Rosenberg+Quote,+Page+246

Rosenberg, M. (2001) e-Learning: Strategies for delivering knowledge in the digital age. McGraw-Hill, p. 246.

“The first and most important rule of e-learning outsourcing is to be sure you have enough in-house expertise to effectively manage the outsourced suppliers?”

Sometimes this is hard to do, especially if the organization is small. What can happen then, is an organization can hire and train relative inexperienced staff but with the potential. When there is not an in-house expert to train, then training must be supplied or acquired. Once that happens, management must quit second guessing their decisions and let the newly trained expert spread their wings. Let the experts determine what will support their e-learning initiatives and give budgets, guidelines, and fiduciary responsibilities to the leaders. This also helps establish the initiative as a “top-down” supported measure.

In-house expertise is important to making sure that the educational/training goals, objectives, and results that fall within the purview of the training/education/academic department can be supported by the vendor.