Brandon Hall Group releases new report on eLearning Outsourcing

Brandon Hall Group, a preeminent research and analyst firm has released its latest report on eLearning outsourcing today. The report titled- The Buyer-Provider Partnership: The Key to High-Quality Custom Content, is supported by Upside Learning, a leading player in the eLearning outsourcing domain. The report aims to help organisations to build successful client-vendor relationships in eLearning outsourcing.

Authored by David Wentworth, Principal Learning Analyst at Brandon Hall Group, the report is based on Brandon Hall Group’s Content Outsourcing Study, which surveyed 206 companies of all sizes, representing approximately 30 different industries from organisations around the globe. It explores the current content outsourcing landscape and identifies the primary factors that drive eLearning outsourcing, the nature of outsourcing and the benefits gained.

The report available for free download, primarily highlights that the buyer- provider relationship has matured from being just a purchase and walk away thing. It points out that, 77% of companies leverage at least some outsourcing for content development and that developing content was seen as a priority or critical to the business by 68% of companies.

The key highlights:

What drives content development outsourcing?
Factors important in provider-buyer partnership
Satisfaction with providers and reasons for replacing them

The report is available for download here.

About Brandon Hall Group

Brandon Hall Group is a HCM research and advisory services firm that provides insights around key performanceareas, including Learning and Development, Talent Management, Leadership Development, Talent Acquisition, and HR/Workforce Management.

With more than 10,000 clients globally and 20 years of delivering world-class research and advisory services, Brandon Hall Group is focused on developing research that drives performance in emerging and large organisations, and provides strategic insights for executives and practitioners responsible for growth and businessresults.

To learn more visit – www.brandonhall.com

Amit Garg Analyses Brandon Hall’s Latest Report on eLearning Outsourcing in an Upcoming Webinar

As per the recently released Brandon Hall report on eLearning Outsourcing, today, for most organisations outsourcing their content development, cost is no longer the prime factor for driving their eLearning outsourcing requirements. On the contrary, other factors including quality, value and innovation have gained importance.

Based on this report, Amit Garg, a well known name in eLearning industry and Director and Co-founder of Upside Learning, will be presenting a webinar on 27^th & 28^th of July. Titled ‘The Buyer-Provide Partnership – The Key to High-Quality Custom Content‘, the webinar will explore the eLearning outsourcing landscape in a new light. In the 1-hour session, Amit will analyse the report thoroughly, turn the data into decision-making tools, enlist the benefits and elucidate them through case studies based on content development work Upside Learning done with hundreds of clients over last decade.

Upside Learning is now Great Place to Work – Certified™

Upside Learning – known globally as the best place for great learning solutions – is now also recognised officially as a Great Place to Work!

The Great Place to Work® Institute (India) has recently announced awarding of Great Places to Work – Certification to Upside Learning for building a High-Trust, High-Performance Culture™. Amit Garg – Founder & Director Learning Solutions said, “It is an honor to be recognized as a great place to work for our culture that values innovation, team work, and a spirit to Go Beyond each and every time to deliver great experience for our customers. Of all the awards and accolades we have won, for me personally this is the sweetest one.”

As part of this assessment, Upside Learning employees took an anonymous survey which assessed people related management practices using Great Place to Work® People Practice Culture Audit© Framework and measured the perceptions of the employees using Great Place to Work® Trust Index© Employee Survey.

Upside Learning scored a brilliant 72 on the TRUST INDEX© Score which is an average of five dimensions of the Great Place to Work® Trust Index© Model which are:

Credibility of management ™
Respect for people
Fairness at the workplace
Pride
Camaraderie between people

About Great Place to Work® Institute

Great Place to Work® Institute is a global management research and consulting firm dedicated towards enabling organizations achieve business objectives by building better workplaces. Great Place to Work® Institute works with over 7000 organizations globally every year to help them assess, change, learn, and share.

Upside Learning Features in Training Industry’s Two Top 20 Companies Watch List for 2020

Upside Learning Solutions, a leading provider of Custom learning solutions has been listed in the Training Industry, Inc’s – Top 20™ Custom Content Development Company Watch List and Top 20™ Training Outsourcing Company Watch List for the year 2020 yet again. This is the fifth time that Upside Learning has been recognized as a leading Content Development Company.

Selection to the 2020 Training Industry Top 20™ Custom Content Development Company and Training Outsourcing Company Watch List was based on the following criteria:

Industry visibility, innovation and impact
Capability of developing and delivering multiple types of content
Depth and breadth of subject matter expertise
Company size and growth potential
Strength of clients and geographic reach

“The companies selected for this year’s Custom Content Development and Training Outsourcing Watch List represent specialized and emerging organizations that use innovative tools to create interactive and immersive custom solutions,” said Danielle Draewell, market research analyst at Training Industry, Inc. “These companies assist clients all over the world with a wide range of learning needs.”

Amit Garg, CEO & Founder – Upside Learning Solutions said “It is a great feeling for every one of us at Upside Learning, we feel delighted to be featured among the Top Custom Content Development and Training Outsourcing – Watch List, offering the best-in-class learning solutions, These two back to back accolades are a testament to the capabilities of our 150+ learning specialists who strive to Go Beyond and design engaging Learning solutions for our clients.”

About Upside Learning

Upside Learning is a leading provider of custom learning solutions to organizations worldwide. They help their customers deliver real outcomes by helping them achieve performance improvements that are aligned with their business objectives.

By making the effort to Go Beyond at each step of the designing process, Upside Learning aims to make a real and sustainable impact on organizational metrics and behaviours by supporting organizations to bolster their core teams, be it operations, sales or human resources.

Upside Learning provides consultancy for crafting effective learning solutions, custom eLearning, responsive and mobile learning, performance support, translation and localization, video and animations, and instructor-led trainings.

In its 16 years, Upside Learning has won 48 awards (including 19 Brandon Hall Excellence Awards) and several accolades.

Learn more about Upside Learning at: www.upsidelearning.com

Isha Sood Joins Upside Learning as AVP – Marketing

Upside Learning has onboarded Isha Sood to lead their Marketing Function.

Upside Learning, a leading service provider of end-to-end digital learning solutions for Fortune-1000 companies across the globe, has appointed Isha Sood as AVP – Marketing. Isha will be leading the marketing function.

Isha is a seasoned marketeer with experience spanning content marketing, advertising, and communications. With experience in leading marketing for retail, technology, and learning content services in the past, Isha is driven by the dynamism that marketing brings along every day. A lifelong learner, Isha believes in hands-on learning and constant upskilling to be on top of her game. Her formal educational experience includes an MBA in Marketing and Information Technology and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Applications. She has a number of accomplishments to her credit including multiple academic and professional awards and recognitions.

Amit Garg – Founder & Director of Upside Learning, commented, “Isha joining us adds to our team’s strength in developing innovative and insightful content for our readers while helping us reach to our right target audience to drive the business growth of our company. Her extensive experience and expertise in the eLearning domain and her knowledge of the global learning industry will help us build on our existing client relations, which will enable us to deliver a better customer experience. While continuing to explore newer opportunities and building new relations”

About Upside Learning

Since 2004, Upside Learning has consistently delivered best-in-class custom learning solutions to organizations worldwide. The focal point has been to help customers deliver real outcomes by helping them achieve performance improvements that are aligned with their business objectives. Upside Learning aims to make a real impact on organizational metrics and behaviors by supporting organizations to bolster their core teams.

With experience in offerings such as Custom Learning, Learning Consultancy, Performance Support Aids, Game-based learning, Virtual Instructor-led Training, Upside Learning strives to add value to every learning solution it creates.

Over the years, Upside Learning has won more than 52 awards (including several Brandon Hall Excellence Awards) and many accolades.

Learn more about Upside Learning at: www.upsidelearning.com

The Upside Learning Blog Hits 1 Million Views

With 2500+ subscribers and 575 posts, The Upside Learning Blog hit 1 million views on 15^th July 2013. The blog which is owned and maintained by Upside Learning, a leading provider of learning technology solutions, was started on 3^rd March 2009 as a platform to share thoughts and views pertaining to eLearning. Over a period of 4+ years, this has turned into a knowledge hub for people in the eLearning industry and otherwise to gain knowledge.

Today, the company has an internal blogging team of over 10 employees, apart from the founders – Amit Garg and Amit Gautam, who actively contribute to the blog. These employees with their diverse educational qualifications and work experience add a unique flavor to the posts. This is further underlined by their area of work in Upside Learning which helps them leverage their knowledge and expertise.

While sky is the limit for the various categories that are generally targeted on the blog, Mobile Learning, eLearning, Learning Management Systems, Blended Learning and Social Learning are some of the most popular ones. The blog carries over 140 posts on Mobile Learning alone.

Some other Upside Learning Blog stats worth noting:

1,000,000 Views All Time
2500+ Subscribers
1500+ Comments
31,624 Best Ever Views In A Month
1,693 Best Ever Views In A Single Day

The Upside Learning Blog can be accessed at https://blog.upsidelearning.com/

Passmore Duff Initiates Blended Learning With Upside Learning’s End–To–End Solutions

Based in Australia, Passmore Duff, a training company specialising in the field of workplace violence and critical incident risk management, has collaborated with Upside Learning for commencing a new chapter in blending learning. This marks a new beginning for Passmore Duff as it moves from its current internally hosted LMS platform, developed in 2004, to Upside Learning’s multi award–winning Learning Management System, UpsideLMS. to deliver training to its clients. As a part of the relationship, Upside Learning will also help Passmore Duff to convert its existing ILT sessions into eLearning courses.

With an aim to make information and knowledge resources accessible to its clients anywhere and at anytime, Passmore Duff wanted to convert some of its ILT sessions into eLearning courses. These resources were to support the delivery of its nationally accredited competency based training programs. With 3000+ hours of custom learning developed and more than 500 projects completed, Upside Learning used its expertise and experience to develop Flash–based eLearning courseware for Passmore Duff.

UpsideLMS is now used for the delivery of these Flash–based and its other tailor–made eLearning courses, and also as a reinforcement tool for its ILT sessions, thus delivering a unique blended learning experience to its learners. The ILT sessions too are managed via UpsideLMS’ Classroom Training Module, which is complete with training scheduling, nomination workflows, venue and vendor management, and training costs management. Moreover, UpsideLMS’ 3 tier or multi–portal architecture (having a Client Manager, a Learner profile and a Site manager) enables Passmore Duff to create and host different portals for each of its clients. For its clients, it allows them to brand their individual portals according to their corporate identity as well as make use of it for delivering training to their workforce.

About Passmore Duff

Established in 1996, Passmore Duff is a training organisation, imparting specialised training services dealing with aggressive and violent behaviours, de-escalating aggression in the workplace as well as workplace conflict.

Passmore Duff’s advisory, planning and training services develop skills within organisation during critical incident risk management. It provides its clients with industry best practice as well as innovative approaches and techniques for managing these risks.

For more information, please log on to – http://www.workplaceviolence.com.au

Upside Learning Wins Two Apex Awards of Excellence (2011)

Upside Learning, a recognised leader in training outsourcing, Learning Management Solutions, Custom eLearning Development and Mobile Learning Solutions, has been declared a winner in the Apex Annual Awards for Publication Excellence Competition (2011) in two categories, namely Electronic Media & Video category and Brochures, Manuals & Reports category.

APEX 2011- the 23^rd Annual Awards for Publication Excellence – is an international competition that recognises outstanding publications from newsletters and magazines to annual reports, brochures and Web sites. Sponsored by the editors of Writing That Works, a newsletter published by Communications Concepts, Inc., the Apex Awards are presented annually to recognise excellence in graphic design, editorial content, and the ability to achieve overall communications excellence. This year, there were 11 major categories and 122 sub-categories. The Awards of Excellence recognise exceptional entries within these sub-categories.

Upside Learning’s entry in the Electronic Media & Video category had been in the Web Videos sub-category, while that for Brochures, Manuals & Reports was in the Books and eBooks sub-category. For the former, Upside Learning had submitted a one and half minute introductory video of its revolutionary platform for mobile learning – Upside2Go. The latter consisted of a 44-page eBook titled ‘LMS for Training Companies – Then & Now’ giving a comprehensive overview of the LMS from the perspective of training companies.

The Upside2Go video, called the ‘Revolutionary Mobile Learning Solution – Discover Upside2Go’ video was developed to act as a curtain raiser for Upside Learning’s mobile learning solution – Upside2Go. The video provides a brief introduction to Upside2Go, highlighting the various possibilities and scenarios without spelling out the actual features. This was done to help pique the viewers’ interest. It was used to launch Upside2Go in the US market at ASTD TechKnowledge 2011 and was later on added to the company’s website as well.

The eBook, ‘LMS for Training Companies – Then & Now’, was targeted not only to the people in the training industry, but also to others in the Learning Management domain. Analyzing the requirements of training companies from an LMS during the recession hit period to today, the book gives a detailed view of the various features and tools that have evolved inline with the evolving needs of the training companies. It also gives a sneak peak into the future by making predictions about the changes that one can expect in the LMS in the coming period. Users can download a free copy of the eBook by registering on the website.

According to the APEX 2011 judges, “The awards were based on excellence in graphic design, quality of editorial content and the success of the entry in conveying the message and achieving overall communications effectiveness.”

Upside Learning Receives An Overwhelming Response at mLearnCon 2011; Announces Winner of Its Special Expo Offer

eLearning Guild’s mLearnCon 2011, a mobile learning conference held from June 21^st to 23^rd in San Jose, CA, proved fruitful to Upside Learning. The company experienced an overwhelming response for its entire range of mobile learning solutions.

With more than 600 attendees, 55% more than the previous year, mLearnCon 2011 was successful in providing a platform to vendors for showcasing various mobile learning tools, technologies, products and services.

Visitors at Upside Learning’s booth (number 316) were able to experience the company’s entire range of innovative mobile learning solutions including micro courses, quizzes, games, mbooks, videos, Augmented Reality apps and mobile apps, spanning various platforms like Symbian, Android, Blackberry OS, iOS etc. Amongst all the solutions exhibited, Upside2Go emerged as the star product continuing to win appreciation for its innovativeness and effectiveness, specifically in addressing needs of mobile workforce, from some of the biggest corporates in the US and other markets.

In view of the growing interest and importance of mobile learning in the business landscape, Upside Learning also conducted a master class session titled ‘Mobile Learning and Performance Support with Upside2Go’. The session focused on the various ways in which corporates could benefit from Upside2Go, harnessing it for delivering learning on the go, at the time of need.

Earlier this week, the company announced one lucky winner for its mLearnCon 2011 Kindle Reader offer. Sam Rogers of Snap Synapse was selected from a random draw carried out from over 40 registration forms received during event.

Upside Learning Develops Augmented Reality Cover For Elearning! Magazine

The July/August issue of Elearning! Magazine featuring a cover story on Augmented Reality (AR) for Learning officially hit the news stands on July 14^th, 2011. What makes this remarkable is the fact that it is the first-ever eLearning magazine to feature an interactive ‘augmented reality’ cover page. And making this possible is Upside Learning, a global leader in Custom eLearning, Mobile Learning solutions and Learning Management System. Upside Learning has been instrumental in the complete development process of the application from conceptualisation to implementation.

Upside Learning has constantly strived to address the multifarious platforms in the technology space, with Augmented Reality being one of the most important ones. For some years, the company has been exploring this technology and finding the best ways to utilise it in the learning domain. It has successfully developed AR applications like Pune Layar, an augmented reality application for mobile phones developed first time for an Indian city; and AR Street Racing, a simple racing game.

Given Upside Learning’s experience, understanding and capabilities of AR technology, Elearning! Magazine approached the company for its special issue focusing on Augmented Reality. The main idea was to develop a cover for the magazine that introduced the readers to the real world uses of AR. It was also important that it illustrated the accessibility of AR in learning programs. Being an eLearning company, with a focus on emerging technologies, Upside Learning considered this as a perfect opportunity to showcase its learning and technology capabilities.

After initial discussions between the publication team and Upside Learning’s team, comprising Abhijit Kadle, Sr. Manager-Instructional Design, and Shivaji Babar, Associate Lead Developer, it was decided to create a simple marker that could be printed on the magazine cover. This marker when held up to a computer camera, on recognition and registration thereof, enabled the AR demo. As the cover story was to highlight various disciplines wherein Augmented Reality could be used as a value add in effective learning, the final demo was developed to showcase three videos demonstrating practical AR applications in Manufacturing, Medical and Recruitment.

Designed for both Windows and Mac, the AR cover is clearly inline with the cover story demonstrating how Augmented Reality can blend real world learning with digital technology with components like exploration, learning and entertainment.

Amit Garg, Director of Custom eLearning Solutions at Upside Learning, said, “We are excited to see an AR application developed in-house being featured on the cover page of Elearning! Magazine. Reaching thousands of readers, it is an excellent way to showcase our technology capability while keeping learning as a focal point.”