Cost-Related Benefits Of Cloud-Based Authoring
Organizations are getting serious about employee development, as they’ve understood how Learning and Development (L&D) is going to be a deciding factor in an organization’s success in the coming years. However, the only thing that makes organizations hesitate to invest good money in eLearning technology is the so-called high costs and the notion that it requires the expenditure of a lot of time. This article will help organizations shed their inhibitions and highlight points explaining how cloud-based authoring can help organizations cut costs and save money while also saving the time spent on their L&D programs.
1. Offers eLearning Designers The Ultimate Flexibility
Most organizations are all for offering their employees/learners the flexibility to access eLearning courses anywhere, anytime by using mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, and laptops. But, what about the designers? When using software-based authoring tools, designers have to stay chained to their desks while designing courses, but with cloud-based authoring, they can design, develop, and update digital learning courses wherever and whenever they want. All they need is an internet connection. This allows them to work outside the confines of their office hours, which saves time and thus money. It also helps a lot when designers are time-crunched to deliver eLearning courses.
2. Allows Designers To Work Simultaneously
When using a software-based authoring tool, eLearning design and development teams work in a step-by-step hierarchy, with the work-in-progress passing linearly from one eLearning professional to the next until it is finally completed. This takes a lot of unnecessary time which could be used in further endeavors. But, with cloud-based authoring tools, all eLearning professionals in a team can work simultaneously on the eLearning project at the same time, which eliminates the need for unnecessary meetings and revision cycles, as well as the inevitable confusion over the most recent version. This speeds up the eLearning project, saving valuable time and thus money.
3. Eliminates The Confines Of Geography
A lot of organizations these days are multinational, with employees spread across vast geographical locations. This can challenge the efficiency and collaboration if the eLearning team, too, is spread around the world. However, as mentioned above, as cloud-based authoring ensures that all members of the eLearning team are connected and can work simultaneously, it eliminates any geographical barrier, thus simplifying the collaboration. This makes the organization much more efficient, which saves time and money.
4. Requires No Maintenance
The software and hardware used in authoring tools are usually complex. They require long installations, several IT permissions as well as large downloads. All this requires maintenance and course expenditure of time. Cloud-based authoring tools are on-demand because there is no expensive hardware or software involved. Thus an organization’s eLearning team doesn’t need to constantly update, maintain, and secure it. This saves time that can be spent on other endeavors and thus saves money.
5. It Is Fast
The best thing about cloud-based authoring tools is that they allow an organization’s eLearning team to deploy and deliver eLearning courses to learners at a commendable speed. Thanks to cloud-based authoring tools, eLearning teams can design and deliver eLearning courses to an organization’s learners within mere hours! eLearning that is created on desktop-based authoring tools requires at least a day to be designed and developed. The amount of time saved is outstanding, and so is the money saved through fast, efficient design and delivery.
Cloud-based learning is one of those eLearning technologies that have already been hailed by L&D experts to game-changers and is a technology that is here to stay. Organizations looking to implement fast and effective eLearning at lower costs would be wise to look into this option and implement it with proper planning and thought. A little investment of time and money into the implementation could result in your organization saving a lot of both. You’ll be surprised at how quickly things will fall into place and get near automatic.