Johannesburg, 18 Jan 2005
Tilos Business Solutions has developed and released its Learning Portal to consolidate disparate learning management systems (LMSes) and diverse content under one umbrella. Compatible with most content authoring tools, it allows for a diversity of courseware to be incorporated into one consistent front-end.
Clients can push information down to users based on comparisons to key performance indicators (KPIs), balanced scorecards, analytics and performance management, rather than relying on people to pull down the information in an erratic or unstructured manner. Thus existing investments in technology and related e-learning assets are exploited to their fullest extent, while change management and adoption issues are minimised.
The product, a fully-fledged e-learning solution, uses Tilos`s other products - Tilos Portal, Workflow, Self Service, Document Manager and MIS++ - as "building blocks", consistent with Tilos`s overall approach to delivering business software solutions.
"The e-learning portal is the glue to a learning solution within an organisation," says Debbie Hill, head of the services division of Tilos. "It provides a company with one place of learning, enabling users to log into the portal and have access to all training content, learning management systems (LMSes), HR systems and more. Also, any third-party system within an organisation can have access from the portal where required.
"You don`t need to discard what you already have. Tilos Documents allows for any type of media already in the organisation to link into the system."
The portal addresses compliance issues, as well as reports for the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), for those organisations wishing to claim back part of their Skills Development Levy for training that has been undertaken. The application comes with some standard reporting functionality, so adding further elements merely involves configuration rather than customisation. Thus total cost of ownership (TCO) is not prohibitive when it comes to scalability.
Tilos advocates a "blended learning" approach, incorporating classroom-based training, ad hoc content training and self-study learning over the Web - all of which can be incorporated into an e-learning strategy. This results in reduced learning and training costs through reduction in travel and accommodation expenses, as well as less time in the classroom.
The Tilos MIS++ integrated management environment provides a robust and interactive assessment and analytical platform that delivers summarised and high-level training information to management to facilitate and quicken the decision-making process. This component of the e-learning solution provides the ability to store, mine and extract learning data in the organisation into simple, readable, statistical information.
Sybille McCloghrie, director of Tilos, says it is key to an organisation`s growth to provide a single place of learning in a company. "There should be a single look and feel for the organisation and a standard framework of learning," she says.
"What differentiates the Tilos portal is that it`s a proactive system that can push down the right information at the right time and place to correspond with the profile of a person in terms of career and development paths. This gives learners access to the training content/information they need to perform their jobs, which in turn allows critical business decisions to be made faster."
Hill adds: "The solution assists in the initial creation and the constant reinforcement of corporate identity, within the e-learning space, via one view/entry point of the portal and logon that is customised to the organisation`s brand."
From a corporate social responsibility perspective, the learning portal can be extended to the greater community and families of employees for literacy training, for example.
If an organisation does not have an LMS, the system can provide simple LMS functionality. In addition, Tilos can source content for its clients. It works with various partners, and is not tied into specific content providers. It will deliver content according to client requirements.
McCloghrie says the solution is vertical-independent, and suitable for all industries, "from government to financial to telecoms. It is chameleon-like in terms of its applicability."
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