If you are reading this article, you are probably evaluating outsourcing of eLearning content development or are looking at alternatives for your existing outsourcing approach. There are several compelling business reasons to outsource and there are certainly plenty of possible partners you can engage with. However, the evaluation and selection of the right partner is a tough job. Tougher still is to make the partnership work effectively and consistently once you sign up. So, how do you determine if outsourcing eLearning content development is right for you?

1. http://www.eidesign.nethttp://www.eidesign.net
Is Outsourcing eLearning Content Development
Right For You?
Part of Outsourcing Series
Presented by
www.eidesign.net
Author-Asha Pandey
Chief Learning Strategist, EI Design
apandey@eidesign.net
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2. http://www.eidesign.net
About EI Design (www.eidesign.net)
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Years of Learning Solutions
Expertise
14
7000 Hours of eLearning
Developed
400
Hours of Localisation
In 26 Languages Developed
82.3%
Customer
Retention Rate
20+ Industry Verticals
Serviced
Countries – The Breadth of Our
Customer Base
16
900
Hours of Mobile Learning
Developed

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Our portfolio and the range of our services
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Core services:
Core services: Our rich portfolio includes:
1. Custom Course development eLearning /
mLearning
2. Migration of legacy courses to HTML 5
3. Localisation
4. ILT / VILT and Blended Learning
5. Performance Support Tools
Off-the-shelf Products:
1. Suite on Instructional Design
2. Suite on generic Compliance
Value added Services : Comprehensive evaluation
strategy (cuts across various training formats)
1. Efficacy of learning (the learnability and gain
for learners)
2. Impact of training (the gain for business)
3. Return of Investment (ROI) on training
Beyond Learning: We also offer several Learning
Support services that can be used to promote
eLearning adoption or specific mandates like change
management.

4. http://www.eidesign.net
Is Outsourcing eLearning Content Development Right For You?
If you are reading this article, you are probably
evaluating outsourcing of eLearning content
development or are looking at alternatives for your
existing outsourcing approach. There are several
compelling business reasons to outsource and there
are certainly plenty of possible partners you can
engage with. However, the evaluation and selection
of the right partner is a tough job. Tougher still is to
make the partnership work effectively and
consistently once you sign up. So, how do you
determine if outsourcing eLearning content
development is right for you?
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5. http://www.eidesign.net
How To Decide Whether Outsourcing eLearning Content Development Is Right For You
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In this article, I begin with the start point, that is, identification of the need to
outsource (the triggers) with which you begin the hunt for an onshore or
offshore partner. Next, I will outline the advantages of outsourcing your
eLearning content development. This reaffirms why outsourcing eLearning
content development makes business sense. I will then touch upon the
challenges that are inherent to outsourcing eLearning content development.
In my next article, I will walk you through how you can offset these challenges
and share insights on how to choose the right partner to outsource your
eLearning development.

6. http://www.eidesign.net
Why Do You Want To Outsource Your eLearning Content Development?
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• Scale (to handle higher volumes).
• Reduce the time to deliver or time to market.
• Reduce costs.
• Access talent that you do not have.
• Add more innovative solutions to your portfolio.
Having clarity on why you want to outsource is obviously the start-point. At the outset, define if the
outsourcing is strategic for you or opportunistic (possibly on account of a large project execution).
Think about the gains you’re looking at from your outsourcing initiative. You can consider
outsourcing if you’re looking to:

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Why Does Outsourcing Your eLearning Content Development Make Business Sense?
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1. Reduction in costs.
This is certainly the first and the probably the biggest benefit of
outsourcing. Through outsourcing, you can get access to large talent
pools that map exactly to your requirement and yet pay a fraction of
the cost that you would incur if you were to hire them in-house.
There are several advantages of outsourcing
your eLearning content development. Here’s
my list of the top 7 advantages:
2. Flexibility to scale the team up and down.
eLearning content development outsourcing offers you greater flexibility
by allowing you to rapidly scale up and down the required team exactly
as per your business dynamics.
3. Access to new skill sets and more varied talent in a given domain.
With rapidly changing learner expectations, tools, and technologies it
is not possible to have all combinations of skills that you or your
customers may require. Outsourcing offsets this challenge and offers
you the flexibility to have more than one partner to be able to
address varied solutions.

8. http://www.eidesign.net
Why Does Outsourcing Your eLearning Content Development Make Business Sense?
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4. Reduction in development time leading to a faster turnaround time.
Typically, an outsourcing partner will have a dedicated team addressing
your requirement including focus on shorter development cycles. This
gives you a significant edge in managing a quicker turnaround time for
your projects particularly when your internal teams may not be available.
There are several advantages of outsourcing
your eLearning content development. Here’s
my list of the top 7 advantages:
5. Access to best practices leading to optimization of your development
practices.
Remember your partner will be servicing the needs of several
organizations and therefore, is more likely to have development
practices that are optimized for globally distributed development. You
can use these cues to enhance your own development practices further.
6. Addition of more innovative solutions to your portfolio.
You can leverage on your partner’s skills to enhance
your portfolio with additional innovative solutions to service more
varied or more complex needs.
7. Enhanced focus on your customers.
Leveraging on the partner’s development strengths enables you to
bring higher focus on customer interfacing activities rather than day
to day execution. Besides creating better customer satisfaction, this
may enable you to address new opportunities.

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What Are The Challenges In Outsourcing Your eLearning Content Development?
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The success of your outsourcing strategy for eLearning development can go belly up on account of:
1. Hidden costs.
In your budgeting, you would have factored for the pay-out on account of outsourcing as well as time and budget for your
Project Managers who would work with the outsourced team. The outsourced team’s inability to follow the brief accurately
can often lead to higher review times adding to your costs. They may also add delays in your project schedules.
2. Aspects that you can identify only after you begin outsourcing.
During the evaluation phase as well in the pilot phase, you get to interact with your partner’s top notch talent. Once you
start scaling (after looking at the initial success), you find the talent pool has changed. Often this leads to additional costs for
you to cover the re-briefing, additional reviews, and quality issues.

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What Are The Challenges In Outsourcing Your eLearning Content Development?
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The success of your outsourcing strategy for eLearning development can go belly up on account of:
4. Inability of your partner to adapt and align effectively to changing dynamics.
Often, the business dynamics change, the kind of solutions your customers require now can change, and this can lead to a gap
in what you gain from an existing partnership. (For instance, significant transitions like Flash to mLearning or the current need
of fully responsive mobile learning solutions that need a different expertise set) can play havoc with your further planning. If
the partner is not in sync with changing market expectations or what more is required, you may have a show-stopper.
3. Inconsistency in performance and quality standards.
Closely linked to the challenge outlined above, you often see a variation in the quality or lack of consistency. This too leads
to additional review time and adding days to your project schedule to mitigate these challenges.

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Can Most Of These Challenges Be Mitigated To Create A Successful Outsourcing Partnership?
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In my next article, I will outline measures that you can use to offset these
challenges (you can use these pointers during your evaluation process).
Additionally, I will share my pointers on how you can choose the right
partner to outsource.
The good news is that the challenges
mentioned here can be mitigated to a large
degree leading to a successful outsourcing of
your eLearning content development.
Meanwhile, do refer to my earlier articles that cover various facets of
outsourcing eLearning content development.
1. 6 Pros Of eLearning Content Development Outsourcing
2. 10 Tips On How To Choose A Custom eLearning Company In India
3. How To Evaluate A Custom eLearning Development Company In India
4. Too Many eLearning Companies In India – How To Find The Best?

12. http://www.eidesign.net
Is Outsourcing eLearning Content Development Right For You?
I hope this article has provided you the insights to
help you weigh your options for outsourcing
eLearning content development. Do contact me if
you have any questions.
You can Also Download Free eBook:
An informative guide on
Is Outsourcing of eLearning Content
Development Right For You
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EI Design Pvt Ltd
Corporate Office and Development Centre
#160, Arun Arch,
9th Cross, Indiranagar 1st Stage
Bangalore - 560 038, India.
www.eidesign.net
Asha Pandey,
CMD and Chief Learning Strategist
Tel (Direct): +91-80-25202679
Board: +91-80-25202677 / 25202678
Mobile: +91-98450-61484
Email: apandey@eidesign.net