4 Factors That Help You Decide Whether to Outsource eLearning Design and Development

Current-day learners prefer to learn in a personalized, self-paced, and mobile-friendly environment – and eLearning fulfills all these requirements. Acknowledging this, some organizations have already jumped onto the eLearning bandwagon. However, managing the eLearning design and development, meeting deadlines, and ensuring high-quality online training modules can be a difficult task for organizations – it demands time, effort, and a high budget too. And to address this, organizations opt to outsource their eLearning development.

But what exactly does it mean? And what are the different factors to be considered when outsourcing eLearning development? Let us discuss –

What is Outsourcing eLearning Development?

Outsourcing eLearning development refers to the practice of hiring a third-party partner to handle your eLearning design and development initiatives. By outsourcing your eLearning development to an expert partner, you get access to the best human resources with experience and technical expertise. This way, outsourcing eLearning development helps save on costs spent on the resources. At the same time, you will also be able to get a high-quality course.

Outsourcing eLearning development can also help in decreasing resourcing issues, as the eLearning outsourcing partner will handle all issues related to resources including human assets as well as technical resources. eLearning translation, converting traditional classroom learning to rapid eLearning, you can choose to outsource any aspect of your eLearning and the partner can help you out.

Also, by choosing an outsourcing partner, you will get access to expert resources with excellent eLearning development skills and knowledge.

Here is how we helped a global energy major who chose us as the eLearning outsourcing partner.

Now that you have a decent understanding of what outsourcing eLearning development is, you should now know the different factors to be considered when looking for an outsourcing partner.

Here are a few of them for you –

Outsourcing eLearning Development: 4 Factors to Consider

1. What are Your Training Goals?

The answer to this question is the first step to your learning and development initiatives (L&D). By answering the question, you will be able to get a clearer picture of what you want and what you should expect from the outsourced project. What are you expecting from the eLearning project? Who is the audience for the course? What is the specific skill that you want your learners to acquire from the online training? What is the learning environment of your learners? What are the learning outcomes? The answers to these questions will help determine the learning objectives. These will in turn help you determine if outsourcing eLearning development is the right fit for you.

2. What is Your Budget?

Budget is one of the main factors that will determine whether or not to go ahead with a project. The same is with outsourcing eLearning projects. Here, you should consider both – the cost of the eLearning development and the cost for distributing it to the learners which includes the platform to deliver training such as a Learning Management System (LMS).

Although outsourcing is typically more affordable than employing an in-house team, it might not be the ideal choice for you if you already have an in-house team of proficient instructional designers, eLearning developers who have the prowess to work on modern authoring tools, and subject matter experts. Considering this, you need to come up with a budget and then consider if an outsourcing partner will fit in your budget.

3. Do You Have a Proficient In-house L&D Team for eLearning Development?

Another important consideration is whether there are internal resources available to develop eLearning content or hone these specific skills. If the answer is yes, then outsourcing may not be necessary.

Outsourcing eLearning development is an ideal choice when you have to develop eLearning modules right from scratch and when you do not have an in-house L&D team that is proficient in eLearning design and development.

By opting for an outsourcing partner who offers rapid eLearning development, you can be assured that your project is in the hands of those who also have expertise in eLearning authoring tools. Thus, you can be assured that your eLearning courses will be highly interactive and will drive learner engagement, and boost employee performance and productivity.

4. What are the eLearning Development and Delivery Timelines?

The time taken to develop and deliver the eLearning module is also very important, especially in modern work environments where continuous learning is a must! This makes rapid eLearning development and delivery a necessity. Therefore, when choosing a vendor to outsource your eLearning development, you need to choose an outsourcing partner who will be able to complete the project within stipulated timelines.

Be it large eLearning modules or microlearning modules or performance support aids, it is important that you choose an outsourcing partner who will meet the promised deadlines while also maintaining the quality of the eLearning modules developed.

Wrapping Up

Choosing the right partner for your eLearning development solves several of your challenges including the ones associated with resources, experience, and expertise. The factors I have discussed above will provide you with the initial guidance you need when deciding if you really need an outsourcing partner. And if you are looking for more tips and best practices, this eBook can help you. Get actionable insights on choosing the right eLearning outsourcing partner to sail through your eLearning journey.