Expertus Survey Shows That More Than 75% of Companies with Multiple LMSs Plan to Consolidate – Most Within Next Year

Mountain View, CA – December 5, 2006 – Expertus, a global provider of services that optimize the business impact of learning, and TrainingOutsourcing.com, a company that offers guidance and consulting to buyers and sellers of outsourcing services, jointly announced today the results of the third of six surveys designed to provide market data on all aspects of today’s corporate training challenges.

This latest survey was designed to find out more about the reported trend of LMS consolidation, the tendency of organizations currently using more than one learning management system to standardize on a single system.

The survey verified that LMS consolidation is indeed a factor in enterprise LMS. More than 25% of the survey’s respondents currently used multiple LMSs within their organizations. Of these, more than 75% said they plan on consolidating systems, and more than 75% plan on performing this consolidation within the next year.

As part of the consolidation process, 40% of respondents say they plan on purchasing and implementing a new LMS; 35.6% say they will make major upgrades to an existing LMS during consolidation.

The top factors cited as driving the need to consolidate are the centralization of learner data (77.8%), improved reporting (68.9%), improved content integration (64.4%) and improved integration with other enterprise applications (62.2%). Rather surprisingly, only 40% of respondents cited reduction of technology costs as a business driver.

“Companies recognize the value of centralized reporting, content management, and talent management – none of which is usually possible when operating multiple LMSs. However, consolidation is a complex process and one that requires expertise in many technical areas, as well as in program management,” said Ramesh Ramani, CEO of Expertus. “LMS consolidation is a major application initiative and must be carefully planned and managed in order to be successful.”

The survey elicited 249 responses. Other survey findings include:

• More than 10% of survey respondents had three or more operating LMSs in their organizations.

• 46.7% of respondents estimated that consolidation would take six months to one year; 22.2% estimated consolidation projects would take from one to two years.

• Almost 40% of respondents anticipated using outside services for help with consolidation projects.

• The biggest challenges anticipated by respondents were data issues (58.7%), technology (56.5%), and user acceptance and customization (both at 43.5%).

• Almost half of consolidation projects are driven by training organizations.

“LMS consolidation can offer significant enterprise-wide benefits,” said Doug Harward, CEO of TrainingOutsourcing.com. “However, the projects typically require advanced technology and integration expertise. We recommend that anyone considering a consolidation initiative first talk with others who have completed similar projects in order to obtain a full understanding of project’s scope.”

An analysis of all survey results is available at: https://www.expertus.com/survey/results3/LMSConsolidation.pdf. Those interested can also obtain results of recent surveys on global training and channel LMS for partner training on the Expertus web site.

The next survey in the series, which will focus on LMS Integration, will be distributed in December

About Expertus

Recently named as an Emerging Leader in Outsourcing, Expertus provides a variety of training outsourcing services in business consulting, technology, content, and strategic business process outsourcing. From implementing and managing LMS and learning-related technologies to supporting major customer training initiatives to seamlessly handling all aspects of training administration, Expertus has helped major companies such as Cisco, ADP, EMC, and Hyperion achieve efficiencies in corporate learning and development. Expertus is headquartered in Mountain View, California and has offices in London, New Jersey, and Chennai, India. Its staff of highly trained business and technical consultants, content developers, and process specialists delivers to clients the experience, skills, and knowledge that have an immediate impact on learning initiatives.

For more information, go to www.expertus.com or contact Mohana Radhakrishnan mohanark@expertus.com.

About TrainingOutsourcing.com

TrainingOutsourcing.com offers guidance and consulting to buyers and providers of training outsourcing services with the goal of facilitating mutually beneficial economic relationships. Its web-based knowledge community offers a wealth of information resources and best practices to those interested in any aspect of training outsourcing. For more information on TrainingOutsourcing.com and its webinars and conferences, go to www.trainingoutsourcing.com.