BT selects Atlantic Link for rapid e-learning development across all lines of business.

After successfully implementing an enterprise-wide LMS, BT identified the need to create and update e-learning content faster and cheaper.

BT wanted to improve the speed of production, make the content engaging and, vitally, to ensure quality and compliance to standards. A key standard for BT is to ensure all new content meets accessibility standards for disabled people (W3C-AA).

A checklist of required features was drawn up by the BT Learning & Development team who then looked at 16 different authoring tools.

The software that best met BT's requirements was the collaborative authoring system from Atlantic Link (Content Point, Capture Point and Knowledge Point). This software provides an integrated suite of tools for creating, managing, and tracking learning content.

The system's server-based architecture is the source of many of its features and benefits for BT, which include collaborative authoring, centralized content management, and an integrated content management system (ICMS). The collaborative authoring system has features designed to simplify and accelerate the authoring process, including authoring wizards, Flash-based templates, and a PowerPoint importer.

Deploying Atlantic Link's software and putting development capabilities into the hands of end users has redefined BT roles and processes for developing learning in several ways. First, the system has empowered subject matter experts to create their own training; second, it has expanded the use of e-learning to new applications, and third, it has decreased the cost and increased the timeliness with which the Lines of Business can deploy certain types of training.

Besides using the system internally, BT has future plans to potentially invite other e-learning vendors to use the collaborative authoring system to reap a variety of benefits. First, they hope to leverage the productivity of the system to decrease the development costs of training programs created with it. Second, by using the system to perform most application updates themselves, they expect to reduce the time and money required to update and maintain applications.

Commenting on the deal, Atlantic Link's Managing Director, Mike Alcock stated "This hugely significant win proves that our rapid e-learning software is at the forefront of the e-learning marketplace. BT have clearly understood the benefits of deploying the world's most advanced collaborative e-learning tools and we look forward to a long partnership with them to develop their next generation of e-learning courses".