdMA-Europe Members' Newsletter - September 2005 Welcome to the ninth CEdMA-Europe Members' Monthly Newsletter, which will be sent out at the end of September to CEdMA Europe members, to European colleagues of CEdMA USA members, and to CEdMA USA members. As usual, you will learn about updates to our forthcoming programme of events, but there is also a collection of recent articles whose content is consistent with the important topics that you our members voted to cover in our recent Conferences. In Training Manager and Instructor Development, there are two articles linking education and business strategies, a major focus for our conference on 10-11 November. The first stresses the importance of aligning education with the business strategy while the second looks at how to transform a training department into a strategic function that creates business value. Then, there's an interesting short article from Bob Mosher who looks at the importance of informal learning and how to enable it. Next, Alan Bellinger gives some hints at how to handle objections to training, especially from colleague managers! Richard Malam suggests that as managers we need to evolve just as training has and finally there is a checklist of how to get the board on your side forever! In News, Reviews and Current Trends (new heading to reflect the content!), there is Industry News from IT Skills Research and a new item on IT training press releases (with three months to catch up with!). Gary Flood then comments on the recent consolidations (acquisitions to me!) and how it has affected trainers. After a description of the RWD/SAP announcement to address user training services, there's a fascinating discussion about that part of the training marketplace we all know and love - customer education. Selling and Marketing Education has a short piece from Clive Shepherd advising how to grad learners' attention. The Learning Media section returns with a vengeance and 12 articles. We start with an article from Josh Bersin who says that the top priority in a recent survey was better alignment of training with business strategy, and that the 'e' in e-learning should now stand for enterprise. Then follows a couple of articles on e-learning strategy, even a maintenance strategy. After that there are several articles on various aspects of e-learning: a general introduction from Entelisys; Deloitte's view on how it can overcome challenges in learning and development; and three articles on how it affects learners and instructors alike. Then, we have an interesting discussion of hosted (as opposed to in-house) learning solutions. Training Magazine has two excellent articles on the state of the e-learning market and key trends and directions. Finally, I have included an article from Barrie Charles on Knowledge Management, which some people believe may well converge with e-learning over time. In Education Projects, Brandon Hall describes the top 10 characteristics to look for in a Custom Content Developer and then there are case studies from Greene King and Network Rail on their recent rollout projects. Measuring Education Value has (for a change) only a solitary article and that a generic cookbook approach to designing an evaluation questionnaire. The Managing Costs/Outsourcing section starts with Peter McStravick of IDC taking the pulse of the training outsourcing business. Then, there is a description of 48 outsourcing deals from 1986 through 2005. (If you can give me information about any missing deals, then I'll update the tables.) A possible addition is the recent MoD award to BT, which is described. Then, we have a suggested approach on how to win the outsourcing decision. Finally, there are white papers on outsourcing and offshoring from Exceleration, IBM and Bersin. Finally, in Skills Gap/Certification, there is a description from Alan Bellinger of the Microsoft programme for architects. Offer number one - REPRISE I hope that you are enjoying accessing our website, www.cedma-europe.org. If you are a CEdMA Europe member and want to access the "members-only" section, but don't have the password, please send me an email. Offer number two - REPRISE As I have had only a few responses, I am repeating this offer. We have an agreement with CEdMA USA that members of each organisation can access the "members-only" section on the other's website. So, I invite any CEdMA Europe member to contact me to obtain the userid and password for www.cedma.org.
	10-11 November Conference "Getting Ready for Business in the Future"

	The CEdMA Europe Autumn Conference will take place on 10-11 November at the Initial Style Conference Centre in Horsley, Surrey, where the theme will be "Getting Ready for Business in the Future". By popular demand, we have extended Pulse of the Industry to last all morning on the Thursday. This session is intended to help introduce everyone, and help with networking during the event, as individuals explain what their key interests are. It will also help to identify potential topics for future conferences. The new item for everyone to reveal is "What was the most important thing I learned in the last six months?". Our personal development topic to help us get ready for business in the future is Building and Executing Strategy, where Mike Kean of ASK Training will lead the session. Friday morning is dedicated to how we shall get ready for business. After a review of recent studies and surveys of training delivery and technologies, two well-known customers responsible for IT training provision will set out their needs and requirements. Then, Sue Vine will provide an update from the May conference on how IBM is progressing with its projects to execute a 21^st century vision of learning. After the break, we shall split into two groups to consider such things as which projects apply to your company; what individuals plan to do and to stop doing to get there; and what are the implications on such things as resources, business models, and so on. On Friday afternoon, Phil Lawman will bring us up-to-date on how HP is progressing on increasing 'attach' rates before we discuss topics and venues for May 2006. CEdMA Europe members have two places at this event at no charge. Additional places for members and places for non-members (prospects or colleagues of CEdMA USA members) are charged at £195 (exclusive of VAT). Overnight accomodation with breakfast costs £110 per night, payable to Style Conferences For further information and booking (no forms required!), please visit here. Alternatively, simply to book, send me an email.
	04 October 2005 Workshop "20th century Learning Systems for 21st Century learners - R we out of touch?"
	We have 24 registrations but there's still room and time to attend! The early autumn CEdMA Europe half-day Workshop will take place on 04 October 2005 1330-1700 UK time at SUN Camberley. The speaker will be Professor Steve Molyneux of the UK Learning Lab "where technology enables knowledge". As requested by you, the membership, this is a technologies in training update, with the following description: "We have spent 100s of years becoming adept at boring students in the classroom in the hallowed name of Learning, with the advent of Learning Systems all we have done is re-invented boredom by boring students on screen. It is time for another revolution in learning. The technology is there, as is the infrastructure and customers. It's about time we moved outside of our comfort zone. This presentation will look at what we should be offering 21st century Learners." Please let Mike know if you or any of your colleagues will be attending, so that we can make sure we have enough seats, coffee, biscuits, and so on. Advance notice for 2006 Events We now have dates for the workshops and conferences in 2006, so please have a look at this page and mark the dates in your 2006 planner!
	Recent Articles from the Education and Training Press
	The headings in this section have been changed slightly to reflect better the true contents covered. Training Manager and Instructor Development Aligning Education with Business Strategies (Sep 05) Companies today demand innovative senior leaders who inspire confidence, middle managers who can translate the corporate vision for their functional or geographic area and front-line managers who can get the job done. Directly or indirectly, these challenges rely heavily on education and training, whether provided by internal corporate departments or external partners. ©MediaTec Publishing Inc 2005 Workforce Performance Improvement - Impacting Business Goals (Sep 05) Many factors, including the threat of outsourcing, the war for talent and the shift from a manufacturing economy to a knowledge economy, are forcing both learning and HR to move beyond their traditional, transactional roles to focus on performance—workforce performance in direct support of business performance. The challenge is how to transform a reactive, transactional training department into a strategic function that creates real business value. The answer is not simple. A carefully thought-out plan that involves every aspect of the learning function must be created and executed with care. Here are nine steps to achieving business results through actionable workforce performance strategy. ©MediaTec Publishing Inc 2005 Three Sides of Enablement (Sep 05) Most of the research on informal learning states that it encompasses as much as 80 percent of the learning that occurs in companies today, yet very few training organizations have defined approaches to understanding and supporting it. I’m not saying that informal learning should become formal, but it appears that those of us who impact learners during the formal modalities of instruction could do a better job of impacting and supporting learners when they journey out into the informal domain. ©MediaTec Publishing Inc 2005 How to overcome objections to training (Sep 05) What’s the biggest objection you encounter when you’re trying to promote training to your business unit managers? It’s a bit of a trick question, because I haven’t defined ‘biggest’ – it could be the most frequent or the one that takes the longest to express, or the hardest to answer. Alan Bellinger answers. ©2005 Haymarket Professional Publications Ltd Training has evolved – so must managers (Jul 05) The days when instructor-led training is king and nothing else is needed are going fast, says Richard Malam. ©2005 Haymarket Professional Publications 10 ways to ... get the board on your side forever (Sep 05) Show top executives how development can help them reach their goals and you're guaranteed their attention, says Leslie L Kossoff. ©Human Resources 28/09/05 News, Reviews and Current Trends Industry News from IT Skills Research (Sep 05) What's going on in the world of IT training and skills. © Copyright 1998-2005 IT Skills Research IT Training Press Releases Jul-Sep 05 A catch-up of press releases over the Jul-Sep 05 period. ©Training Press Releases 2005 Growing consolidation is bad news for trainers (Sep 05) The biggest-is-best trend among business application suppliers has implications for all of us, says Gary Flood. So we should care. ©2005 Haymarket Professional Publications Ltd RWD Technologies and SAP Announce New and Expanded Alliance to Meet Global Demand for User Training Services (Sep 05) RWD Technologies and SAP announce a global offering to help SAP customers derive greater value from their enterprise systems by maximizing employee proficiency in using SAP® Solutions. Copyright © 2005 RWD Technologies, Inc Customer Education - A Significant Piece of the Training Marketplace (Sep 05) Comprising over half of all corporate training dollars spent, Customer Education is one of the hottest topics in the training industry today – as corporations strive to create business loyalty, increase revenue and mitigate risk. Productivity Point International talked with Doug Harward, founder and CEO of TrainingOutsourcing.com, to learn more about the impact of Customer Education on corporate success and its increasing role in corporate training initiatives. Copyright © 1990-2005 Productivity Point International. Selling and Marketing Education Employ ‘push’ media to grab learners’ attention (Sep 05) From e-newsletters to ‘skinkers’ and Podcasts, we should use all we can to make learners take notice, advises Clive Shepherd. ©Haymarket Professional Publications Ltd 2005 Learning Media Changing the E in E-Learning (Jun 05) As many of you have seen from our "three phase of e-learning” presentation, the enterprise learning market is changing. Although many organizations are new to e-learning and continue to have interests in Learning Management Systems, tools, and blended learning approaches, there is a new theme emerging from our research – Alignment: the alignment of Training Investments with Corporate Business Goals and HR Systems and Processes, which changes the “E” to “Enterprise”. Copyright ©2005 Bersin & Associates. E-Learning Strategy - A Framework for Success (Aug 05) An IT department recently asked me to develop an e-learning course about one of its applications. One of my first steps was to contact the training manager of that organization and ask her what type of course would fit into her e-learning strategy. “What do you mean by e-learning strategy,” I heard on the other end of the phone. I started to explain, but found that what she really wanted to know was, “Why do I need an e-learning strategy?” ©2005 Learning Circuits E-Learning Maintenance Strategies — Why You Need One (Aug 05) Does your organization design or procure custom-built e-learning? Is your desire to create e-learning solutions that are widely successful? Do you aspire to be perceived as a strategic thinker within your business? If you answered yes to these questions, then an e-learning maintenance strategy is something you should consider. ©2005 Learning Circuits Successful e-Learning Strategies (Sep 05) This guide written by Entelisys Technologies is designed to provide various tips, suggestions and bits of information regarding e-Learning. It is not a step-by-step guide to implementing e-Learning. However, it provides basic information to help the reader learn more about e-Learning and take the first steps to implementation. ©2005 Entelisys Technologies LLC Overcoming Challenges in Learning and Development (Sep 05) Economic, social and technological forces continue to change the global economy and organizations around the world. The adoption of new technologies, the rapid obsolescence of knowledge, the need for just-in-time learning and the search for cost-effective ways to meet the learning needs of a global workforce have redefined the processes that underlie the design, development and delivery of training and education. ©MediaTec Publishing Inc 2005 Preparing E-Learners for Online Success (Sep 05) Advances in e-learning technology have, however, created new demands on both learners and instructors. ©2005 Learning Circuits Set the scene for e-learning success (Sep 05) I think we will all agree that e-learning can be a major string to our bow. But do we really capitalise on what it can offer? And what are the barriers to success? Richard Mallam writes. ©2005 Haymarket Professional Publications Ltd E-Learning Curve - Newsflash - the learner is king (Sep 05) Don't treat learners as vessels waiting to be filled, warns Clive Shepherd, let them participate. ©Human Resources 28/09/05 Best Practices of Hosted Learning Solutions (Sep 05) An increasing number of enterprises are opting to use an application service provider (ASP) to host their learning solutions. However, many are struggling with knowing how to select a partner. Here are a few best practices to look for when evaluating an ASP hosted learning platform. ©2005 Learning Circuits The State of the E-learning Market (Sep 05) As a fragmented e-learning market continues to mature, vendors must merge or partner with each other to compete. And customers are reaping the benefits, writes Sarah Boehle. ©Copyright 2005 Training Mag The E-learning Market - Key Trends and Predictions (Sep 05) Training Mag pulls together a short summary of others’ research and predictions. ©Copyright 2005 Training Mag Technology - Unlock the knowledge (Sep 05) Knowledge is the life-blood of any information-age business. But how do you get people to share what they know? Barrie Charles looks at some of the solutions designed to identify and keep track of intellectual capital. ©2005 Haymarket Professional Publications Ltd Education Projects Top 10 characteristics to look for in a Custom Content Developer (Jun 05) How do you choose a vendor to create content for your organisation? Most people rely on word of mouth. This can be a starting point, but like any significant purchasing decision, it’s smarter to follow an RFP process. An RFP can create a meaningful exchange and find out if the organisations are compatible. But you need to ask the right questions. Brandon Hall Associates asked CLO’s, e-learning managers and training directors to tell them what they look for in a custom content developer. They then took the information and matched it with what companies typically want from vendors to create the “Top 10” characteristics. ©2005 brandon-hall.com Greene King - The road to success (Sep 05) Pub company Greene King had to train more than 800 managers to use its new computer system in just six weeks – and they had to avoid Mondays and Fridays. Donna Murphy explains how they did it. ©2005 Haymarket Professional Publications Ltd Case study - Network Rail (Sep 05) On time and under budget are not words we naturally associate with Britain’s troubled railways, which makes the success of Network Rail’s mammoth IT training project all the more remarkable. Gary Flood reports. ©2005 Haymarket Professional Publications Ltd Measuring Education Value How to design an Evaluation Questionnaire (Sep 05) Recently so many people have been asking Godfrey Parkin to review their questionnaires and surveys that he thought he’d set out some essential best practices in 19 steps for creating good questionnaires. While written for training evaluation, the guide is applicable to any survey. ©2005 TrainingZONE Managing Costs/Outsourcing Taking the Pulse of Training Outsourcing (Sep 05) Training outsourcing is one of the hottest topics in learning and development today. In the past year, almost every industry publication and conference has included an article or session on the topic. With so much being said about this phenomenon, now is an appropriate time to gauge the extent to which companies are actually employing a training outsourcing strategy. Peter McStravick of IDC explains. ©MediaTec Publishing Inc 2005 Key Training Outsourcing Deals 1986-2005 (Sep 05) This is a tabulation of 48 outsourcing deals giving the year, customer, provider and a description of the services. It has been adapted from an online application on TrainingOutsoucing.Com. ©2005 TrainingOutsourcing.Com MoD awards contract to deliver £21 million e-learning system (Sep 05) The Ministry of Defence has awarded BT a contract worth £21m to extend its e-learning system with the potential to accommodate up to 300,000 users. The deal follows the successful pilot of the e-learning system - the Defence Learning Portal – from November 2004 to March 2005 under an initial agreement with BT. ©Copyright TrainingReference.co.uk 2003 – 2005 Winning the Outsourcing Decision (Sep 05) Decisions regarding outsourcing partners are complex and have many players. The CLO, in many cases, relies on the input and experience of others, such as those pesky business unit and learning executives — those with the day-to-day responsibilities. The way to get the outsourcing decision to come out in your favor is follow these three rules. ©2005 TrainingOutsourcing.Com Outsourcing versus Insourcing (Mar 05) This presentation by Doug Harward discusses what areas should stay inside (business strategy, governance, intellectual property, proprietary content delivery – insourcing, and which areas are ripe for outsourcing – administration, content development, content delivery and technology. ©2005 The Exceleration Group LLC Preparing for HR Business Transformation Outsourcing (Sep 05) This report highlights questions that organisations need to answer and key decisions that need to be made during the early stages of what IBM calls HR Business Transformation Outsourcing (HR BTO). Rather than simply handing a process over to an outside firm to operate, HR BTO focuses on transforming HR activities to improve efficiency and effectiveness and create business value. Based on secondary research and interviews with outsourcing providers, academics, consultants and individuals responsible for outsourcing arrangements, this report outlines practical guidance for organisations investigating the potential of HR BTO, as well as those that are looking to expand outsourcing arrangements already in place. ©Copyright IBM Corp 2005 Offshoring E-Learning - what works (Aug 05) There seems to be a stampede of US companies rushing to outsource their operations to offshore companies, dramatically expanding the economies of India and China. What is fueling the trend is the desire to gain access to lower cost, high quality labor. Top business functions for offshoring include customer service, IT and technology services, and now corporate training. This research report describes the findings from the recently published research study. ©2005 Bersin & Associates Instructor Resourcing No articles this month. Education Administration No articles this month. Skills Gap/Technical Certification Certification - Microsoft aims to build IT elite (Sep 05) Architects play a vital role in getting the most from your technology. Alan Bellinger takes closer look at a programme with a revolutionary approach to multi-vendor functionality and assessment. ©2005 Haymarket Professional Publications Ltd
	And, Finally.....
	A story about cannibals (which is really about management, but not any of you reading this, of course!) A big corporation hired several cannibals. "You are all part of our team now," said the HR manager during the welcome briefing. "You get all the usual benefits and you can go to the cafeteria for something to eat, but please don't eat any of the other employees." The cannibals promised they would not. A few weeks later the cannibals' boss remarked, "You're all working very hard, and I'm satisfied with you. However, one of our admin assistants has disappeared. Do any of you know what happened to her?" The cannibals all shook their heads, "No," they said. After the boss left, the leader of the cannibals said to the others angrily, "Right, which one of you idiots ate the admin assistant?" A hand rose hesitantly in admission. "You fool!" said the leader, "For weeks we've been eating managers and no one noticed anything, but noooooo, you had to go and eat someone important!..."
	Feedback, please!

	Once again, I would really like to get input from you, the readers. I am also trying to create a library of useful articles on the website, all of which will appear first in a newsletter. If you have any article to contribute, please send it. I look forward to seeing you in Camberley or Horsley or BOTH! Mike Dowsey Business Development Manager CEdMA-Europe mike@dowsey.net