3 compelling reasons why you should look at Extended Enterprise for learning!

Quick fact! Did you know….

Most companies (71%) still use their learning management system (LMS) mainly for employee training ONLY!

So let’s start with what is the definition of “Extended Enterprise”. According to the business directory it is “Wider organization' representing all associated entities customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, etc. who directly or indirectly, formally or informally, collaborate in the design, development, production, and delivery of a product to the end user.”

So this means, you would like to upskill different entities with different learnings. Some learning may be the same throughout, but essentially, you would like a customer portal, supplier portal, internal portal etc. who then can collaborate and learn as teams.

So, here are the 3 reason why Extended Enterprise is an absolute must!

1. Centralised, targeted training and certification management

Centralised training and certification management allows companies to keep product and service quality consistent across the whole value chain. At the same time the increasingly strict and continually changing regulatory environment has created a need for compliance management across the whole value chain, especially in highly regulated industries.

The delivery of training, licensing, and certification programs to external channels increases partner, customer, and end-user engagement, satisfaction and product usage. It is the most cost-efficient way to bring external stakeholders to the same level of competency and product knowledge as the internal employees. Using portals to customise the experience adds to your brand experience too!

1. Saving Moola (ROI)!

According to a study regarding Extended Enterprise systems by the Aberdeen Group, organizations that focus their learning efforts exclusively inside the company saw a 5% year over year increase in revenue per Full Time Equivalent (FTE) in the last 12 months. But, those that had some sort of learning programs for either customers or partners saw a 40% greater increase in revenue per FTE, at 7% year over year. Those organizations with formal learning programs for both customers and partners saw nearly double the revenue increase, at 9% year over year. Organizations extending learning to both customers and partners saw nearly double the increase in year-over-year revenue per FTE.

Reducing cycle time: Shorten product rollouts, franchise on-boarding, time to partner proficiency or customer sales cycles — NetApp decreased time to channel sales representative productivity by 50%. 

1. Making More Moola!

Companies have some great value added, self-developed courses that they could roll out to the public and generate an income where there wasn’t any! Emergency responders, new business owners, unemployed workers and traffic violators are all examples of the public audience that needs to be trained and it’s not always for free. Selling courses to these audiences is common and is an amazing income generator due to the high number of users that are typically associated with public initiatives. Think CSI and skills development initiatives!

Historically, this training was provided by live instructors or sending out paper materials, but has migrated to the extended enterprise LMS as preferred delivery method because of low cost of distribution and the ability to measure effectiveness and change in behaviour.

 So what are you waiting for? Contact me to find out what solution will be best suited for you! To help out, here is a white paper on how to build a business case for Extended Enterprise!