How To Cut Costs With Cloud-Based Training

How To Cut Costs With Cloud-Based Training
Summary: Cloud-based training has become so popular thanks to its ability to deliver real-world training at a fraction of the cost of conventional training methods.

Cost Cutting Cloud-Based Training

Did you know that Cisco, world leader in networking hardware, switched from classroom training to a web-based solution for its 28.000 sales representatives and cut overall training costs by 40-60%? Meanwhile, Dow Chemical did the same thing for regulatory compliance training of its 60.000 employees and contractors. The result? Dow went from spending an average of $95 per student/course to only $11, with overall annual savings of over $34 million.

The above stories illustrate why cloud-based training has become so popular. The cost effectiveness of cloud-based training derives from several factors, including: lower infrastructure costs, lower travel costs, and scalable, pay-as-you-go, payment plans.

Time Is Money – Reduced Set-Up And Maintenance Costs

Conventional computer classrooms require a large outlay in hardware and software. This necessitates both adaptation for the multiple operating systems and hardware, as well as on-going maintenance.

In contrast, Cloudshare points out that cloud-based learning management systems are web-based platforms that require no software installation on your company’s hardware system. This eliminates the need to manage your own servers, which is especially important if you don’t have the IT expertise or staff to handle such a big project. The software is managed for you by the LMS provider. This results in significant savings on capital expenditures, as well as implementation and operational expenses. According to elearningindustry.com, cloud-based online classes reduce training expenses by up to 50%.

Home-Schooling – Eliminating Travel And Lodging Costs

Companies with branches around the world have employees around the world.  Training staff requires either bringing them all to a central educational facility or sending the trainers out to them. With travel and lodging expenses, this quickly becomes very costly. A key advantage of cloud-based learning is that it eliminates the need for both travel and lodging. Employees access the materials from their homes or offices, which is convenient for the employees and cost-effective for the companies.

Someone to Watch Over Me – Complete Instructor Oversight

In conventional labs instructors can often see only one student session at a time and must move physically between students to interact with them. Cloud-based labs allow instructors to monitor the progress of the entire class simultaneously through real-time thumbnail images of each student’s lab session. They can then drill down into selected student instances to provide personal assistance with questions and problems, all from their own terminal.

Tailored Training – Cost Effective Pay-As-You-Go Plans

Physical training campuses have large upfront costs and capacity limits. The size of the training room, server inventory, and trainee headcount are all constrained in traditional campuses. If you under-book, you've wasted money on unnecessary infrastructure. If you overbook, you often must rent out additional space and servers at high cost or forgo the additional income opportunity.

A cloud-powered course has no such limitations. You can over-book as much as you like, and still support an overwhelming number of trainees. Also, since you are not pre-booking physical space, your upfront financial commitment is significantly lower in the event of a low turnout.

The shared resources in cloud computing infrastructure enable companies to offload capital expenses (CAPEX) and set the price tag to pay-as-you-go operations (OPEX). Those same economies of scale apply to training, and often result in significant cost savings.

Late Night At The Lab – After-Hours Access

A traditional training course offers fixed start and end times. To review the material before or after the course, trainees typically receive printed documentation, which they can review at home. But the lab application that is the focus of the course is only available for a limited time. As a result, the effectiveness of the lab sessions weaken the more time elapses after the course is completed.

Since online training is not tied to a physical campus, the same lab application can easily be made accessible even beyond the official training session. This enables instructors to send trainees pre-course prep assignments, or allow students to practice in the lab long after the course concludes. Since access to the training lab is rigorously monitored, after-hours access is often offered as a premium service.

Cut It Out – Slashing Training Expenses With The Cloud

In short, Cloud-based training helps cut hardware/software costs, eliminate travel/lodging expenses, and eradicate wasted classroom space. No wonder they're becoming so popular.

Originally published on June 9, 2015