John Ambrose, Sr. VP, Strategy & Corporate Development
February 6, 2009
Learning in Today’s Economy
Learning modalities that will grow
the most among Best-In-Class
Informal Learning 29%
Online Classroom
42%
Classroom
42%
Mentoring/coaching
Self-paced e-learning
20%
40%
56%
59%
60%
SkillSoft Overview
• SkillSoft is the largest public company in the world with a
sole focus on e-Learning
• Uniquely positioned to help global enterprises leverage
e-learning for maximum business impact
• Dual excellence in e-learning content & technology
– Content Depth, Breadth & Currency
• 27,000+ titles of high-quality e-learning content in 19 languages
• Offerings cover wide spectrum of enterprise learning needs with courses,
simulations, online books, video, live virtual ILT classes, 24x7 online
mentoring
– Software as a Service (SaaS) Technology Excellence
• SkillPort® - LMS platform for delivering, managing, and reporting on e-learning
• OLSA (Open Learning Services Architecture) – web services technology
integrating SkillSoft’s advanced learning structures with 3rd-party LMS
platforms and portals
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SkillSoft Corporate Highlights
Sales & Service
•
Large direct sales & support organization with approximately:
– 220 commissionable field sales personnel
•
Serving over 3,000 customer organizations globally
– Approximately 50% of the Fortune 500 and 25% of the Global 2000
in business, government and education
– Over 10 million licensed users
•
Telesales focus on SMB market
Product Development
•
Targeted investment of 16%-17% of revenue for R&D initiatives for fiscal
2009
•
Systematic customer feedback process ensures market focus
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Corporate Reach into China and India
• Global customer base of 3,000 customers, 10 million end users
• Employee population shift continues…
– Ex., IBM: 90,000 of 200,000 Global Services employees in India
– Ex., Accenture: More employees in India than in US operations
Course Localization Strategy
• A sustainable content resource to
support changing business needs
– 3,300+ U.S. English courses
– 3,350+ localized courses in 18 languages
– ~1,000 new and localized titles to be
developed this year
– 40 courses recently launched in Chinese
Business Skills
1,025+ English titles
2,080+ localized
Desktop
430+ English titles
830+ localized
•
IT Professional
1,730+ English Titles
400+ localized
Legal Compliance
70+ English titles
ES&H
130+ English titles
80+ localized
*Estimated titles, SkillSoft courseware
libraries, November 2008.
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Books24x7 On-Demand Solution
Content: Strong breadth & depth
–
–
–
–
–
Thousands of books & white papers
500+ leading publishing imprints
Full text, graphics, charts, etc.
22,100+ Titles, with 4,030 new titles in past
12 months
First localized collections include: French,
German and Spanish
Search: Immediate drill-down for just-enough,
just-in-time information
–
–
–
ITPro
7,430+ titles
Patented search technology
All content tagged & indexed
Precise, relevancy-ranked results
OfficeEssentials
425+ titles
BusinessPro
4,770+ titles 7
ExecBlueprints
Exclusive Executive content
790+ titles
ExecSummaries
330+ Top Business Titles
EngineeringPro
2,190+ titles
FinancePro
880+ titles
Well-BeingEssentials
1,030+ titles
GovEssentials
1,000+ titles
AnalystPerspectives
2,450+ titles
ITIL®
16 titles
Leadership Development Channel
Acquisition of Targeted Learning Corporation
• Rich portfolio of video content of top
business authors & executive leaders
Featured Speakers
Include:
• 1,000+ on-demand and live video titles,
including:
– 880+ QuickTalks (3-to-5 minutes)
– 150+ Video training programs
Pat
Lencioni
Ken
Blanchard
Stephen
Covey
John
Kotter
Marshall
Goldsmith
Dan
Goleman
(20-to-120
minutes)
– 6-to-8 live executive leadership web events
each year (~90 minutes)
• Subtitling available for international
audiences
Anne Mulcahy Jeff Immelt Sir Howard Stringer
CEO, Sony
CEO, Xerox
CEO, GE
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India Presence
• More than 10 years
presence
• Direct strategy
• Currently in
Bangalore,
Hyderabad,
Mumbai and
Delhi
Map: w:user::Planemad under Creative Commons
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India: Observations / Unique Challenges
• GDP growth1 impacted by financial crisis
– 2009: 5.3-5.7% forecasted
– 2008: 7%
– 2007: 9%
• English is the language of business in India
• Internationally-focused vs domestically-focused
companies
• Culturally great respect for education
• Educational system not adequate to prepare volume of
workforce needed for pace of growth
• Companies investing up to $1,000+ per employee
1Morgan Stanley Report Dec 8, 2008
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Mainland China
• More than 10
years presence
• Partner strategy
• Ideal market
characteristics
for e-learning:
–
–
–
–
Large geographies
Large audiences
Eager workforce
Expanding web
access
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China: Observations / Unique Challenges
• GDP Growth1 slowing
– 2009: 8-9%
• Investing in local partner
• Higher demand for localized content, rich graphics,
interactivity
• Acceptability of English
– Business Skills vs IT
• Books24x7 in Chinese
– Government regulated physical book market
• More Asian images
• Corporate investment in employee development is
relatively new concept
1Chief Economist, China State Information Centre, Jan 5, 2009
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Usage Observations: India, China, USA
• Usage in India more constant around the clock
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Consumption per Session
• Reflects difference in combination of language skills and
usage mode
15
PDF Chapter Downloads
• Suggests India has highest comfort with on-screen
reading
16
Top Topic
USA
India
China
1
Project Management
Communication
Communication
2
Communication
Project Management
Project Management
3
Time Management
Java
Emotional Intelligence
4
Java
Oracle
Business Writing
5
Teamwork
Database
Time Management
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Topic Search Terms
USA
India
China
1
Merge, replication
Linux+
tuning
2
Pro JavaServer Faces
java
Struts, framework
3
Beginning,
regular,expression
SCJP (Sun Certified
Java Programmer)
Database Design
4
Server+
unix
Business Office
Applications
5
Javascript
C#
Service Oriented
18
Opportunities for Content Owners
• Participation with global aggregation partner offers fast track
– Digital security and usage monitoring
– Royalties based on usage
• Corporate sales channel reduces piracy concerns
• Monetize English language content in both India and China
immediately
• Seeking sources of
local language book
content, esp Chinese
• Course bundling with
book titles
• Video content
• Hosting options for
private branded
publisher site
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Thanks!!
John Ambrose
jambrose@skillsoft.com
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