Enterprise software analyst firm Technology Evaluation Centers Inc. (TEC) recently launched its Learning Management Evaluation Center to help project managers, consultants, and decision makers compare the most qualified learning management and e-learning systems based on their own, unique priorities.

Technology Evaluation Centers Inc. (TEC) (http://www.TechnologyEvaluation.Com/press) recently launched its newest on-line, interactive, evaluation center to help companies compare and select learning management and e-learning systems that best fit their business needs.

Learning management is a process that allows companies to optimize the learning and development of employees, customers and suppliers, and maximize the return on their investment in training programs. A learning management system (LMS) is defined as software that automates the administration of training. It registers users, tracks courses in a catalog, records data from learners, and provides reports to management (http://www.learningcircuits.org/glossary).

From corporations to universities, e-learning has become a part of our lives. In many companies, more than 50 percent of training is done on-line. Web conferencing has also become an important way for organizations to provide training, collaborate, hold cost-effective meetings, and market products and services. Distance education has become an essential part of formal education from elementary to post-secondary. For example, at the University of Phoenix, over 100,000 students are taking on-line courses.

Don McIntosh, a learning management analyst at Technology Evaluation Centers, (http://www.TechnologyEvaluation.Com/press) asserts that “Learning management is not just about the technology. It is first and foremost about people and their learning. Technology can facilitate and enhance this process. The choice of the technology must fit your needs and work within your existing IT infrastructure.”

Before companies approach vendors for a request for proposal (RFP), TEC suggests companies engage in an on-line comparison of the leading solutions under consideration, in order to save time, money, and staffing resources during the selection process.

There are hundreds of software tools available on the market to help you deliver e-learning and manage the learning process. They include learning management systems (LMS), learning content management systems (LCMS), course authoring tools, virtual classrooms (web conferencing), and off-the-shelf courseware.

Choosing appropriate software for your organization can be very difficult because of the wide range of available products, and prices.

According to TEC, selections for LMS, ERP, ECM, CRM, or SCM solutions may fail to accomplish what customers want, because customers did not begin their selection processes with a good understanding of their requirements. TEC believes that problems arise when customers do not prepare a proper request for information (RFI) to evaluate the pertinent responses from their shortlisted vendors. However, TEC states that its sophisticated means for performing requirements analysis will ease customers' selection burdens.

About Technology Evaluation Centers Inc. (TEC)
Technology Evaluation Center (TEC) (http://www.TechnologyEvaluation.Com/press) is a leading on-line source for impartial technology and consulting evaluations. TEC has been aiding software selection since 1993 to reduce the cost, risk, and time associated with software selection. It has twenty-four on-line technology evaluation centers, ranging from ERP, CRM, SCM, to business intelligence, that contain thousands of detailed criteria on over 500 technology solutions. TEC receives over 1.7 million visitors per month to its sites and millions of page views per month are generated by a global audience of senior c-level and VP executives, technology and functional managers, consultants, and IT professionals.
For more information, see the company's web site http://www.technologyevaluation.com/press.

About the Learning Management Evaluation Center
The Learning Management Evaluation Center (http://learning-management.technologyevaluation.com) is a new on-line decision support system featuring research on some of the more well-known firms in learning management including Intelladon Corporation, Element K, GeoMetrix Data Systems Inc., Horizon Wimba, KMSI, and ReadyGo® Inc. The knowledge base consists of more than 700 criteria for analyzing learning management products.

The Learning Management Evaluation Center (http://learning-management.technologyevaluation.com) covers a broad range of features from classroom and e-learning management, resource allocation, creation of e-learning content, management of learning content, technology for synchronous training on the web, tracking of employee development and ROI. Performance management and analytics are also included in the RFI.
For more information, see the web site at http://learning-management.technologyevaluation.com.

Contact:
Lynne Brash, Coordinator, Media Relations
Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC),
www.TechnologyEvaluation.com/press
Tel: (514) 954-3665 ext. 254 or 1-800 496-1303 ext. 254
Fax: (514) 954-9739