Like other telecommunications companies, ALLTEL is a capital-intensive and metrics-driven organization. ALLTEL University, the company's corporate learning group, must compete for resources with engineering and other internal groups, many of which have hard data on which to cost justify their budget requests. For example, based on past data, the engineering team can show what the revenue impact will be if the company builds an additional cell tower or lays one more mile of fiber.

ALLTEL University could demonstrate quite well the efficiency of its training programs. The number of student hours delivered had quadrupled in the last three years, and the cost per student hour had declined by 70%. But as Steve Mosley, Director of ALLTEL University, puts it, "That conversation has lost its currency." The team needed to demonstrate not just efficiency but also effectiveness in terms of how learning is impacting business objectives.

ALLTEL engaged Thomson NETg's Professional Services group in creating a learning measurement model to demonstrate the business impact of training. The goal was to create an organized, repetitive process through which ALLTEL could accumulate data on the impact of its training programs, and then to use this data to forecast results for upcoming learning initiatives.

This detailed study reviews 300+ companies' strategies for enterprise vs. divisional LMS implementations, including in-depth case studies of 12 enterprise customers who are in the process of implementing enterprise-wide LMS systems. It also details Oracle, Peoplesoft, and SAP's LMS strategies and compares them to each other.

The study will address the following questions:

• When does an enterprise implementation make sense?
• How do you cost-justify an enterprise implementation?
• How do you know if you are ready for an enterprise-wide LMS?
• What are the strategies of the major ERP vendors: Peoplesoft, Oracle, and SAP? How do they differ?

One of the most important issues facing training organizations is their relationship with the HR organization. In most organizations the VP of Training (or CLO) reports to a VP or Senior VP of HR. The two organizations are often linked closely and often share the same budget. Both focus on development and performance of people and both are usually staffed by individuals with background in people-related functions.

Yet despite their similar focus and function, the actual operations of Training and HR often differ widely. Our research in training governance indicates (read about our Training Governance Study) the two functions have different goals, different operational issues, and lead different daily lives. These two worlds, while related, tend to operate fairly independently.

Until now. Something new is happening. Where the HR and Training communities meet is in a gray area called "Performance Management."

Our research reveals that content integration is one of the most challenging aspects of making e-learning a reality for most organizations. While industry standards (e.g. AICC, SCORM) have made great strides, experienced e-learning technology managers find that getting reliable and cost effective integrations between content and other systems (e.g. LMS) is not as easy as it seems.

This webinar will give you some insights into these challenges and present options that can save you time and reduce the headaches of making integration work.

The webinar will be held:

• When: October 28, 11am Pacific/2pm Eastern
• SIGN UP NOW

We are embarking on an important study to understand excellence and best practices in training governance and management. The study will explore issues such as: How should learning and development teams be organized? What are the best ways to manage technology and e-learning development? How do best-of-breed organizations roll out learning programs and measure results?

This first of its kind study will demonstrate best practices in organization and executive governance of training. We are seeking study participants as well as study sponsors.

We urge all training organizations who want to identify best practices to join us as a sponsor. Sponsors will have the opportunity to make sure their questions, needs, and their own best practices identified.