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State of the e-Learning Marketplace

This page provides links to some resources (reports, articles, etc rather than news items) concerned with the state of the e-Learning marketplace: that deal with lifelong learning.

Articles in date order, most recent first.

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| 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 |

The state of the e-learning marketplace

"As a fragmented e-learning market continues to mature, vendors must merge or partner with each other to compete. And customers are reaping the benefits." Sarah Boehle,  Training Magazine, January 2006

Added: 18 January 2006
Reviewer's Note:
Whatever direction the industry takes, not everything will be decided by what customers need and what vendors can come up with to offer.

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The economy of e-learning

"Economic opportunities will exist, not in the production of new goods that will not be purchased, but rather in the support and servicing of increasingly self-managed educational activity."  Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, 10 July 2005

Added: 12 July 2005
Reviewer's Note:
Stephen continues: "This does not mean educational ruin for the educational industry; quite the contrary. As the sector shifts as described, the per-person cost of learning decreases dramatically. This greatly expands the market."

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Global e-Learning Rankings

"The Economist Intelligence Unit's e-learning readiness rankings purport to be the first to present a global assessment of how various regions are prepared to use, produce and expand Internet-based learning. The accompanying white paper, "The 2003 e-Learning Readiness Rankings" evaluates the world's 60 largest markets to provide benchmarks for governments seeking to make their economies compatible to Internet and high-tech learning -- at work, school, government, and throughout society." Learning & Training Innovations, January 2004

Added: 30 January 2004
Reviewer's Note:
A summary of the rankings and white paper

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Bryan Chapman's E-Learning Stock Tracker

While we recognize there are many e-Learning organizations to watch, this represents only the publicly traded e-Learning stocks."  BrandonHall.com

Added: 6 January 2004
Reviewer's Note:
Started anew for 2004

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The state of the e-learning market

"The e-learning market doldrums mean some providers are gone-merged, acquired or shuttered. You might yet learn to love the shakeout. If nothing else, picking an e-learning vendor is easier because you have fewer choices. More to the point, survivors are "getting back to fundamentals" and addressing customer business problems, says Sanjay Dalal, director of training-center business at San Jose, Calif.-based WebEx Communications, a provider of infrastructure for Web-based business meetings. "The tone," says Dalal, "is more about, 'Let us help you solve your problem.'" Having fewer players, he argues, is good for the industry." Marc Hequet, Training magazine, September 2003

Added: 12 September 2003
Reviewer's Note:
A series of thoughts on what's happening in the marketplace

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E-Learning Brain Trust

"Each year, ASTD brings together e-learning experts to find out what's old, what's new, and what's next."  Learning Circuits, September 2003

Added: 6 September 2003
Reviewer's Note:
This year's panel members included Lee Maxey, Five Star Development; Marc Rosenberg, independent consultant; Diane Hessan, Communispace; Trace Urdan, ThinqEquity; Rick Crowley, Cisco; Jon Levy, Harvard Business School Publishing; Clark Aldrich, SimuLearn; Sam Adkins, industry analyst; Pat Galagan, ASTD; and John Coné, former CLO of Dell.

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Workflow based e-learning

"In the last year, a new next-generation learning technology has emerged in the enterprise market: workflow-based e-learning. Enterprise application integration (EAI), primarily Web Services, is the foundation technology that underpins this latest innovation in learning technology. Web Services is the infrastructure that has created a new concept, technology, and enterprise performance experience known as workflow. A fundamentally new type of learning technology has emerged simultaneously with that workflow." Sam Adkins, Learning Circuits, August 2003

Added: 3 August 2003
Reviewer's Note:
More articles from Sam on this subject below

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e-Learning gains momentum

"According to eMarketer's new E-Learning report, comparative estimates for corporate e-learning revenues show some cohesiveness at around $6 billion to $7 billion in 2002."  BizReport, 17 July 2003

Added: 25 July 2003
Reviewer's Note:
An overview of an encouraging report about the health of e-learning

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Enterprise vendors are good for the LMS market: Both Kevins are right

"Perhaps you've been following the continuing saga, which started with Kevin Oakes's article, "Supplier Savvy: Will Enterprise Software Companies Take Over E-Learning?" and continued with an open letter, "Enterprise Software Redux," from eLearningGuru.com's Kevin Kruse. [for both articles, see below] Well, a non-Kevin, Sam Adkins, is adding his two cents. Adkins's perspective: The integration of elearning technology into the enterprise application suites of the large enterprise vendors such as Sun, Oracle, IBM, Siebel, Microsoft, PeopleSoft and SAP is good for the elearning industry. Their global reach is a catalyst that will accelerate the wide adoption of learning technology in the enterprise. Their products are not threats to the current best-of-breed LMS vendors. The integration of learning technology into enterprise applications is not a "nice to have", but rather a primary prerequisite to achieving next-generation products."  Sam S Adkins, Learning Circuits, May 2003

Added: 11 May 2003
Reviewer's Note:
Both Kevins are right - in other words - it is not an either/or but both situation

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David vs Goliath

"We have arrived at what may soon come to be viewed as a watershed in e-learning's development. Many predict market dynamics, increasing enterprise adoption and maturing e-learning technology will cause significant changes in how organizations implement training and in how vendors approach the market." Joel Shettler, Training Magazine

Added: 10 May 2003
Reviewer's Note:
You can also read David's response to Goliath, where executives at many e-learning vendors to share their thoughts regarding e-learning as they relate to enterprise-wide computing and the future of the industry (http://www.trainingmag.com/msg/publications/training.jsp?vnu_content_id=1877536)

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Will enterprise software companies take over e-learning?

Kevin, how do you assess the competitive threat of companies such as Oracle or PeopleSoft? Do you think Microsoft will pursue the e-learning market? Are these companies getting traction in the market?"  Kevin Oakes, Learning Circuits, March 2003

Added: 17 March 2003
Reviewer's Note:
Kevin Oakes of click2learn believes there are a number of reasons why not

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An Open Letter to Click2Learn Kevin Oakes

 

Added: 7 April 2003
Reviewer's Note:
Kevin Kruse, e-learning guru replies to Kevin Oakes

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e-Learning Value Chain and Market Map

New Media BC e-Learning

Added: 23 December 2002
Reviewer's Note:
Click on each element of the map for further explanation

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Changing e-learning market is par for the course

"The U.S. market for e-learning will shrink 10 percent for both 2002 and 2003 and level off at $1.7 billion in 2004, according to E. Yegin Chen, principal at Cardinal Advisors of Boston." Will Thalheimer, Mass High Tech, 2 December 2002

Added: 8 December 2002
Reviewer's Note:
A review of the marketplace and a look to the future

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E-Learning fails to make the grade

According to a new report from market research company Screen Digest, previous estimates about the size of the corporate e-learning market were greatly exaggerated. Nevertheless, the USD5 billion-a-year industry will still grow to be massive as Europe's knowledge-based corporations jump in on the trend." electricnews.net, 25 November 2002

Added: 27 November 2002
Reviewer's Note:
This article summarises some of the findings of the report

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Corporate training and e-learning markets decline

"A study by Outsell, a research and advisory firm focusing on the information content industry, shows that the 499 companies identified in the corporate training and e-learning industries are experiencing a wide range of growth, decline, and collapse. The 2001 market was measured at $6.3 billion, down 9.8 percent from 2000. The volatility can be blamed on recent economic pressures as well as changes to technology and its use."  e-learning Magazine, 22 October 2002

Added: 16 November 2002
Reviewer's Note:
This short article comments on the recent Outsell report

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Scale the e-learning curve/Getting savvy

"Jack Battersby recently experienced an e-learning contract bidding process unlike any other. The State Department put his company, mGen Inc., and several others through three days of onsite product demonstrations, essentially allowing the agency's user community to test drive the software before making a buying decision."

Added: 6 November 2002
Reviewer's Note:
Some reflections on current e-learning purchasing behaviour

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The e-learning industry: retrospect and prospect

"The e-learning industry is changing-slowly, deliberately-the way a caterpillar morphs. Looking at the cocoon, industry leaders are hoping for a butterfly. In the meantime, Learning Circuits spoke with a sampling of individuals in the thick of the business to hear their take on trends, the health of the industry during the past year, changes in the marketplace and buyers, and their predictions for the next big thing." Barbara K Beach, Learning Circuits, September 2002

Added: 21 September 2002
Reviewer's Note:
Some very interesting viewpoints from different parts of the industry about how the industry is performing. I especially like this part: "... co-founder and vice president of Simulearn, Clark Aldrich, sees a serious disjunct between e-learning buyers and users. Buyers are looking at packaged courses and enterprise-wide systems and solutions, but users "love PCs, palm pilots, instant messaging, and Internet connections. These are the 'killer apps' of e-learning." I agree entirely!

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The state of e-learning: looking at history with the technology hype cycle

"Falling stock prices, failed LMS implementations, poor course completion rates, slashed corporate budgets. In the face of all that, will e-learning be remembered as nothing more than a late salvo in the dot-bomb campaign?" Kevin Kruse, e-Learning Guru

Added: 19 September 2002
Reviewer's Note:
Also follow the link to see what other e-learning gurus think!

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Evolving business models in elearning

"This free white paper provides an overview of issues examined in the Learning-on-Demand (LoD) reports, Evolving Business Models in eLearning, Volumes 1, 2, and 3." Tom Barron, SRI, March 2002

Added: 31 May 2002
Reviewer's Note:
A very useful summary of the state of the e-learning market.  Available in PDF format.
Also see Making the Business Case for e-learning in Kineo Tips.

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E-learning: a strategic imperative for succeeding in business

"The data about return on investment (ROI) is clear: E-learning saves 30 to 60 percent in costs over traditional classroom instruction, according to Brandon Hall, who has advised scores of FORTUNE 500® companies about implementing e-learning programs and is lead researcher and CEO of brandon-hall.com. Because of this compelling data, e-learning is projected to grow at a brisk clip over the next few years, assuming a larger and larger share of corporate training expenditures." Fortune Education Special Section, May 2001

Added: 28 December 2001
Reviewer's Note:
Looks at the marketplace, the major trends in the industry, as well as some e-learning companies

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Why e-learning is failing to convince the market

"I'm not surprised to see that the take-up of e-learning in Europe has been slow, according to recent research from both the IT Skills Research Programme and analyst and consulting firm OvumHolway" Colin Steed, IT Training Magazine, November 2001

Added: 28 November 2001
Reviewer's Note:
Some thoughts about why the take up of e-learning is slower in Europe

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e-Learning Stock Ticker

"While we recognize there are many e-Learning organizations to watch, this represents only the publicly traded e-Learning stocks." Bryan Chapman, e-Learning analyst, at Brandon Hall.com

Added: 22 July 2001
Reviewer's Note:
Use this stock tracker to keep track of your e-learning stock

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Market statistics

"Looking for the perfect statistic to add to your presentation? We often look for these statistics (that often contradict one another) and thought you'd like to see a few. As we are compiling them behind the scenes we thought you'll like to see some places where you can find statistics about learning and knowledge. Use any of these statistics with the understanding that even statistics usually come with a bias." Learnativity

Added: 22 July 2001
Reviewer's Note:
This is Learnativity's collection of resources that provide statistics about e-learning usage and uptake

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An e-learning industry update

"The numbers from market leaders show strength amid a sea of technology weakness. That's because e-learning is able to demonstrate its value even in a cost-cutting climate. But the downturn is hastening a consolidation that's inevitable as the industry matures." Tom Barron, Learning Circuits, July 2001

Added: 2 July 2001
Reviewer's Note:
This article looks at the effect of e-learning marketplace on purchasing trends

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Rough landing?

"As the economy wavers, some e-learning companies are thriving, while others are merging, changing course or cutting staff just to stay alive."

Added: 2 July 2001
Reviewer's Note:
a summary of some of the past difficulties in the e-learning marketplace

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Facts, figures and forces behind e-learning: Part II How big is the e-learning market

"This document is an abridgement of several documents from various investment groups that are investigating e-Learning and expecting it to be one of the next big things to be revolutionized by the Internet." Learnframe, August 2000

Added: 2000
Reviewer's Note:

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