Training Employees of IBM Through e-Learning

During this year, IBM reported a return on investment (ROI)⁵ of 2284 percent (Refer Exhibit III) from its Basic Blue e-learning program. This was mainly due to the significant reduction in the company's training costs and positive results reaped from e-learning.

Andrew Sadler, director of IBM Mindspan Solutions⁶, explained the benefits of e-learning to IBM, "All measures of effectiveness went up. It's saving money and delivering more effective training, while at the same time providing five times more content than before." By 2002, IBM had emerged as the company with the largest number of employees who have enrolled into e-learning courses.

Rick Horton, general manager of learning services at IBM, said, "The classroom is still the best in a high-technology environment, which requires hands-on laboratories and teaming, or a situation where it is important for the group to be together to take advantage of the equipment."

Though there were varied opinions about the effectiveness of e-learning as a training tool for employees, IBM saw it as a major business opportunity and started offering e-learning products to other organizations as well. Analysts estimated that the market for e-learning programs would grow from $2.1 billion in 2001 to $33.6 billion in 2005 representing a 100 percent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR).