BW Online | January 4, 2001 | The ABCs of E-Learning

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JANUARY 4, 2001

FROM LE MONDE INTERACTIF

The ABCs of E-Learning
French companies are discovering the advantages of online employee training from a slew of Net education startups

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Only two years ago, anyone asking about e-learning in France would have gotten a very confused stare as an answer. But new technologies have a way of creating changes at lightning speed. Now, e-learning companies offering training to employees at large French corporations are sprouting at a rapid rate. Today, there are an estimated 100 or so e-learning companies in France, and the market is worth roughly $26 million. Also, the percentage taken up by e-learning in company education budgets is set to grow in France from 2% today to 12% in 2002. According to IDC, e-learning in the computer sector, which is the leading area, is expected to grow in France at a rate of 43.7% per year until 2004.

It's little wonder e-learning is taking off. Companies consider it to be an important factor in developing employee expertise, and thereby in reinforcing the competitiveness of their group. E-learning, whose market size worldwide is expected to reach $90 billion in 2002, according to Web Market Education in Vancouver, B.C., also corresponds to companies' growing demands for more efficient staffs. According to a study carried out by French consulting and e-teaching agency Cegos, 70% of large companies are already offering this type of training or plan to do so within the next two years. Their goal: to create more flexibility, since employees can learn directly from their desktops, and to train employees better and more quickly, at a lower cost.

Although most French e-learning companies were created only last year, some are actually traditional employee-training companies that have made the jump to the Net. This is the case, for example, with France's iProgress, formerly called Pro'training. The company expects sales to double this year, to $4.8 million. Another, called Mediapluspro, which offers computer learning programs and à la carte tutorial services, is owned by Editions Eni, a 20-year-old computer-training company from Nantes in Brittany.

THE HUMAN TOUCH. Other e-learning companies are brand-new startups. But whether a company is new to the game or an old player, what remains important is the quality of services it offers. Onlineformapro, which set up shop only a year ago, takes its mission very seriously. "If there is a sector you really can't just improvise in, it is definitely in knowledge," says Michèle Guerrin, who created the portal. Having spent 15 years working as a teacher in the public school system and heading a private teaching company, Guerrin is very adamant about quality and content. Hughes Cochard, CEO at French e-learning portal Studi.com, couldn't agree more. "The market is demanding. Companies that are shaky and whose services don't draw level with competitors' will quickly disappear."

One important service that can help guarantee success for e-learning companies is tutorials. Whether on location or at a distance, tutors play an essential role in the educational process. "In France, we count on human contact, which goes beyond the simple use of a tool," says Eric LeMarois, associate partner at Andersen Consulting. Small startups like iProgress often don't have their own tutors and, as a result, hire them out from established learning centers.

What's important for a startup, therefore, is to build quality partnerships, in order to guarantee the best service for clients. And building a good reputation and credibility as a company are vital. Onlineformapro's Guerrin has an advantage, since her startup won a prize and financial assistance last year in the Education Ministry's contest for companies with innovative technologies. Studi.com chose to hook up with a 50-year-old company respected for its work in education, on and off location. But again, service counts more than anything else. "What's most important isn't content, but service. You have to know how to animate a group, how to take care of the trainees and give them confidence," says Patrick Chevalier, a consultant at e-learning consultancy Aska.

And services offered by e-learning companies are set to multiply as time goes by. In a study conducted by Préau, which studies new technologies used in education, the number of services offered by e-learning companies in the U.S. is set to increase from 18% to 40% by 2003. That trend is sure to follow suit in France. According to Chevalier, these companies can become real market leaders by forming agreements with suppliers and by offering engineering services. "What will count in the long term," says Chevalier, "are the actual services [these startups] will or will not be able to offer companies." Motivated by the growth potential of their sector, e-learning companies in France and elsewhere will surely do everything it takes to meet the ever-changing and evolving demands in their field.