Factors to consider while choosing an eLearning service provider

Identify your eLearning needs 

Since the market is full of eLearning platforms and tools for you to choose from, it’s best to start your search with well-designed search criteria. Make sure that you are clear about what you want from your eLearning service provider so that it helps you reach your specific training goals and objectives. Ask yourself the following questions-

• What is the business goal you want to achieve with eLearning? 
• What is the training outcome you are looking for? 
• Are you looking for a solution that can help your employees work faster or master certain specific tools? 

Experience and expertise of the vendor 

The next thing that you need to check is the eLearning service provider’s effectiveness in delivering learning strategies and how it can help your organization. When shortlisting a list of the most qualified eLearning vendors, it is crucial to select the ones with enough industry experience and subject matter expertise to help you achieve your targets, both in terms of quality and efficiency.

Also, while considering the eLearning service partner’s experience, make sure not just to consider the number of years in service. Instead, the key here is to assess the quality of their experience in terms of the type and complexity of the projects they have undertaken/completed, their success rate, client satisfaction index, and so on.

Focus on the quality of the courses 

When choosing a professional learning vendor, paying attention to their course quality is very important. Before you invest in an eLearning vendor, you must ensure that it caters to your organization’s unique training requirements. At times, even the courses made by the most reputable vendors may not meet your training expectations.

Among the things that you need to look at when selecting an eLearning service provider include the course designer’s profiles (educational/ professional background), expertise in the subject, and more. 

You also need to pay attention to the factors such as interactivity and engagement of the courses along with high gamification levels and the proper tasks/tests after each course to make learning effective. Using various business simulations also helps employees/learners to see the actual outcomes of their choices in different real-life conditions.

Ease of use

Another important criterion while choosing an online learning service provider is ease of use. Instead of having a steep learning curve, the service provider should offer both learners and administrators an easy-to-use platform. This essentially means clear controls, intuitive systems, clean navigation, and a convenient/easily accessible support system.

Apart from this, the eLearning platform you pick should be able to offer seamless integration with various other tools your enterprise may already be using, such as webcasting or video hosting technologies.

Go for a technologically advanced eLearning service provider

eLearning platforms today create a comprehensive learning experience for users instead of just offering a bunch of video lectures to teach.

To make it easier for the learners on the go, the eLearning service providers should offer a convenient and easy platform to use via laptops, PCs, tablets, and smart devices.

Further, it should also allow administrators and training teams to conveniently and quickly choose courses from an extensive online library and make an individual program for each employee or learner. L&D teams should have easy access to all the dashboards to be able to analyze learners’ results through charts and graphics for further course recommendations.

Reporting and analytics

Whether it is a blended learning classroom or a complete online one, it is important to have detailed reports, logs, and analytics to ensure that learners are supported early on in their training phase.

A professional eLearning service provider should offer powerful analytics tools and integrate them with various popular tools, thus allowing critical data to be viewed and visualized instantly.

The eLearning platform you choose must also be entirely secure, both in terms of general security and conforming to laws about personal information security. The platform should also keep personal information for learners and instructors safe from any disruptions and online threats. 

Cost to quality ratio

Another essential factor you must consider while choosing the right vendor is the cost to quality ratio. What this means is that while choosing the right service provider, you need to consider the various expenses incurred for designing and implementing the eLearning program and the expected quality outcomes from your investment.

To make the right decision, you need to define the goals and scope of eLearning accurately and thoroughly analyze what it will deliver under specific costs and budgets.