The consolidation of LMS’s is a major challenge for many
organizations, according to Bersin & Associates
research. About 30 percent of large enterprises operate
more than one LMS. And of these, approximately 33
percent are planning to consolidate within the next
year, according to the “2007 Corporate Learning Factbook.”
But the consolidation challenge faced by Computer
Associates International, Inc. (CA) was much bigger than
most. In 2006, CA, one of the world’s largest
independent software companies, set out to consolidate
nine legacy LMS’s.
In less than six months, the company completed a
detailed vendor evaluation, made its selection, and
implemented and launched the new solution. The project
involved migrating more than 1 million learning records,
50,000 existing registrations, 44,000 classes, 17,000
users, 4,000 courses, 3,500 exam items related to 750
exams—and touched 650 learning facilities.
The company’s approach to this complex and aggressive
initiative serves as a valuable blueprint for other
organizations—even those dramatically smaller and
simpler in scope. Bersin & Associates recognized CA as a
2007 Learning Leader in technology excellence for its
stunning accomplishments and impressive methodology.
THE PAIN
When Brad Samargya joined CA as chief learning officer
in April 2006, he inherited a function that had been
under-funded and under-valued for years.
“The company had made no real investments in training
for years,” says Samargya. “Learning was disjointed and
highly inconsistent.”
Learning-related problems made up a long laundry list.
Obviously, the support and maintenance of so many
systems was expensive and time consuming. Integration
issues were common and ate up even more resources.
Obtaining meaningful learning related data for the
enterprise was impossible. Time to market for new
courses was unacceptably long and even longer for
enterprise-wide deployment.
CA’s new management team recognized that the company’s
business strategy depended on improved and consistent
training across the enterprise, a sound learning
architecture, and incorporating the latest learning
deliveries and technologies. The team was also willing
to put dollars behind its commitment, but not without a
few strings attached. Technology investments had to show
a rapid return on investment, and the team expected to
see high-impact, quality results within 10 weeks of the
new system’s launch.
KICK-STARTING THE PROJECT
Samargya and his team decided to form an LMS task force,
composed of representatives from each stakeholder group:
IT, HR, operations, finance, legal, marketing,
curriculum development, sales, technical support, and
education. The team conducted workshops with task force
members to identify, agree upon and prioritize business
needs, system requirements and project scope.
The task force carefully reviewed the features of the
nine legacy systems and identified the features that the
company needed to keep and those that needed
improvement. Additionally, members also spent much time
discussing learning trends and what CA employees would
likely need and want in the future.
“I can’t emphasize enough the importance of forming a
task force for initiatives like this,” says Michael
Yakiemchuk, vice president of learning systems and
infrastructure. “Besides expediting information
gathering and ensuring that all stakeholders have
opportunity for input, the task force spreads out the
responsibility for decisions. When things go wrong,
finger-pointing is very limited.”
Once the team had established a common vision, all
members agreed that a new system was needed in order to
fulfill the identified requirements:
>>
Providing an e-commerce solution to customers,
so they could browse a global catalog of courses,
register, pay on the spot and, in the case of online
learning, click straight through to the selected course.
>>
Improve consistency and reduce learning costs
by moving to a single system. Efficiencies and cost
reductions would be gained with a centralized group of
super admin users, who would manage content and
administer the system. Development costs would also be
reduced since internal and external courses had to
comply with a single set of integration requirements.
>>
Gain flexibility for technology partner integration and
upgrades
to accommodate learning needs of the future, such as
podcasting, virtual labs and collaboration.
SELECTING A VENDOR
The team decided that purchasing a hosted solution was
the company’s best option, given the aggressive
implementation timeline and advanced feature
requirements.
The selection process was actually based on Bersin &
Associates 7-step selection methodology, described in
its LMS research:
|
1
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A business case for the project was developed
jointly by CA’s education organization and its
IT department. The case was used to gain
executive buy-in. |
|
2
|
The LMS task force used the identified business
needs to develop a list of vendor requirements.
|
|
3
|
Extensive market research was conducted on
potential vendors.
|
|
4
|
Eight vendors were selected and contacted for
information.
|
|
5
|
After review of available independently
collected information along with completed RFI’s
from the eight vendors, the team then created a
short list of five vendors. Each of these
vendors received an RFP. |
|
6 |
Each of the five vendors conducted onsite
presentations.
|
|
7 |
The team then selected two vendors and conducted
a 5-year total cost of ownership review with
each. |
The team also conducted an extensive ROI analysis that
examined fixed and variable costs, vendor fees and
associated internal costs. It calculated current and
projected costs per learner and other key metrics and
compared the findings to research findings for
organizations of comparable size. This cost information
played a key role in the selection process.
FULL STEAM AHEAD
The task force selected Plateau Systems as CA’s new
learning management system, which has a user interface
in multiple languages for CA’s global user base.
In order to ensure rapid learning response time for
learners around the globe, CA added the Akamai hosting
solution that mirrors all CA content internationally.
The primary supporting application for the LMS is SAP,
CA’s system of record for HR, contract and financial
information.
The implementation initiative focused on the following
main features: catalog search, learning history,
learning plans, reporting, and a robust administration
function. The next phase of the launch (2008) calls for
separate employee and customer views, including a
shopping cart as well as the ability for customers to
browse the course catalog without logging in.
In addition, the learner experience was enhanced by
integrating the learning management system with key
technologies:
>>
Single sign-on.
CA’s Site Minder was deployed to allow internal users to
enjoy the convenience of single sign-on. Once CA
employees log into the CA network in the office or via
VPN, they can log into the learning management system
without logging in separately.
>>
Collaboration rooms.
The Q2 Learning technology extends the reach of informal
learning and continues the exchange of ideas from the
classroom to the cube.
>>
Virtual labs.
CA added the Surgient virtual lab technology to the LMS
solution in order to give learners the ability to
practice what they have learned in a realistic but safe
environment before doing it “for real.”
>>
Virtual classrooms.
Interwise virtual classroom technology is a critically
important tool for CA and integrated with the LMS.
BLAST OFF
CA worked with Plateau to design a user interface that
was simple enough for non technical users, yet offered
the features and experience that the company’s
sophisticated learners would expect and appreciate.
In order to minimize general training requirements, the
company invested considerable time and money in a highly
intuitive UI design with extensive online help and
supplemental Q&A documents.
The implementation team did create a 1- week training
program for administrative audiences. The training
included recorded Webcasts, process-based training, and
job aids designed for quick, on-the-job reference.
To announce the actual launch, the company sent out an
enterprise-wide e-mail and posted a detailed article
about the new LMS on CA’s intranet. Post launch, the
team continues to send out regular e-mails to all
employees about system upgrades and new features.
The learning management system was launched on Oct. 31,
2006. All 17,000 CA employees worldwide were given
access to the LMS during that single day. The
implementation was accomplished in less than 10 weeks, a
record for Plateau.
TODAY
In the past year, CA has delivered more than 80,000
e-learning courses. By launching a number of successful
e-learning and blended- learning programs, CA has not
only benefited from having better educated employees on
CA’s Enterprise IT Management (EITM) vision and
solutions, it has also seen a significant savings in
travel expenses.
The LMS is now managed by centralized, 4-person
administrative team composed of two content
administrators, a system administrator and program
manager. In addition, internal and external content
development teams are imbedded in business units and
provide production-ready content to the administration
team.
A separate team of 11 works on system upgrades and
integration with new technologies. Project managers are
responsible for data migration, testing, partner
integration, budgeting, overall project management,
cutover planning, program management, communications and
localization.
The company’s IT department, a strategic partner
throughout the LMS planning and implementation
processes, remains so today.
First-year results have been impressive. “The new LMS
has opened the door to different types of learning that
we’ve never been able to consider,” says Yakiemchuk.
“Plus, we now have an enterprise-wide view of learning,
which was impossible to get with disparate systems.”
CA also continues to monitor costs closely. In the year
following the implementation, both capital and
per-learner expenses decreased by 57 percent.
A customer version of the LMS, with full e-commerce
functionality, will be launched in 2008.
KEY FACTORS
What gave CA the ability to complete this highly complex
project in an amazingly short period of time? The team
identified three key factors:
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A proven methodology.
“We did all of the expected things,” says Yakiemchuk.
“We had a plan, a strategy, and all of the recommended
tools. We also had executive buy-in and strong
stakeholder support, thanks to our task force.”
>>
A background in application technology and a development
culture.
“Having an application background gives you a strong
sense of what you want—and don’t want—in a system,” says
Samargya. “Our company’s success is based in part on our
ability to accurately project the development schedules
for our products, so it’s natural to apply these
techniques to internal projects.”
>>
A centralized learning organization.
This model facilitated rapid decision making and offered
strong connections to senior management team. However,
Samargya stresses that strong HR support and an ongoing
alliance with IT was also central to success. The
teamalso offered several pieces of advice, relevant to
all organizations and projects:
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Pay attention to learners’ desktops.
“A pop-up blocker can make it seem to a user that the
LMS is not working,” says Yakiemchuk.
>>
Ensure adequate support.
“Support is as important as anything we do with the LMS,”
says Samargya. “The support team has to be in place and
ready to react the day you launch. With 20,000 users,
little issues can make big noise.”
>>
Focus on vendor partnerships.
“We spend a lot of time and energy with our vendors
discussing commitments and information provided,” says
Anya Darrow, director of education systems and
technology. “We don’t take anything for granted. As a
result, we have a healthy respect for each other.”
>>
Carry budget over multiple fiscal years.
The initial launch of the LMS is only half of the job.
Significant costs are associated with increasing user
adoption, fixing issues, planning for upgrades and
adding on new technologies.
CA’s consolidation project proves that complex
implementations can be carried out efficiently and cost
effectively. They don’t have to drag out forever. They
don’t have to become budget black holes. And they can
deliver real and immediate business impact. This is
excellent news for thousands of companies contemplating
such projects in the near future.
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