Customer priorities have shifted away from stand-alone training courses. Corporations increasingly demand a more comprehensive “one-stop-shopping” approach to meet their training needs, leading to convergence within the e-training industry. Value-added services in particular – such as needs assessment and custom curriculum design, online mentoring and performance support, reporting and tracking, and hosting – are expected to fuel market growth in the next several years.

Technological barriers are diminishing. The main hurdles to e-learning, such as lack of interactivity, content availability, technology standards, and bandwidth, are currently being addressed. Especially the continued adoption of broadband should facilitate higher use rates of media-rich e-learning products.

Economy is evolving to a knowledge-based economy. In the last four decades, economic and technological forces have transformed the U.S. economy from a production-based economy to a service-based economy. In the old economy, corporate value and value creation were defined primarily through physical and financial assets. The new economy puts a premium on intellectual capital. However, the life of knowledge and human skills today is shorter than ever, increasing the pressure to remain at the forefront of education and training throughout a career. In the midst of globalization and technological revolution, four-year degrees are just the beginning of a forty-year continuing education. Life-long learning may be considered merely a buzzword today, but it is quickly becoming an imperative.

A paradigm shift in the way education is viewed and delivered. At the beginning of the new millennium, corporations view learning increasingly as a competitive weapon rather than an annoying cost factor. Business success depends more and more on high-quality employee performance, which in turn requires high-quality training. Corporate executives are beginning to understand that enhancing employee skills is key to creating a sustainable competitive advantage. In the quest to remain competitive in today’s labor-tight market, companies are exploiting advances in technology to train employees more rapidly, more effectively, and at less expense than in the past.

As integrated training solutions expand, customers are relying more on vendors to provide knowledge and expertise in emerging training technologies. Large customers are looking for economical, rapid, and pragmatic training solutions that have the minimum impact on internal customer resources.

These companies are looking for partners who are flexible, responsive, affordable, and easy to do business with.

Our target market demonstrates the following characteristics and trends: