“This training and qualification project is predestined for the "software as a service" model" explains Dr. Tilman Küchler, Director Public Sector & Education at IMC. “It will be possible to launch the project quickly, the demand is clearly-defined in terms of content and the duration is limited. It would therefore not have made much sense to have an expensive implementation of an on-premises model.”  In addition to this, the client also had no corresponding IT infrastructure, let alone resources for regular updates and system maintenance. These services are now being provided by IMC for OKOMEDICA, including a daily backup of the data and a 24/7 support service. “The client will receive a product which is ready for use right away, with a modern, individually tailored user interface and in a Polish language version. OKOMEDIA will be able to concentrate on its core areas of expertise: The management of the content and specialist aspects of this extraordinary project” explains Küchler conclusively.       

Object‐based recording enables enhanced search functionality
Thanks to object‐based recording LECTURNITY offers far more than a traditional screen recording tool. LECTURNITY not only records your screen but also effectively “understands” what is being recorded. All texts within the recorded contents on the screen will be automatically read in using embedded Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. The contents are then automatically structured and indexed to make them searchable by the learner. If learners are only interested in a specific part of a presentation, they simply enter the relevant search term into the search box and LECTURNITY will find the appropriate sequence. This puts an end to hour‐long searches and to the need to categorize content in painstaking detail. Thus, LECTURNITY is saving time and money and supporting the learner in finding specific information.

As presentation recordings are no longer considered exotic, IMC dramatically reduced the price in August 2009. The software is now affordable for everyone, at 149 Euros, and is easily available in the international online shop.

The Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Technology Awards are presented by Brandon Hall Research, one of the leading research firms in training and development. The Learning Technology Awards program showcases innovations in the products in the marketplace for creating and managing learning, talent, and performance. “These outstanding tools and systems propel the learning profession forward,” said Brandon Hall, Ph.D., chairman of the Awards program. “These innovative products let customers make learning faster, better, and easier.” The entries were evaluated by independent judges around the world.

About Brandon Hall Research

Brandon Hall, Ph.D. is the CEO of Brandon Hall Research and author of the ground-breaking “Web-Based Training Cookbook.” Since 1992, Brandon Hall Research (www.brandon-hall.com) has been providing independent research reports and expert advice on using technology in learning. Brandon Hall Research conducts Awards programs each year to recognize the best in innovative learning.

Company data must be complete, precise and reliable. However, according to research carried out by the “Business Application Research Center” (BARC) in Würzburg, this data is often in disorder. According to a survey of 111 SAP users in German-speaking countries, 47 percent considered their data quality to be just “average”, while almost a quarter stated that they had missed sales targets due to these shortcomings. In release 2 of LIVECONTEXT, the platform support for SAP users in particular has been further improved so that companies can make full use of the potential of consistent data. 

More impact through product integration 
LIVECONTEXT, awarded the “IT Innovation Prize” just several weeks ago, is based in the principle of context-sensitive support. This means that the software completely scans the respective application with all of its windows, fields and entry masks in order to provide the user with support at critical points when it is actually required. This support may take the form of simple text documentation, or also short videos, animations, podcasts or interactive learning units. But how is this content created? In new LIVECONTEXT, this is dealt with by LECTURNITY, the successful IMC AG authoring tool. Almost undiscernibly and without the user needing to put effort into becoming acquainted with LECTURNITY, they can create the required learning sequences from the LIVECONTEXT mode and administrate them in the media library, another new feature.

 
LIVECONTEXT “understands” the software
Business processes and software systems are constantly subject to adjustments. Software support based on the simple “filming” of screen masks therefore requires a complete revision of the produced learning material if there is no more than a minor adjustment to the application software. In contrast, LIVECONTEXT works with field-specific information. In the event of upgrades or release changes, the required support for the changed areas can be precisely and quickly amended at a low cost. Complete reviews are no longer required and the context-sensitive support is always up to date. “With the new LIVECONTEXT, inaccurate data and the resulting loss of turnover, increased costs and uncertain, frustrated employees are a thing of the past", assures Kraemer.   

Indeed, the “subscription software” model enjoys great popularity with businesses. In contrast to the classic software business, expenditure does not lie significantly with the company using it, but with the SaaS supplier. It provides its product by means of so-called multi-tenant architecture in which many organisations share horizontally and vertically scalable infrastructure equally. The supplier takes care of the installation, configuration, maintenance and updating of the software. In principle, customers no longer pay for the technology, but for the service, whose quality becomes the focus. Due to the fact that suppliers of SaaS solutions are largely responsible for the seamless operation of an application, they have an increased interest in the reliability of their products. As a consequence, this has lead to high quality software: this incorporates continuous application with patches and updates, automatic back-up of files, simple operation of the software and high availability. At the same time, considerable savings develop on the customer side. Absolute IT costs are reduced, investment costs change to operating costs, deployment phases are reduced, access to applications is speeded up and IT alignment optimised. The simple way of up and down-sizing business processes therefore makes SaaS attractive to businesses particularly in economically difficult times.

Even Dirk Thissen, Managing Director of IMC UK Learning Ltd., is convinced that the benefits of learning technologies in the cloud are established as a business model. “In the meantime, there are numerous best practices for SaaS with strong ROI calculations. SaaS can be flexibly adapted to new corporate structures and training requirements, release its own IT and support the concentration on core competencies by transferring business processes to external service providers”. “In addition, companies nowadays do not just have a qualification remit with its own employees. External trade partners, suppliers and customers also have to be trained. Since it is considerably easier if all business partners log in to a protected system over the Internet rather than into their own IT infrastructure to exchange the relevant information in a cumbersome manner afterwards.”

Medium-sized enterprises, in particular, are offered promising market opportunities with the SaaS model. Small and medium-sized enterprises are highly specialised in their field; IT experts are, by contrast, usually not. SaaS applications and outsourced IT processes therefore meet this need very well. The new CLIX 2010, which as a classic license model is offered both as an Application Service Providing (ASP) and SaaS solution, allowing you to use modern software solutions and at the same time concentrate on your core business.

“With the increasing dissemination of SaaS solutions, continues Thissen, the technological aspects of IT applications fade into the background, thus, issues of cost/benefit and the contribution to added value increasingly dominate.” In the end for specialised sectors, it comes down to which SaaS supplier can optimally support the business processes as a service. Which IT architecture is used as the basis for these solutions is subordinate, provided that the basic aspects, for example, data security and service quality are guaranteed. In other words: for the user of a rental car, in essence, only the on-time delivery, period of use, vehicle category, rental costs and condition of the vehicle are relevant, but, however, not a basic orientation of the vehicle technology, much less knowledge about the precise physical functions of petrol engines. SaaS solutions thus foster decentralised decision-making power as well as the autonomy of specialist departments as a “buying centre” for core solutions.

Learning Cloud
Software as a service, i.e. cloud computing, is one of the major ICT trends, although the new concept is rarely associated with HR systems. This is a mystery to Professor August-Wilhelm Scheer, founder and principal shareholder of IMC AG. In his opinion, “learning management processes are the perfect application scenarios in cloud computing”. “Learning technologies are not highly integrative with other application systems and their use is often demand-orientated, referring to a particular point in time. The competitively-priced SaaS model is therefore ideal for the planning, execution and monitoring of personal development measures in HR systems.”
The Managing Director of IMC UK Learning Ltd., Dr. Dirk Thissen, is also convinced that the use of learning cloud technology will become an established part of business models. “The SaaS solution in particular allows small and medium-sized companies with limited IT resources to use modern software solutions while concentrating on their core business.”

CLIX 2010 … looks good
The new CLIX is presented with a completely new design. Fresh colour accents, a stringent language style and increased use of intuitive icons create clarity. Transparent elements provide ease of use and elegance, working together with interactive highlight effects to make CLIX a completely new user experience. But CLIX does not only look good - the design also contributes significantly to the high level of user friendliness.

CLIX 2010 … is child’s play
The clear and simple CLIX 2010 interface helps the learner determine their current stage of learning, locate the next tasks at a glance and quickly retrace their learning history.
The new toolbar significantly increases clarity and makes it easy to find learning content, tests and questionnaires which can only be opened in a standard player. Filters, search fields and clearly structured menus enable the intuitive location of functions, courses and learning content. The use of tabs in CLIX makes it possible to handle several processes at the same time, considerably reducing the number of clicks needed. Split screens are used for the highest possible level of information content without the user needing to carry out any other functions. If a learner is in two minds about which course to start, they can browse through the courses on offer on the left-hand side of a split screen and view information about the course content, tutors and prices on the right-hand side. In principle, the consistent implementation of processes and interaction schemes provide high recognition value for all functions and components.

CLIX 2010 … is personal
As with “iGoogle”, a learner can design their own personal learning environment. The first point of contact is the multiple-column dashboard. There, the learner can decide what he wants to be displayed: the courses they have booked, current news or upcoming appointments. This entry portal offers central access to courses, functions and learning content with just one click.

CLIX 2010 … breaking new ground
IMC is also breaking new ground in product development. Previously, new and comprehensive CLIX releases were usually launched once a year. In the future, IMC will offer its customers “service packs” at least once a quarter, each providing the latest functions. These “service packs” make the development cycles more flexible and significantly reduce customers' migration expenses. Customer requests can be dealt with more quickly within the scope of function for the standard software and new market developments can be responded to immediately.

CLIX 2010 … inspires
CLIX 2010 was developed together with customers on the basis of a two-year customer experience phase. The experiences of end users who use the system on a daily basis and the most recent software ergonomics research were crucial elements in the complete redesign of the interaction scheme. The feedback so far has been consistently positive. For instance, Eva-Maria Bruch, e-learning project manager at Festo AG & Co. KG, commented: “I am particularly impressed with the usability of CLIX 2010. The new user interface is intuitively structured and will result in a significant reduction of the time used for administration.” Nadine Hengen, responsible for “e-learning Functional Support” at the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation EUROCONTROL, based in Luxemburg, adds: “My first impressions are very positive. Many processes are now shorter, have been made more flexible and can be carried out at the same time. I am looking forward to the end product.”

Nowadays pupils and trainees, who already use digital media in their leisure time, also expect an equally interactive learning environment during their school lessons. Authoring software such as LECTURNITY is the ideal medium for teachers to simply and cost-effectively prepare learning content in a multimedia format. Many schools already have learning management systems, although others have only limited options for making LECTURNITY recordings accessible. Ultimately, however, the final step of using the software with the pupils is decisive.

LECTURNITY meets YouTube

IMC has now removed this particular phenomenon at schools and has integrated an attractive additional application into its recording tool, which will also inspire business and university users. From now on, LECTURNITY can also be used to upload recorded presentations to YouTube, where they can be viewed by the respective target group. According to information provided by YouTube, around 100 million people around the world now actively use the platform and the available videos are downloaded about 2.5 billion times every month. “Moving images are very popular and one of the major trends in the Web 2.0”, explains IMC director Dr. Wolfgang Kraemer. “LECTURNITY’s strength is the fact that it enables people to experience live presentations over and over again and is therefore predestined for use with video portals. The YouTube upload feature demonstrates the capabilities of our authoring software in social media.”

LECTURNITY - the fine art of recording

The uploaded LECTURNITY recordings can also be easily played back on mobile end devices such as an iPod or iPhone - anywhere and at any time, which employees working away from the office particularly appreciate. LECTURNITY helps teachers to integrate pedagogical media approaches into lessons, for instance by working together with interactive whiteboards. Previously, the whiteboard images were saved and sent to pupils by email for review, which required a lot of effort. Using LECTURNITY School, teachers can now collect the various data streams together into one recording and make this available to everyone on YouTube online significantly more quickly and contemporaneously. 

LECTURNITY School can be ordered online at www.lecturnity.co.uk. From now, IMC will also be providing its own micro site school.lecturnity.co.uk where users can access valuable tips and tricks, reference projects, a video tutorial portal and extensive subject literature.

CLIX’s move into the digital cloud is therefore more than just another offshoot of the CLIX family, which so far comprises CLIX Enterprise, Campus and Start. With CLIX SaaS, IMC meets many customers’ market demands. “For many companies, in tough economic times, complex, time-consuming and costly LMS integration with many individual adjustments is no longer a viable internal option,” explains Kraemer. “A high-performance standard system like CLIX SaaS, which is fast, flexible and convenient to use, fits their needs better. The low operating costs, which start at one euro per course booking, make CLIX SaaS a real alternative, even for smaller companies or open-source supporters.” The only system requirements for CLIX SaaS are Internet access and a browser. Kraemer has no fears that the cloud-based CLIX could cannibalise traditional CLIX versions. “Large companies and international groups, as well as universities, always place great value on an LMS that is tailor-made for them. In addition, IMC CLIX, as an ASP solution, also offers a customised infrastructure.”

The advantage of flexibility
Regardless of whether long-term educational programmes are cut back; or project-related training needs arise in the short term; or if, during the upturn, a new educational trip is incorporated again: with CLIX SaaS, training managers are able to react instantly to changing conditions. The scenario in which a platform set up for thousands of employees is then only used by a fraction of them is a thing of the past, as far as CLIX SaaS is concerned. Only the course bookings which are actually made are paid for. “When it comes to their vocational training, CLIX SaaS give companies the necessary flexibility to compete successfully. It couldn’t get much simpler, more transparent or more effective,” says Kraemer.

Data security is given top priority
Anyone aware of their data being outside their own IT infrastructure quite rightly raises the question of security. “More than 300 IMC customers worldwide have great trust in our learning solutions. With CLIX SaaS, therefore, it is natural for us to explicitly guarantee the protection of customer data. This is made possible by the high-performance structure of our network, scalable from the bottom up. Data is secured against unauthorised access and also undergoes a daily backup,” explains Kraemer. CLIX SaaS is offered in Standard, Professional and Premium versions with different service bundles.

IMC, which was recently rated by technology researcher Gartner as among the world’s best in its field, is a full service provider for advanced learning solutions. The company covers the entire process from initial consultations through to implementation and ongoing maintenance. 
Beyondedge Executive Producer, Duy Huynh said representatives of the two companies had first met at an international trade fair in 2006 and had maintained a strong relationship since. Mr Huynh said that IMC, as part of its plan to expand into Asia Pacific, has launched its regional office in Australia earlier this year and has decided to engage Beyondedge as its production arm instead of setting up its own local content development team. 
“The two companies fit very well together in a partnership because our value propositions are complementary,’’ said Mr Huynh. “IMC provides software and services for the deployment and management of e-learning systems for both SME and large companies while Beyondedge can provide the required content services,’’ said Mr Huynh.
“In the South East Asia-Pacific region, IMC has determined that it will make greater gains by leveraging local expertise when it comes to content development rather than establish new production capability,” says Stefanie Klein, IMC Regional Director. “This is different to our approach in other parts of the world where we have set-up our own content development teams as part of our full service approach.  However, when we saw the quality of work coming from Beyondedge, we decided to work with them instead.”
“We are extremely impressed with the quality of their productions. What impressed us most is that in all their productions they create a fusion of powerful online technologies with compelling film components and an engaging interactive instructional design.”

IMC now has more than 500 businesses, governments and educational institutions as clients in 25 countries throughout the world. More than three million people are using IMC’s online learning products.
Beyondedge specialises in creating online training materials which clients have found cost less money than running ongoing face-to-face programs, allow for greater retention of knowledge by staff, remove the need to scheduled training sessions and provide on-demand information.
The company focuses its efforts on helping the training needs of large organisations including the likes of Coca Cola, Westpac and Queensland Government. The company has recently expanded into larger office and studio facilities at Helensvale, between Brisbane the Gold Coast, as it prepared for the start of its partnership with IMC.

Sevenoaks, UK – 21 October 2009 – Small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) do not fully realise the benefits that e-Learning can offer a company of their size, according to new research launched today by e-Learning and advanced content solutions provider, IMC (UK) Learning Ltd.

The survey revealed that only a third (31%) of respondents from small and 45% from medium-sized businesses agreed that online learning can help to reduce the overall cost per head of training employees. In addition, only two in five (43%) respondents from small and half (55%) from medium-sized organisations said that online learning introduces flexibility, reducing loss of productivity from training staff. 

The survey, ‘Barriers to training and learning provision in UK organisations – and how to overcome them’, sought to establish the barriers organisations encounter when providing training provision and the ways to overcome them. Respondents were also asked about their attitudes towards, and use of, e-learning tools and emerging technologies for training.

Dr Dirk Thissen, managing director at IMC (UK) Learning Ltd, comments: “The lack of understanding of the benefits that e-Learning can provide SMBs when it comes to the overall cost of training and flexibility is both surprising and worrying – particularly in the current economic climate. In a market showing early signs of recovery, it is more important than ever for SMBs to have an appropriately skilled workforce, whilst maintaining staff productivity, in order to survive and grow. Indirect costs of training and learning, such as disruption to work patterns and time out of the office to train, should be appropriately managed and minimised as far as possible – all of which an e-Learning platform can help with.”

Thissen continues: “E-learning not only offers SMBs flexible training options and minimises the time employees spend out of the office but it also engages learners by providing them with an interactive approach to learning that can be adapted to fit their individual training needs. With the increased development of eLearning tools and web based solutions, such as learning management systems and rapid authoring tools, content can be created quickly and efficiently and all learning activity can be combined in a single platform to match specific business processes.”

The research was conducted online amongst directors, senior managers, operational staff and supervisory staff within small (under 250 employees), medium (251 – 1,000 employees) and large (over 1,000) UK organisations. In total 100 respondents contributed to the findings.

For a copy of the ‘Barriers to training and learning provision in UK organisations – and how to overcome them’ Is the face of training changing’ report please email jonathan.bawden(at)portfoliocomms.com or call 02072406959

Dr Wolfgang Kraemer, CEO of IMC, is happy with the placement by market analysts Gartner. “We believe the positioning of IMC Learning Systems in the Visionaries quadrant further reflects the appreciation that is shown towards our products and services,” he said. “More than 500 clients with over 3 million users worldwide in businesses, organisations, universities and schools benefit from using our Learning Solutions to increase their productivity in learning management, to make their business processes more efficient and therefore to gain a decisive competitive advantage in the slowly improving economic situation.”   

According to Gartner, visionary providers are “forward-thinking vendors, but their performance has not given them a leadership position. These vendors are differentiated by their product innovation, but they have not achieved the completeness of solution or the sales and marketing success required to give them a high profile.”

“Since the foundation of the business we have continuously promoted internationalisation, and have recently opened an office in Sydney, Australia. Through the exploitation of new markets and the development of a partnership network, the range of uses for our Learning Technology for new target groups is growing. The flexible and totally user-orientated pricing model of our CLIX Software as a service solution offers maximum cost transparency for clients.” Depending on type and characteristics, users don’t have to be colleagues of the client: often SaaS solutions can be used as a platform to transfer knowledge between clients’ companies and their business partners.  CLIX Start, aimed at medium-sized clients, and the presentation recording tool LECTURNITY 4 are two successful examples for the provision of services to new target groups. From 2010 the newly developed CLIX Learning Suite will be on the market.     
Gartner states that “the CLS market has shifted from a relatively narrow software market focused on supporting training or e-learning to the creation of broader social learning platforms. These platforms make learning more integral to the actual work that people do. In particular, advanced learning and development (L&D) programs now focus on increasing business performance and creating communities of learners who teach each other, often on the job within the task that the learner needs to perform.”
“At IMC AG we established our range of products and services in line with these developments at an early stage,” says Kraemer, looking confidently ahead. “IMC Learning Solutions include components from Learning Management, Authoring, Performance and Social Learning. Alongside our first-class content creation and consultancy services, they represent a comprehensive solution portfolio, with which IMC will continue to be extremely competitive.” 

About the Gartner Magic Quadrant:
The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 2009 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Saarbrücken/Sevenoaks, 31st July 2009 – Several years ago, recording presentations was an unusual way of creating learning content. Since then, the situation has changed: recordings of presentations have become popular and are now a standard way to create learning content. They are more popular than ever among learners. This development has been expedited by IMC AG’s presentation recording tool, LECTURNITY. From 4th August, the company will be launching the next phase of this successful software with a new release and new licensing model at the significantly reduced price of 149 Euros.

LECTURNITY 4 is all about product innovation. “Until now, screen grabbing and the use of object-based recording have been perceived as opposites. In this new release, we have combined these two worlds together into one solution,” says Frank Milius, board member at IMC and responsible for product development.

Finding instead of searching
LECTURNITY 4 uses the advantages of both recording methods – the independence of the screen grabbing approach for special file formats, alongside the option of relocating important information using full-text searches and slide preview images. “In the case of display recordings, we now work with automatic text recognition,” explains Milius. LECTURNITY initially records all display activities. The program then recognises the text within all captured elements of the recorded document – whether an Excel spreadsheet, PDF document, Word file or browser window. Even labels in diagrams are included. “Here, LECTURNITY is working on the basis of the ‘optical character recognition’ principle for printed documents. This is not available anywhere else for presentation recordings in this form – only with LECTURNITY,” Milius points out.
All recorded documents produced with LECTURNITY are therefore “retrievable”. It does not matter whether they are recorded as a screen-grabbing clip or as slide imports, the genuine LECTURNITY approach – targeted searches for information are possible in LECTURNITY documents. This retrieval ability is available in all target formats (Flash, Real Media, Windows Media etc.) which can be created using the tool. The completely new design of the tool aims to create user-friendliness, speed and process efficiency when producing content, by using widgets which can be positioned freely, flexible function services and configurable tools, taking the great popularity of presentation recordings and the increased usage of LECTURNITY into account.

New licensing model
Product innovations are, however, only one side of LECTURNITY 4. The new licensing model is the other. “Presentation recordings are no longer considered exotic,” explains Dr.  Wolfgang Kraemer, CEO of IMC AG. “We are now working in a mass market, both with regards to the amount of content produced and the number of operators and users. We have therefore not only based LECTURNITY functionality on these developments, but also dramatically reduced the price.” The software is now affordable for everyone, at 149 Euros, and is easily available via IMC’s new eCommerce shop solution.
LECTURNITY has already gained many fans in the corporate world due to its diverse uses. Sales and software training, media training, operating instructions or standard operating procedures (SOPs) can now be cost-effectively and quickly produced thanks to LECTURNITY. The new release will further increase the cost-benefit effect when creating training materials, and will convince even more corporate training managers of its strengths. However, Kraemer considers even the traditional target group, universities, to be a great source of growth potential. Today, over 300 universities already use LECTURNITY for the production of e-lectures. “The low price will result in a multiplication and therefore even wider use. Our aim is to win new target groups in all sectors, and also the consumer market, with our new price model,” says Kraemer of the evolution in strategy. The standardised international price should also support global marketing. The new licensing model is therefore also part of the internationalisation strategy of the company, and meets the significant global demand for simple and quick production tools and methods.

New LECTURNITY website
In conjunction with the new release, a dedicated LECTURNITY website will be available in addition to the existing IMC homepage. At www.lecturnity.com, those interested can find all the important information about the product, look at successful client “showcases”, meet other users and interested parties via the blog, download test versions and order LECTURNITY directly. Spontaneous customers benefit from a special offer: Only until 21st of August the new release of LECTURNITY is available for the price of just 99 Euros for a single authoring licence.

Saarbrücken/Sevenoaks, 20 May 2009 – New research launched today by learning technology and content provider, IMC (UK) Learning Ltd, found that while nearly eight in ten (79%) academics and university staff agree that e-learning increases flexible and repeated access to learning content, they do not see it as a cost-cutting or time-saving tool.

The survey, ‘Examining e-learning in higher education: perceptions and reality’, surveyed 125 academic and operational staff in universities, business schools and university colleges and seeks to establish their views with regard to e-learning, how it is currently used within universities and the perceptions of its benefits and shortfalls.

The research found that while the majority of respondents agree e-learning provides academic benefits, only 27% believe e-learning saves money and 18% that it saves time. For those questioned who use e-learning, the figures increase considerably with nearly nine in ten (88%) agreeing that e-learning increases flexible and repeated access to learning content, 40% believing it saves money and just over a quarter (27%) stating it saves time for teaching staff.

Commenting on the research, Dr Dirk Thissen, managing director at IMC (UK) Learning says: “With the recent news that university budgets will be slashed by £150m next year, it is becoming imperative for higher education to cut costs and improve productivity wherever possible. E-learning offers universities a cost saving solution without compromising academic quality and substance. This is something everybody in higher education is going to have to grasp very quickly.   

“While e-learning has business advantages, it is the benefits it brings to the classroom that is most important. Taking a blended approach to learning by using e-learning in support of existing face-to-face courses can significantly augment the learning experience,” continues Thissen.
In terms of e-learning uptake in universities, three quarters (74%) of respondents use a virtual learning environment, while just over half (53%) use bespoke e-learning content. Significantly fewer (35%) state they use off-the-shelf e-learning content, and only 39% record lectures with an e-learning ‘lecture/presentation capture tool’.

Thissen concludes: “This research shows that while an increasing number of university staff and academics believe e-learning is an advantageous tool academically, the numbers using lecture capture tools and bespoke e-learning content are still relevantly low. The perception still seems to be that e-learning content is expensive and time consuming to produce, which is not always the case. Inexpensive e-learning content produced through rapid authoring tools allow lecturers to easily record and post their lessons, along with lesson notes, on a multitude of platforms such as virtual learning environments, podcasts and the web, quickly and easily.”

Saarbruecken, 13. May, 2009 - IDS Scheer, the leading solution provider for business process management (BPM), is teaming up with IMC, a leading provider of training technologies. The partnership aims to make it easier in future for IDS Scheer customers to access training content and information on BPM with ARIS.

In these times of economic uncertainty when belts are being tightened, it is more important than ever to be able to train without having to travel. IDS Scheer has developed OnlineAcademy in response to the needs of its customers, who want to fully exploit their investment in ARIS, the world's leading BPM software, without having to undertake external training sessions.

Thanks to the partnership with IMC, IDS Scheer can now deliver a whole host of training modules directly to customers via a new, centralized OnlineCommunication platform. Basic training courses, webinars and tutorials on BPM are just some of the modules on offer.

The intial event of ARIS ProcessWorld 2009, which takes place on May 28 and 29 in Munich, will be the first time OnlineAcademy is presented to a large audience.

"We want to make sure that our customers always have information about the wide variety of applications for ARIS software at their fingertips. We want them to have direct access to content that can help them, as ARIS users, to make the best possible use of their tool. But we don't want it to be costly or complicated," says Dr. Wolfram Jost, Member of the Executive Board with responsibility for Product Strategy and Product Development at IDS Scheer.

"The IDS Scheer OnlineAcademy is based on the scalable 'Software as a Service' CLIX learning management solution. It opens up a variety of efficient training and development options to IDS Scheer customers, without having to put in place expensive in-house training technologies. I am convinced that the time has come for innovative, efficient eLearning solutions," says Dr. Wolfgang Kraemer, CEO of IMC.

Saarbrücken/Sevenoaks, May 2009 – IMC AG is participating on three national and international research projects for identifying innovative web-based learning technologies – both financially and through the taking on of development work and coordination roles. IMC, as a specialist in learning technologies and  whose roots lie in a university environment, has access to both know-how and experienced co-workers in this field. “IMC is making a contribution through its dedication to providing companies with sustainable, effective learning solutions to ensure that Germany remains an internationally competitive location”, declared Dr. Volker Zimmermann, the IMC board member for New Business.  IMC is investing about one million Euros of its own funds as part of the three currently running projects.

The PROWIT project
Combining business and learning processes is a central focus of the PROWIT project (process-oriented Web 2.0-based integrated telecommunications service), promoted by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Companies are increasing their use of Web 2.0 services such as wikis and blogs but seldom integrate them into their own business applications. Therefore the potential of new telecommunications technologies for the planning, implementation and execution of business processes is often not fully exploited. The objective of PROWIT is to establish a new context-sensitive and ubiquitous service for business process management. This is why IMC is developing the Process Collaboration Platform, a knowledge community covering all aspects of business processes, consisting of a number of individual services. The community integrates learning as well as exchange of knowledge and information among co-workers with the business processes operating inside the company. The project partners on the Research and Development side are DFKI Saarbrücken, IDS Scheer AG and Technical University of Darmstadt. The application is being tested by companies like KAESER KOMPRESSOREN (Coburg) and Hitachi Power Europe (Duisburg). The project was launched in January 2009 and is planned to run for a period of three years.

 
The European ROLE project
The ROLE project (Responsive Open Learning Environments) is part of the 7th framework programme for research. The project was initiated in February 2009. The objective is to place learners in a position to put together their own personal learning environment (PLE). This PLE can consist of a number of different learning tools, learning services and learning resources. ROLE provides learners with recommendations concerning which learning components and services are most suitable for achieving a certain competence level, and helps to assemble an appropriate learning environment . IMC has developed a number of learning widgets for this purpose, which can be subscribed to via the desktop or a mobile device. Many of these widgets combine the services of the Learning Management System CLIX and the Content Community SLIDESTAR. In the course of this development there has also been the use of new integration standards between the IMC web applications and web communities such as OpenSocial. Learning components, learning tools and learning services can be individualised and personalised through the adaptation or new development of existing web-based software. In addition to technical development, pedagogic models are also being tested during the course of the project.

The SABINE project is on its way
At the end of March the IMC SABINE project received sponsorship confirmation. The objective is to provide employees in the respective phases of their lives with exactly matching offers to make career choices, or to enter into further education or retraining. The IMC web technologies are being developed at the interface of job placement, recruiting, competence management, learning and social networks as part of THESEUS, a funding programme initiated by the German Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs.

Saarbrücken/Wallisellen, 15th April 2009 – Kantonsspital Bruderholz (KSB) has decided to take advantage of the benefits provided by LIVECONTEXT for its future delivery and resource management. IMC AG’s “Electronic Performance Support System” will be implemented for the production and administration of patient schedules. Over 1500 employees at the hospital and many rooms and medical devices must be integrated into the system. “Operation dates, treatment rooms and expensive therapies must be coordinated according to requirements and those services provided must be correctly identified” explains KSB project manager Regina Thüroff. “The most important aim is to plan treatments in the most optimised way for the benefit of our patients.” Corresponding software systems make this work easier – as long as adequate support is provided. “LIVECONTEXT, with its context-sensitive support, will significantly contribute towards an even more effective use of our software systems in the area of resource planning”, explains the project manager.

Until now, KSB has managed training for this complex resource planning software with the help of web-based training (WBT). The cost of this training was immense. Of particular concern were the high costs for search processes used to find the correct learning sequence within the comprehensive WBTs. “Our colleagues no longer need to search for the correct topic in the WBT as they can find the information directly using the current hospital software display. This will increase usability and efficiency”, comments Thüroff.

LIVECONTEXT allows learning to be integrated into the workplace and provides knowledge exactly where it is required: within the respective application, as part of a concrete working process and with no media transfer. LIVECONTEXT recognises all windows, screen forms and data entry fields during application and provides the required support at precisely these critical moments.

Precisely tailored “learning on demand”
This could take the form of multiple-choice boxes, automated input assistance, saved plausibility checks, e-learning modules, work instructions, podcasts or complete training documents. The users themselves decide the scope and intensity of the knowledge being provided. Unnecessary storage of learning content is thereby avoided, having been replaced by “learning on demand”. The context-specific courses provided can be accessed directly as required without the user leaving the respective software and working environment. “A person who is able to access the right support at the right time and place will make fewer errors” explains Dr. Wolfgang Kraemer, CEO of IMC AG. “LIVECONTEXT therefore significantly increases user acceptance and ensures that the investments in software systems are actually worthwhile.”

IMC AG’s software support is currently being implemented at KSB. “Thanks to LIVECONTEXT, the expertise of our employees in the use of planning software is improving even further and will therefore directly contribute towards the high medical and care-giving quality which Kantonsspital Bruderholz have been providing for over 30 years”, Thüroff is pleased to say.

About Kantonsspital Bruderholz:
Kantonsspital Bruderholz has 430 beds, divided into 10 wards. The hospital offers “extended basic care”, i.e. up to 95% of cases can be treated here. Various institutes and clinics with designated expert staff provide this treatment. Acute medical treatment, rehabilitation and care are all brought together under one roof. This combination is unique in the Basel region.

The survey, ‘Exploring the educational skills gap’, surveyed over 100 business leaders and HR professionals and was designed to establish their views with regard to the perceived skills gap between school-leavers, graduates and business. With 96% of those questioned agreeing that a well-trained workforce makes a large contribution in enabling an organisation to succeed during an economic downturn, these findings highlight the problems a skills gap would pose to UK businesses during a recession.

Over eight in ten (83%) of those questioned believe that many school-leavers and new graduates do not have the basic skills necessary to work in business without further training, resulting in many organisations having to carry out training in basic areas such as literacy and numeracy. Out of the 31% of organisations offering training in numeracy and literacy, 63% are in the public sector. In addition, 76% of the whole sample offers training in IT, while 77% provide training in management.

Despite the agreement of respondents regarding the importance of a well-trained workforce, only around one in three (32%) questioned are familiar with the government’s ‘Train to Gain’ initiative.    

Commenting on the research, Gareth Walters, sales and marketing director at IMC (UK) Learning Ltd, says: “This report raises questions about what organisations can do to bridge the suspected skills gap between the classroom and the office. It reinforces my belief that training within the workplace is extremely important for business survival and success.”

For those organisations which have invested in training, 72% agreed that technology-enabled learning is important during an economic downturn and are already using some form of this as part of their training programmes. An additional 14% of respondents say they plan to do so in the near future.

Walters continues: “It is great that organisations recognise the important role technology plays in training. It not only offers companies flexible training options and minimises the time employees spend out of the office but it also engages learners through providing them with an interactive approach to learning that can be adapted to fit their individual training needs.”

Download the full report here.

Download the full report here.

Saarbruecken,  March 2009 – The Engineering Capacity Building Program (ecbp) is part of Germany’s development cooperation with Ethiopia. Its focus is, among others, on the reform of higher education and the modernization of engineering curricula. IMC supports the set-up of an e-learning competence centre in Addis Abeba and provides know-how for the recording of presentations and university lectures.

Ethiopia is in need of well-trained engineers. High-level engineering training is crucial to the country’s dynamic and sustainable industrial development. The Engineering Capacity Building Program (ecbp), therefore, puts emphasis on the modernization of engineering in higher education institutions: Since the beginning of the bilateral German-Ethiopian program in 2005, ecbp has fostered flexible curricula and promoted up-to-date topics in higher education curricula.
„E-learning in general and lecture recording in particular are very adequate as a response to the significant shortage in teaching resources available in Ethiopian higher education,” Dr. Wolfgang Kraemer, IMC’s Chief Executive Officer, points out. Lecture recording allows for the documentation and distribution of teaching material, which becomes available in institutions that do not have the competencies available on their own. The new e-learning competence centre, which currently is being set up at Addis Abeba University, will serve as a broker in the exchange and the distribution of learning material in egineering.
„LECTURNITY is our software tool for presentation recording. It is used widely in the Higher Education sector as a powerful solution for creating e-lectures“, Kraemer adds. „LECTURNITY is easy to use, implements integrated recording, editing, and publishing processes, and leads to excellent recording quality. We are very pleased about the interest of our Ethiopian partners in using the tool, and IMC is proud to make a contribution to fruitful development cooperation between the two countries. “

LECTURNITY is a tool for the simultaneous recording of all sources of information used during the presentation process, e.g. presentation slides, handwritten annotations on the slides, audio and video, additional video clips produced via the integrated screen grabbing tool.  LECTURNITY, thus, produces an authentic documentation of the lecture; recording documents are popular among student as valuable sources of information in periods of self-paced and self-directed learning.

Saarbrücken/Melbourne, 13 March – Today, IMC AG, an international provider of learning technologies from Germany, announced that Choice Hotels Australasia, one of Australia´s largest franchised hotel and leisure companies, is using IMC´s rapid authoring tool LECTURNITY to train its employees. The award-winning tool is meant to support Choice Hotels´ running eLearning activities. “Where people learn, content is required”, says Frances Smith, National Training Manager at Choice Hotels. “With LECTURNITY we can generate our own individual eLearning content quickly and easily, while reducing the costs and complexity involved”. In the first step, Choice Hotels Australasia is planning to record seminars, conferences and specific training on the job.

Like so many companies in the hotel industry Choice Hotels Australasia is faced with growing customer demands on the one side and seasonal movements i.e. employee turnover on the other side. In order to stay competitive and to meet its own high quality standards, Choice Hotels had to put a lot of time, manpower and energy into the perpetual training of its franchisees and their employees. “These processes were not efficient anymore and we decided we needed to use modern eLearning methods moving forward.  The use of the rapid authoring tool LECTURNITY ensures a constant high standard of training quality”, Smith says.

How LECTURNITY works LECTURNITY productions are based on PowerPoint slides.  The software records simultaneously, slides, images and the speech of the person giving the presentation (in connection with a camera and microphone) including screen activities (so-called “screengrabbing”) and annotations in the slides. LECTURNITY records everything and digitalises it into multimedia eLearning content that can be distributed on CD, as a download, streaming media or video podcast. Smith, who is responsible for the preparation and delivery of training and development initiatives throughout Australia and New Zealand, is convinced of the new tool. “LECTURNITY had the best quality download from PowerPoint, is multi-functional and offered the best price and value for us i.e. ongoing cost product from the short listed software tools. The assistance of IMC and the ease to deal with them was equally decisive. LECTURNITY meets our needs and will benefit our company’s training activities enormously”.

Don't programme, teach! When organisations implement new software and reorganise learning processes, user acceptance is crucial. But such acceptance is only possible if users regard the new tools as a valuable aid to their work. With LECTURNITY trainers can teach as usual and the finished eLearning content is just as easy to pass on as it is to understand for the target group. “Just as if you were explaining something in person”, says Stefanie Klein, Head of Division South East Asia-Pacific at IMC.  “The possible uses of LECTURNITY range from sales training courses to lecture recording and training as well as software training courses and electronic product documentation.”
Born in a university lecture hall LECTURNITY stands for “Lectures turned into eternity”. It is the product of scientific research and was devised at the elite university of Freiburg/Germany at the end of the nineties. At the time the aim was to record lectures without additional effort, but in better quality than simple video recordings. Today, more than 200 organisations, universities and companies rely on LECTURNITY as their lecture recording tool.

About Choice Hotels Australasia:
Choice Hotels Australasia, representing the Econolodge, Comfort, Quality and Clarion brands has more than 275 hotels, inns, suites, resorts and apartments across Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Singapore.
Choice Hotels Australasia is part of Choice Hotels International, with more than 5500 hotels in more than 40 countries.

Saarbrücken, 3 March 2009 - A key topic at CeBIT 2009 involves the so-called "webciety", a neologism combining the "World Wide Web" with "society". This new word stands for the key technological development of our age, as the Internet continues to permeate all areas of our lives. IMC, Europe´s leading supplier of learning technologies, shows in hall 6, stand C37/1 how to align e-Learning efficiently with business processes. IMC-portfolio covers workstation-integrated solutions for IT- training, authoring tools for the production of video-lectures” to take away” on the iPhone, serious games for games-based learning and Web 2.0 based learning management systems.

Workstation-integrated learning with LIVECONTEXT
Software systems and the processes they are designed to support are not always self-explanatory. The accompanying help functions and software documentation are often inadequate. If their immediate colleagues are unable to help, users will swamp the helpdesk, be unable to progress their work or waste time trawling through manuals and instructions. This is where LIVECONTEXT, IMC´s new Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS), comes in. It recognises all windows, online forms and data entry fields in the application and delivers support exactly where it is needed: in the application, in the actual work process and at the user’s own workstation. Delivering the right support in the right place reduces the risk of errors, which is why it is so important for software help to be context-sensitive.
LIVECONTEXT is also a learning environment. If software functions are hard to understand, or it is unclear what needs to be entered in a particular field, or the user is uncertain about the next step or process that the software is intended to support, LIVECONTEXT provides the appropriate learning content. This might consist of simple documentation, videos, animation, podcasts, multimedia and interactive learning units (Web-based training), etc. The format of these units is ultimately irrelevant – what matters is that users can access the unit immediately and according to context. This is microlearning at its most effective: short, solution-oriented units that get to the crux of the problem, helping users to learn – on the job and on demand.

More efficient processes for learning management with CLIX 9
The new version of the award winning learning management system CLIX has been available since 15 December 2008. CLIX 9 offers increased productivity by improving the management of training processes. Key aspects include mobile and collaborative learning. Since employees are increasingly out of the office on business, IMC has established a new offline, Windows based tool – CLIX Learnbase. Learning material can easily be downloaded and revised on a local computer. By using the CLIX Learnbase, learners can work through their exercises without being connected to CLIX or the Intranet/Internet. Learning development is saved locally and synchronised with CLIX as soon as the user reconnects. The new CLIX Learnbase is a vital element to make the user’s individual learning processes more flexible.
CLIX 9 also enables learning groups to work collectively on activities by allowing individual members to work on the task before making the results available to the whole group. All members can comment on the different working versions or use other CLIX services such as virtual classrooms, chats or bulletin boards to communicate with each other. On completion of the work, the tutor is able to provide feedback, making CLIX 9 ideal for universities and project based trainees.

Game-based learning with serious games
Serious or educational games represent a valuable complement to traditional teaching media because they create a direct involvement between the learner and the teaching material. The programme of study is contained within stories and represented as an animation. There is a whole variety of different exercises and games, which offer the students stimuli that can both reinforce and take learning further. On behalf of scoyo GmbH, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann AG, the software company based in Saarbrücken is developing so-called serious games, which are intended to complement teaching carried out in schools. The combination of animation and e-learning content has set IMC a series of great, but rewarding challenges. “This project represents for us a strategic expansion into the edutainment sector. Not only are we able to excel in project management, learning technology and didactic design – but also in the art of entertainment on a high level”, says Dr. Wolfgang Kraemer, CEO of IMC. “In our opinion, serious games will very quickly find their way into the business sector, as they lend themselves very easily to almost all areas of corporate life – training, professional development and recruitment.”

One-stop learning solutions
IMC´s extensive portfolio meets a wide range of requirements in the fields of learning technologies. The recording tool LECTURNITY records lectures „on the fly“ as they happen. It integrates not only sound and image from the auditorium (in connection with a camera and microphone), but also PowerPoint slides, handwritten sketches, interactive elements, such as test questions, and digitalises it into a single multimedia learning content.  By means of IMC´s web platform SLIDESTAR you can build up an eLecture-Portal, where you can easily publish your lectures immediately after the recording. To make it even more user-friendly IMC has combined the upload into SLIDESTAR with an automatic full text indexing that allows for targeted searching across the whole eLecture-portal and even within one document.
By means of the authoring tool POWERTRAINER you can easily create, publish and share multimedia eLearning courses, tests or glossaries. Your courses can be used both online and offline, with or without a learning management system (LMS). The technology is based on international standards which guarantee that you are making a sensible investment. POWERTRAINER has just been awarded the “digita 2009” for its outstanding usability, productivity, functionality and price-performance ratio.

Meet IMC at CeBIT
CeBIT is the ideal place to meet our expert team to discuss your learning requirements. Contact us at info(at)im-c.com or come and visit us in hall 6 on stand C37/1.

Serious or educational games represent a valuable complement to traditional teaching media because they create a direct involvement between the pupils and the teaching material. The programme of study is contained within stories and represented as an animation. There is a whole variety of different exercises and games, which offer the pupils stimuli that can both reinforce and take learning further.

Innovative approach

“With the introduction of the so-called ‘G8’ (an eight-year fast-track curriculum) at secondary schools, the need for additional support during the first three years has increased dramatically,” explains Dr Ralf Schremper, CEO at scoyo GmbH. “That is why we have developed a unique concept that enables us to bring an element of fun to learning among this age group using interactive modules. Our website scoyo.de is specifically aimed at encouraging youngsters to discover the world of learning for themselves. This can take place in their free time, without any classroom pressure and, of course, with no adverts.” According to Schremper, the product will be available via subscription. The flat rate for use of the whole platform, including all contents, costs €9.99 per month for one year, €14.99 per month for six months and €19.99 per month for three months.

By visiting the website scoyo.de, the youngsters can delve into many different thematic areas, including the world of the “Urbanos” developed by IMC AG. In the run-up to the project, extensive market research was carried out by IMC before decisions were made regarding the characters and storylines. IMC AG is developing more than 200 modules for the thematic areas, each lasting 15 minutes. The stories all involve a motley group of friends, who are all in the same year at school and who love nothing more than spending their free time together at the sports centre, the youth club or in town.

A great challenge

The combination of animation and e-learning content has set our production team a series of great challenges. “We have appointed a total of 60 team members for this project. Traditional cartoon animators, illustrators, GUI designers and programmers are working in close partnership with each other on this complex and intricate project. Flash and flex technologies are being pushed to the absolute limit in the process,” explains Bergenthal.

Content production for IMC AG is not new territory. However, CEO Dr Wolfgang Kraemer understands that a new dimension in the company’s development has been reached. “This project represents for us a strategic expansion into the edutainment sector. Not only are we able to excel in project management, learning technology and didactic design – but also in the art of entertainment on a high level. In our opinion, serious games will very quickly find their way into the business sector, as they lend themselves very easily to almost all areas of corporate life – training, professional development and recruitment. It is our intention to play a part in this development.”

London, UK, 13th February 2009 – Europe’s leading learning technology provider, IMC, today announced the launch of CLIX 9, the latest version of the award winning learning management system. CLIX 9 offers increased productivity by improving the management of training processes. Key aspects of CLIX 9 include mobile and collaborative learning, optimised resource management and a data-warehouse to generate business relevant reports.

Mobile learning – the new CLIX Learnbase: Since employees are increasingly out of the office on business, IMC has established a new offline, Windows based tool – CLIX Learnbase. Learning material can easily be downloaded and revised on a local computer. By using the CLIX Learnbase, learners can work through their exercises without being connected to CLIX or the Intranet/Internet. Learning development is saved locally and synchronised with CLIX as soon as the user reconnects. The new CLIX Learnbase is a vital element to make the user´s individual learning processes more flexible.

Collaborative learning: CLIX 9 also enables learning groups to work collectively on activities by allowing individual members to work on the task before making the results available to the whole group. All members can comment on the different working versions or use other CLIX services such as virtual classrooms, chats or bulletin boards to communicate with each other. On completion of the work, the tutor is able to provide feedback, making CLIX 9 ideal for universities and project based trainees.
Optimised resource management: The new resource manager can accurately forecast the critical resources needed for a given period through its modelling software ensuring these are available before planning courses. At the same time CLIX 9 reduces the number of steps that is required to plan relevant resources.

Data-warehouse: The product’s integrated data warehouse delivers significant analyses to help HR professionals evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of training. The data warehouse ensures the transfer of data and evaluation of training processes, including data from third party systems such as SAP, which can be easily integrated to provide a truly holistic analysis.
Another technical improvement is the SCORM-Player that now supports the functions ‘Sequencing & Navigation’ of the SCORM 2004 standard.

„Even today an average 10.000 to 100.000 users per client work with CLIX as their corporate i.e. academic LMS for lifelong learning”, says Dr Dirk Thissen, managing director at IMC UK. „CLIX 9 now offers a high performance software architecture that is able to accomplish beyond organisational structures a technical scaling for more than one million users at a client. Together with the entry-level application CLIC Start for small and medium-sized enterprises IMC now covers the whole range of possible application areas at public buildings, companies and universities.”

With only one click you‘ll put a LECTURNITY document with SLIDESTAR design onto an existing SLIDESTAR account. Another interesting feature for Windows Media users: Firefox 1.0 or higher is now executable without the installation of the ActiveX plug-in.

LECTUNIRTY users will receive the patch via LECTURNITY Auto-Update. Have we picked your interest? Get a free trial version for evaluation purpose or buy right now in our webshop, or contact us for further information.

After a call for tenders procedure lasting several months, IMC AG has beaten off intense competition from other international providers to win the contract with EUROCONTROL. “CLIX has already been chosen by the European Patent Office as well as the EuropeAid Co-operation Office and so we are very pleased that another European organisation has opted in favour of IMC and our CLIX learning management software”, says IMC’s CEO Dr. Wolfgang Kraemer.

Initially, CLIX will be rolled out for 20.000 users. A number of eLearning modules are open to individuals who are nationals of the EUROCONTROL Member States. In 2009 all air traffic management related courses of IANS will be managed by the new software. “The implementation of CLIX is a major step toward becoming a focal point of eLearning activities in European air traffic management training”, says Bezzina.

In the past, EUROCONTROL-IANS have predominantly offered pure eLearning courses and pure classroom training courses. CLIX will make the organisation much more flexible in combining eLearning with classroom training, claims IMC, and the number of Blended-Learning-Courses may be increasing. Furthermore, EUROCONTROL is aiming to efficiently administer all its internal provider of training activities such as IANS in Luxembourg, the “Central Flow Management Unit”, located in Brussels, and the “Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre”, in a single, central Learning Management System. “We are looking forward to working with IMC in order to streamline our administration processes and improve our training services for our stakeholders and the interested public in 38 countries”, says Bezzina. Karen Schmidt, International Public Sector Director of IMC adds “We are immensely proud to have won the confidence of an organisation that delivers the highest levels of training on such a safety critical service.”

About EUROCONTROL-IANS

EUROCONTROL is the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. Created in 1963 by six founding members, this civil and military intergovernmental organisation now counts 38 Member States from across Europe. It is based in Belgium with specialised offices in six other European countries. EUROCONTROL ensures that airspace users and passengers benefit from a safe, expeditious and efficient air transport system in Europe. This is done together with its Member States, air navigation service providers, civil and military airspace users, airports, the aerospace industry, international organisations and the European institutions.

The “Institute of Air Navigation Services” (IANS), located in Luxembourg, develops and delivers Air Traffic Management (ATM) Training for air navigation service providers, civil and military state authorities of EUROCONTROL Member States and EUROCONTROL Agency staff. The Institute was created in 1969. Since its creation IANS has trained more than 40.000 students. The majority of course participants are highly qualified multi lingual adult learners from the EUROCONTROL Member States. IANS proposes courses in various ATM-domains such as Aeronautical Information Management, Airport Throughput, Airspace Management, Data Processing System, Navigation or Safety Management.

when it comes to staff training

Sevenoaks, UK – 6 November 2008 – New research launched today by eLearning and advanced content solutions provider, IMC (UK) Learning Ltd, shows that nearly nine out of ten HR professionals (88%) believe properly planned staff training can play a major role in addressing the challenges created by an economic slowdown. Despite this, over half (57%) of those questioned say staff training is one of the first budgets to be cut during bad times.

Recently, there has been much focus on the effects of the current economic downturn and impending recession, including streamlining businesses by cutting budgets. The survey, ‘Staff training during an economic downturn – opportunities and threats’, was designed to establish the views of HR professionals regarding the importance of training and learning in uncertain economic times. 

Key findings emerged when HR professionals were asked about the effect of the economic downturn on training budgets. An overwhelming 80% agree that cutting training budgets at this time causes more problems than it solves, while 83% acknowledge that staff training is just as important during recession as when times are good.

Commenting on the research, Dr Dirk Thissen, managing director at IMC (UK) Learning Ltd, says: “The research clearly shows that HR professionals place a high value on training staff whatever the economic situation, which is extremely encouraging. During times of economic uncertainty more than ever it is essential to have a competent, skilled workforce. What is worrying, however, is that training budgets are high on the list of cuts when streamlining a business operation. It is clear that HR practitioners will be asked to do more with less as recession sweeps the UK.”    

Adaptability is also seen as a key requirement from training when times are challenging. Over four in five (87%) respondents agree that it is important for training to adapt quickly and efficiently to organisations’ changing needs during an economic downturn. A similar number (88%) say that the ability to train both large and small numbers of staff cost effectively is important.

Thissen continues: “HR professionals are looking for flexibility from their staff training. Whereas they might previously have had the luxury of using a selection of training tools and methods, reduced budgets mean they must be able to produce and adapt materials to suit a variation of situations. With the increased development of eLearning tools and web based solutions, such as learning management systems and rapid authoring tools, HR practitioners can do exactly this. Content can be created quickly and efficiently and all learning activity can be combined in a single platform that can be adapted to specific business processes.”

For a copy of the ‘Staff training during an economic downturn – opportunities and threats’ report please email emily.young(at)portfoliocomms.com or call 02072406959
 

About IMC (UK) Learning Ltd:

IMC (UK) Learning Ltd is a subsidiary of IMC AG, one of the world’s leading service and technology suppliers of advanced learning and content solutions. Hundreds of companies ranging from multinationals to small and medium-sized companies, as well as public sector organisations, numerous training providers and over 150 universities carry out their training and continual professional development programmes with their employees, students and customers using IMC learning technology applications and services.

With CLIX®, which currently has over 2.5 million users, the rapid authoring system LECTURNITY®, the high-end authoring tool Dynamic Power Trainer®, the electronic performance support system (EPSS) LiveContext® and the Web 2.0 Open Content Community application SLIDESTAR®, IMC offers an integrated approach to comprehensive learning life cycle and knowledge management. The company, which has its headquarters in Saarbrücken, was founded in 1997 by Professor August-Wilhelm Scheer together with Dr Wolfgang Kraemer, Frank Milius and Dr Volker Zimmermann, and has branches in Berlin, Munich and Freiburg, a subsidiary in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) and affiliated companies in Switzerland (Zürich), Austria (Graz), Great Britain (Sevenoaks) and Romania (Sibiu).

As well as its core lines of business, IMC (UK) Learning Ltd organises the annual ‘The Art of Learning’ event in London. IMC AG has also organised the annual ‘Learning World’ event since 1999. It also publishes the trade magazine ‘IM Information Management & Consulting’.

Media Contact:

Emily Young

Portfolio Communications Ltd.

Tel: +44 (0)20 7240 6959

emily.young(at)portfoliocomms.com

“We are very pleased with our positioning in the visionaries quadrant by Gartner and consider this as a confirmation of our hard work over the last eleven years,” said Dr. Wolfgang Kraemer, CEO of IMC.  “We believe our product strategy has paid off as we are a significant player in the market and have achieved the necessary sales figures to be included in the Magic Quadrant”, added Dr. Volker Zimmermann, board member at IMC.

In the research note, Gartner states: “The justification for using a CLS is that it aids the process of educating employees, partners and customers, so that an enterprise can achieve its desired level of business performance sooner than if people had been left to work things out for themselves.”

“Our mission is to make learning and teaching simpler whilst, at the same time, being able to model the most complicated of learning scenarios and business processes” said Kraemer. “IMC meets this trend to “SIMPLExity” which involves not only the principle of simplicity, but also the balance between the increasing complexity of business processes and intelligent pragmatism.”

About the Magic Quadrant:

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 2008 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner´s analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the “leaders” quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Saarbruecken/Sevenoaks, 4th June 2008 - IMC AG, Europe’s leading supplier of learning technologies, has just released an updated version of its interactive rapid authoring tool LECTURNITY. In comparison to its predecessor LECTURNITY 3.0 now offers a simplified “one click publisher” process for publishing content in various formats. „With this release we have gone one step further towards making content authoring routine daily business for everyone“, says Frank Milius, responsible for product development at IMC. “Our vision is to make the production of electronic content as simple as writing an email. With its new publishing features, content authoring with LECTURNITY 3.0 has become even simpler.”

Real progress has been made with the introduction of the so called „One Click Publisher“. When converting content into different file formats (e.g. Windows Media, Real Media, Flash or MP 4) various technical settings, such as video resolutions, audio sample rates, bandwidth and compression, have to be defined. Up to now users have had to customise these settings every time they were ready to publish content and this was a time consuming process. LECTURNITY 3.0 simplifies the publishing process and saves time by enabling the creation and setting of publishing profiles. A profile covers all the necessary settings for the publishing process, including those for server transfer. Once a profile is created and activated, a single click is sufficient to create content in a pre-defined target format and to transfer it to a folder or a server.
„This new function is consistent with our understanding of SIMPLExity“ says Milius. “Formerly complex actions have been simplified to a degree that is extremely user friendly without compromising functionality“. The new Profile Manager allows users to edit, rename, delete or activate profiles. Using the import/export function, profiles can be transferred from or to other LECTURNITY systems in order to ensure standardised publishing in a work group or department.

Extended Upload-Functionality

The LECTURNITY 3.0 Publisher now offers a “one click” upload process for all target formats and different server types (streaming server, Web server, file server, Podcast server, etc.). The server transfer, especially the server upload, automatically starts after the creation of the target document. In order to cover arbitrary application areas, the Publisher provides the network services “FTP”, “SCP”, and “SFTP” for the data transfer (upload) as well as authenticated server access. For publishing variants in which more than one server is necessary, such as with Streaming or Podcasts, the Publisher simultaneously distributes the document to the required destinations. The simplified LECTURNITY 3.0 publishing process now consists of both document creation in the selected target format and the optional transfer (upload) to remote servers, all in one click.