Technical training can present special challenges to companies which develop and market highly complex computer-based products and services. Whether it’s for internal or external users, the cost and time of developing and delivering quality technical training can actually slow your business development. While it’s tempting to keep every business function in-house, we’ve seen plenty of examples of companies that learned the hard way to go outside.
Even if you already have an in-house training department, when’s the last time you did an ROI analysis of your investment? Probably never. Internal departments tend to take on a life of their own and grow like viruses, and provide huge challenges in even finding and keeping the right resources.
Here are some of the reasons that companies we’ve done work for have chosen to outsource some or all of their technical training
- Reduced Costs
Hiring a full-time staff in-house for training can be extremely expensive. This can include the costs of purchasing and upgrading technology, and the time, money, and resources for recruiting talent. And the fully loaded cost of the developers, deliverers, and department support infrastructure. With outsourcing, you’re paying for deliverables only; no overhead.
2. Greater Access to Talent
As technology changes, you may struggle to keep your training staff current. Can your internal resources react quickly enough to match product development? Can you hire fast enough? Outsourcing gives you flexibility and access to new blood. Outsourcers have access to the talent necessary to deliver training without compromise. And with outsourcing, your talent pool isn’t limited by geography.
3. High-Quality Content
While training may be a small part of your business, professional training companies spend all of their efforts on training and development. They are experts in the area and have a passion for providing successful training solutions. By outsourcing your training, you can access all of the resources of your training partner, ensuring quality Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) with industry experience.
4. Your Organizations Can Stay Focused
By outsourcing technical training, your organization will be able to focus on other key areas of running the business. Organizations then have the opportunity to focus on growing their business in other areas while still ensuring that your training will align with all other goals.
5. Leverage Available Technology
It is more cost-effective to license a Learning Management System (LMS) than designing and building it with your own team. An experienced training partner can provide turn-key solutions that include access to LMS, best-in-class content development tools, virtual classrooms, and more.
6. Generate Revenue
You may own valuable intellectual property that experienced partners can sell and deliver, to gain access to a larger audience, to generate additional revenue for you.
7. Mitigate Risk
Quality and timely training helps prevent product failures and protects you from liabilities if the training is weak or late. Partnering with a company who specializes in training could help prevent unnecessary risk and failure costs.
8. Improve Scalability of Resources
A full-time internal staff is a fixed resource, but training development and especially delivery are variable activities. Using an outsourcer allows you to flex the number of resources to deliver the training you need—when you need them. It allows you to scale up and down based on the demand of training
9. Speed Time to Market
Bringing a new product to market may be dependent on getting channel partners trained on how to sell or service your product. Using an outsourcer may allow you to get your product into a lot of customers’ hands much faster, without the challenge of scaling up internal resources.
10. Gain an Outsider’s Perspective
You may fall into bad habits when it comes to training. Routines become so established that it becomes difficult to change when new systems or initiatives are introduced. Bringing in an outside team is a way to overcome resistance to change in training programs and to ensure the behavior changes that are necessary to long-term success.
Summary:
The number one reason why companies outsource training is to save money. Partnering with a professional training company like TCCI means that your company can stay nimble as projects fluctuate. You never pay for training developers or deliverers when you don’t need them. You get the most competitive rates on talent with the best matches of skills needed for each project. We’re a proven resource, with years of success with companies both large and small.