Cisco working to ease e-learning implementation and delivery

Networking giant Cisco Systems has allied with five other companies--Centra, gForce, iXL, Ninth House and Saba--to develop and offer an integrated on-demand e-learning enterprise data offering.

Cisco defines e-learning as Internet-enabled learning that encompasses training, education and just-in-time information and communications delivered to employees of Fortune 1000 companies, said Jim Ricotta, marketing director in Cisco’s Content Networking Business Unit.

“We can now go together (with the partner companies) and say ‘Here’s how you roll out e-learning. Here’s the infrastructure from Cisco that makes it efficient and we’ll handle some of the network challenges. Here is the software, here is content and here is a services firm that can actually build the application and create the e-learning portal and roll it out,’” Ricotta said.

Each partner provides a different element to the package.

-- Centra: software and ASP services for live e-learning and collaboration;

-- gForce: enterprise e-learning systems;

-- iXL: comprehensive implementation, deployment, strategy and Web-based training services;

-- Ninth House: online, interactive business skills training; and

-- Saba: human capital development and management solutions.

“It’s the combination of the Cisco ECDN [enterprise content delivery network], which is the infrastructure for rich content services, and the partners who bring in the other aspects,” said Ricotta.

Hard economic times are not impacting this market, as there is high demand for e-learning capabilities to help corporations expeditiously communicate with employees and customers, Ricotta said.

“Although there’s a lot of writing about capital spending being cut, we’re finding that enterprises are actually increasing their spending on Internet business solutions,” he said. “E-learning pops to the top, because it’s not just training, it’s being able to retain your work force.”