OutStart, provider of the only proven, content-centric, integrated product family for learning, today launched Evolution Learner Manager™ (ELM), Evolution 4™ and Studio 2™, making it the only company to offer complete, integrated learning applications that meet all of the diverse learning and training needs of large and small companies and any size team.
According to Meta Group Analyst Jennifer Vollmer, “Learning content management is crucial to a successful, scalable enterprise learning strategy. Companies mature in their learning strategies should seek enterprise-level systems that offer both learning management and learning content management capabilities.”
OutStart’s ELM, Evolution 4 and Studio 2 products equip organizations with learning management and learning content management capabilities. This eliminates the budget and technology trade-offs that often occur between the two sets of functionality, and ensures that these companies have all of the essential functionality to power world-class learning environments.
Evolution Learner Manager – ELM
ELM is a complete learning management system (LMS) that handles all administration surrounding learning and training processes and the learner – right out of the box. It is a seamlessly integrated part of Evolution 4 and is also available as an optional module that smoothly operates with any other member of OutStart’s integrated product family. ELM replaces OutStart’s Manager product and the more than 50 Manager customers are being upgraded to ELM. Several advantages that ELM has over other LMSs on the market include:
ELM is cost effective:
Installs in hours
Requires minimal customization services – if any
Administration is simple and does not require special skills
Pricing flexibility makes it available and affordable for companies or teams with any number of learners
As part of Evolution, organizations get complete LCMS and LMS functionality for the typical cost of a single LMS implementation.
ELM is highly learner focused (based on feedback from hundreds of OutStart customers):
Learners are connected to content more quickly than with other LMSs, since ELM offers default choices, self-service access and a dashboard for learners
The ability to search for granular content, not just courses, gives learners access to just what they need to perform better.
Learners have the ability to access content while online or offline, while their learning activities are tracked in both environments
Learning is mapped to business goals by making it easy for management to define and align employee skills and competencies with the training they access.
Kraton Polymers, the world’s leading manufacturer and supplier of widely used styrenic block co-polymers (SBCs), will use ELM to manage its learning administration. “ELM will be Kraton Polymer’s learning management system because it has the functionality to enable a superior learning environment without the complexity of other systems,” said Terry Cain, knowledge systems analyst at Kraton Polymers. “ELM is easy to install, makes it easy for learners to get to the learning they need, and makes administration of learning processes simple and straight-forward,” he added.
Studio 2
Studio 2 is a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) development learning content management system (LCMS) that targets Global 2000-5000 organizations and departments within larger organizations. Studio 2 features all essential LCMS functionality, and includes the following advantages:
Highly flexible, WYSIWYG, drag and drop authoring environment
Hundreds of professionally designed, customizable course templates
Collaborative development environment
Robust content searching and categorization
Roles and rights management for content authors and learners
Built in workflow, task management and editorial reviews
True, browser-based, thin client technology, optimized for online authoring
ELM is available as an optional module, for a complete LCMS and LMS application
Evolution 4
Evolution 4 is the latest version of the industry’s most effective application to develop, manage, assemble and deliver personalized learning content natively to multiple channels, including the Web, CDs, training guides, classroom presentations and personal digital assistants (PDAs). ELM’s LMS functionality is seamlessly integrated as part of Evolution 4. It also offers greater enterprise flexibility with expanded application platform support, which now includes Linux, in addition to Windows and Unix.
Evolution 4 enables organizations to capture unique business know-how wherever it resides, store it as reusable learning content in a central repository, and deliver individualized learning and training through multiple channels. Anyone can contribute content, and learners can easily access the right learning content to perform their jobs better, exactly when, where and how they need it.
OutStart Applications End WYSIWYG vs. Granular Content Development Debate
With OutStart, organizations adopting online learning no longer have to be forced to choose between two models of how to author, store and deliver learning content.
Evolution’s model is to develop small chunks of learning content that are stored in a central repository, can be dynamically assembled to meet the needs of different learners, and can be delivered as formatted native content in multiple channels. Advantages of this model are the high level of personalization it supports by making content more granular, as well as the ability to reuse content regardless of how learning occurs (in the classroom, on the Web, with training guides, etc.).
Studio’s model provides WYSIWYG, drag and drop authoring of HTML pages that are used for e-learning courses or pushed to CDs. Content can be personalized to the level of the page within a course. The advantage of this model is that it takes less time to author and deploy e-learning, as evidenced by new Studio users that have created and deployed learning content within three days of installation.
OutStart’s product family integration means that content created using Evolution can be delivered through Studio – and vice-versa. Companies can adopt either strategy or both, as appropriate for the diverse needs of the different parts of their organization. They can also shift strategies at any time as they mature without risk of losing the content and the investment they have already made.
“Providing customers with the freedom to choose the right approach for their organization gives OutStart a real competitive advantage in the market,” said Massood Zarrabian, CEO and President of OutStart. “Launching ELM, Studio 2 and Evolution 4 enables us to provide complete learning applications that address the needs of any company or department, whether they are in the Fortune 500, medium sized or a small business.”
About OutStart
OutStart provides a proven, integrated product family for companies seeking to increase individual and organizational performance. Only OutStart offers complete learning applications that meet all of the diverse learning and training needs of large and small companies and any size team. OutStart’s content-centric learning applications enable an organization to transform its unique business knowledge into practical learning assets and deliver those assets to the right person, the right way, at the right time, to drive a sustainable competitive advantage. They also include the functionality needed to manage all administration around learning and training processes.
OutStart helps companies realize improvements in sales force and services productivity, call center efficiencies, customer and partner education and technology adoption. OutStart is headquartered in Boston and has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dublin, Lake Mary, Fla., London, Los Angeles, New York City, Raleigh, N.C., and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.outstart.com
