Item: eFront Learning
Rating: 8
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with eFront Learning

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

eFront is being used across the organization. We went from nothing to fully launched in about 3 months. It reduces training needs, and at the same time provides a framework for Human Resources to evaluate the competencies of our employees. We are using it to enforce company policies with mandatory training in several areas, and also to teach new software to a large user base who is being asked to adopt the software.

Pros and Cons

Pros

eFront has a great deal of flexibility, allowing us to customize certain requirements, the look and feel of the web interface, the overall user experience.
It keeps very good track of user progress throughout lessons, and allows us to quickly identify users who may require more personalized training.
The reports module has a great selection of standard reports, and allows us to build certain custom reports as well.
SCORM compliant, with the Tin Can API means that we will be able to share data with parts of the organization that are not using eFront as their primary LMS.

Cons

Support desk is geared towards back-end programmers. As an Administrator, I am reliant on the User Interface to accomplish everything I need to do. When I get stuck, they occasionally come back at me and ask me to send a copy of a file buried somewhere in the server, only accessible to someone with SCP access to our server. I end up having to refer the response to a PHP programmer - and so far, the solve rate for those issues is 0%
The Courses are not clickable, and they are much larger in the display than the clickable lessons. I get a lot of support requests where people believe they cannot access the course because they clicked on the 24 pt. course name and nothing happened. I write back and tell them to click on the 12 pt. Lesson, and they get in. It's just an ergonomic nuisance really. Not mission-critical.
Most of the test question types do not work in a lot of browsers, so we are limited to T/F and Multiple Choice. There may be a way to remedy this, but I haven't figured it out.

Return on Investment

Increased employee efficiency
Adoption of misunderstood and maligned software that is essential to our company
Lots of pats on the back from upper management
Impressively easy to sign up new users through a self-registration process - went from 0 to 2,000 in three weeks.

Alternatives Considered

None

I inherited eFront from an employee who chose the product and left before the project got started. I can't fairly compare it to anything else.

Key Insights

Do you think eFront Learning delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with eFront Learning's feature set?

Yes

Did eFront Learning live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of eFront Learning go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy eFront Learning again?

Yes

Other Software Used

SAP BPC (Business Planning and Consolidation), Anaconda, Camtasia

Likelihood to Recommend

You must have an IT staff with knowledge of PHP in order to install and maintain the system. This is not a plug and play solution by any means. If you have that staff, this is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It's a very robust system. Once we solved initial bugs caused by our own errors during installation, the support desk requests have dropped to almost zero, with nearly 2,000 users online every day. That's a good, solid program.

eFront Learning Feature Ratings

Using eFront Learning

Users and Roles

7000 - Everyone across the entire organization has to be certified in Quality and Security. Everyone uses EFront to earn a certificate, which must be renewed yearly. The renewal reminder process is automated and it's easy to see who is in compliance and who is not. EFront issues printable certificates, which can boost morale in employees at all levels.

Support Headcount Required

There are only two people besides myself who have the skill set to support EFront Learning. I actually lack some of the skills and must rely on IT personnel to help with the most technical parts of EFront. It's not cloudware - it must be configured locally on a local server.

Business Processes Supported

Certification
Lifelong Learning
Knowledge Transfer
Easy renewal reminders
SCORM compliant

Innovative Uses

We were able to use one system to train and certify worldwide staff
We were able to include health, safety, sensitivity and government-mandated training in the curriculum
We used the security features within EFront to create courses that contained the "secret sauce" for some of our products. This training could not be hacked - it was very secure. Only the employees who needed to learn these subjects were able to access the training. (And the Admin - me).

Future Planned Uses

Quality of life training materials (breathing, yoga, etc.)
OSHA Certification
Corporate announcements with an automated viewing certificate at the end.

Likelihood to Renew

Once you make the plunge and choose a platform, there is really no point in backing out. We could theoretically export all of our courses out of eFront and import them into a new system, but we like some of the strong points about eFront, particularly around security and ease of modification (for PHP programmers, anyway). I see no reason to switch - all of the Professors and Admins are comfortable with the system, and it is taking us light years ahead of the curve in terms of training.

Evaluating eFront Learning and Competitors

Products Replaced

Key Differentiators

Product Features

Certification ensured a consistency and helped to improve corporate culture as a whole.

Evaluation Lessons Learned

Knowing what I do about cloud-based learning systems, I might consider something that doesn't require a local installation on the services. A more "plug and play" solution would be ideal. It would also help if the software did a better job importing courses created in CAMTASIA. I found CAMTASIA extremely easy to use, and it had features that work with many LMS but they didn't work very well with EFront. Ideally, the LMS should not need the level of IT support that EFront requires...it should be user-friendly for the Admin.

eFront Learning Implementation

Implementation Rating

It's important to have a robust course catalog before launching. Courses should be QC'ed to be sure there are no errors or other problems. Don't let engineers write quiz questions! Remember that well-formed quiz questions are not designed to trick or fool the user - they are used to reinforce learning through repetition of important concepts. The "grade" isn't as important as the assurance the information has stuck.

Implementation Details / Implementation Partner

Implemented in-house

Implementation Phases

Yes - The first installation was the free trial, which was used to evaluate the software and its functionality. The next phase was to evaluate security. After that, we purchased the full version, and a very long phase of course creation and population took place. Until I was given the role of Admin, the process was being done by people who were too busy to get it right. So in the second part of the creation phase, I cleaned up errors and finished implementing the most mission-critical courses. Last phase was launch - we sent out an email to the entire organization asking them to certify in Security and Quality. Eventually all but a few stubborn employees were certfied.

Change Management Lessons

Change management was a small part of the implementation and was well-handled - I had to read a book called "Our Iceberg is Melting" in order to understand why so many people were refusing to comply with the process. That book opened my eyes to the politics and personality issues that make change difficult. Once I identified the right "penguins" I was able to get the whole company certified.

Implementation Issues

Learning curve for IT and Admin roles was steep
Time management - we had to devote a full-time person to managing the system
Some SCORM-compliant courses didn't import as expected
The LMS wasn't accessible to a lot of people until we fixed an internal problem

eFront Learning Training

Training Types Used

Online training

In-Person Training

Online Training

I'm not the most technical person, so some of the training didn't make sense to me. It wasn't a complete training - it was more topical. The people working at EFront were happy to answer my questions later when I resorted to learning it by doing. This was very valuable to me.

Configuring eFront Learning

Product Configurability

I'm afraid I can't answer this question accurately, because I didn't do much configuration and I don't have other systems to which I can compare it. I know that when I changed roles and gave much of the administration to someone who wanted to make big changes, they weren't able to learn it enough to do it. This was because knowledge of PHP is required.

Configuration Lessons

Make sure there are people on staff who know how to install the LMS on a server. Also be sure to use style that matches the brand of your company. Black makes a very nice background. Include company logo. Design your certificates with the proper logo and make them look impressive so the learner feels a sense of accomplishment and pride.

UI Customization

Some - we have done small customizations to the interface - We changed colors and implemented a branded look. I didn't do it - the IT engineers I worked with did most of it. For the most part, the interface itself seemed well-designed and didn't require additional customization beyond the graphical enhancements I mentioned.

Additional Customization Considerations

Besides the graphics/sleeve changes I mentioned, no.

eFront Learning Support

Support Rating

Two disadvantages: 1. Many staffers who respond don't know how to solve the problem using the User Interface - they want to work from the back end, to which I have no access.
2. The support staff are in Europe and I am in California, so there is an overnight delay in getting a response.

eFront Learning Customer Support Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Support understands my problem Quick Initial Response	Difficult to get immediate help

Premium Support

Yes

We need knowledgeable programmers to share with our Applications staff so we can maximize our use of the online learning system we have built. In a few years, we may SMEs who are able to take over this role, and we will discontinue premium support. For now, it is a learning curve for all of us.

Bug Resolution

Exceptional Examples of eFront Learning Support

Yes, we were having issues with our certificates not reflecting the correct grade, and Eleftheria, one of the support staff, provided a really great workaround to the problem so that the most perfectionist users of our system could have their 100% reflected on the certificate. The system shows 100%, but we would have to manually input the grade if they had passed the course with a lower score.

Using eFront Learning

Usability

For most situations, it is extremely easy to learn and use. There are ergonomic issues that seem a bit tedious, but overall, we are seeing a very high success rate with new registrants. They are learning the material and earning their certificates at a rapid pace. This is a good program once it is properly installed by a knowledgeable systems architect.

Usability Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using	Requires technical support Lots to learn

Easy Tasks

Reporting and Score Cards
Importing SCORM content
Copying Course Evaluations to maintain consistency across the board
Self-instruction videos come with the trial version - it is easy to teach yourself and become an expert end user

Difficult Tasks

Anything that requires programmer knowledge. I'm not an IT Guy.

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