GuyKat Partners Formetris

--GuyKat Service Announcement--

GuyKat today proudly announce the launch of their re-seller partnership with forMetris. Starting immediately, GuyKat will offer forMetris products to the UK & Ireland market. The new partner is a French-based software provider whose solutions focus on ensuring that ROI from L&D initiatives can be measured.

The products are aimed at all enterprises who have significant investments in training provision. The solutions offered complete the wider suite of offerings from GuyKat which allow a full end-to-end service to clients. GuyKat now offer bespoke eLearning (in house), LMS and LMS management (Docebo), authoring tools (Elucidat), off-the-shelf learning (Open Sesame), and now eLearning evaluation and ROI assurance (forMetris).

Quotes:

There's a famous quote from Wannamaker that 'half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, the problem is I don't know which half'.  I think the same could be said by most L&D directors about their learning spend.  They commission development programs, or purchase suites of training, but then struggle to get visibility of what is really working.  There's been a gap in the market for tools which bring this visibility. We're excited to be working with forMetris to bridge that gap in the UK."

GuyKat CEO, Guy McEvoy

 "We've been talking with forMetris for over six months and truly getting to understand the product. Having met the forMetris team out in Toronto at the back end of last year, and having formally agreed the re-seller agreement, we're looking forward to introducing the product to our UK clients."

LMS Consultant, Joanne Payne

For more information please contact our consultant Joanne Payne at joanne.payne@guykat.com


Perform - Brilliant new feature for Docebo 7.0

Perform - Brilliant new feature for Docebo 7.0

In its latest release, Docebo introduces the Perform module which brings talent management capability to the Docebo LMS.

What is Perform?

Perform is a new feature on the Docebo LMS that is designed to allow you to evaluate your employee’s competencies and detect skill gaps. Once the skill gaps are detected, you can then intervene, offering learning and development opportunities. This could be done through formal learning plans and courses, or more informal videos or documents.

Some of the exciting features Perform has, include:

  • An off-the-shelf skills catalogue
  • Ability to create, import, and edit your skills and roles in bulk
  • Ability to assign skills to roles
  • You can map courses, learning plans, and informal learning assets
  • Rating Scale
  • Skill evaluation status monitoring
  • Skill evaluation calibration
  • Skills gap analysis
  • Skills, roles and gaps reporting

A particular feature we thought was great, was the ability to enrol a user with a specific skill gap to a course or learning plan that will support in filling the gaps in their knowledge.

GuyKat are a UK based Docebo partner who work with clients globally. We can support organisations with their implementation of the Docebo platform, including the perform module featured above.

How you can get access to it

It’s simple. Email david.brannon@guykat.com to set up a tailored webinar. David would love to give you a demonstration of the platform and its awesome new features, including Perform!


Docebo 6.2 Released

guykat website docebo

Today sees the official release of Docebo v6.2. You can read the full details from the Milan team here. This latest release retains the brilliant look and feel that came with the launch of Version 6 from November but adds some great new enterprise quality features:

What's New?

  • A new, easier path to upgrading to the Enterprise version of the product.
  • The ability to add more classroom and blended learning functionality through our brand new ILT Classroom App.
  • A new assignment feature (for smoothly uploading coursework or assignments for review by an instructor)
  • An all new instructor widget to add to your course

With a refresh of the pricing options there's never been a better time to get onboard with Docebo. GuyKat are Docebo's partners in the UK & Ireland. If you want to know anything about the product or want a free trial then please get in touch. In the meantime here's our quick video about why we love Docebo...
http://youtu.be/ZwS4s6pSGwM

 


TinCan API v Experience xAPI.

tin can and ex api

Recently, a colleague and I attended D-Conf in Milan. Hosted by our partners at Docebo, the event focused on cloud apps and eLearning. As usual at conferences the agenda documentation was teasingly thin. You have little more than the session title to guess exactly what the speaker will cover.

Day 2 had interesting sounding back-to-back sessions. One was on 'Tin Can API'  by Mike Rustici and one was on 'Experience API' (or just 'xAPI') by Aaron Silvers. Both were engaging speakers worth listening too. Both spoke of a new API in an infant state. They evangelised about how with a little momentum they will be on the cusp of the beginnings of something that will eventually change everything. Good.  SCORM sucks.

For me, the really interesting insight was clocking my colleague’s reaction to these talks. She is a bright, switched-on, graduate, eLearning professional. She is no mug. She’d been looking forward to the Tin Can presentation having followed some of the buzz about it over the last year. She hadn’t previously heard of the Experience API. She listened to both forty-minute presentations in full. Yet when I spoke to her about it afterwards it dawned on me that she hadn’t connected that both presentations were talking about exactly the same thing.

Neither script referenced that there was any debate about the name. Yes, there were aggressive questions alluding to it after Mike’s talk, but these had a level of assumed knowledge in the way they were asked and answered that went over the audience’s heads. For those who live and breathe working on delivery of the post-SCORM standard, any vibrant debate about the name and any trademark issues may be boring and done to death. However, outsiders being introduced to the topic for the first time will not be aware there has even been a discussion.

My colleague is the target audience that these pioneers want to convert into the first wave of early adopters and sales-people. They diluted their message to her. Not because she is stupid, far from it, but because they didn’t explain themselves properly. She cares about this stuff. If they confuse her, they'll certainly confuse more generalist HR professionals.

The dual branding is plain confusing. Having folk going on road-shows and calling it two different things in the same meeting is simply nuts. The confusion will delay that last bit of momentum they crave to get vendors like us to tell our clients they have to jump on this wave. Only when we're pushing compatibility as an essential feature in any buying decision will it truly take off.

If I had a vote, and I don’t, nor do I deserve one, I’d say Experience API is a far better, more obviously relevant name. I’d go for that. I appreciate that there has been a chunk of work put into pushing the ‘Tin Can’ brand out there over the last few years, but let’s face it, it does sound like the code-word for a product in beta. You’d also struggle to sell something with such a whimsical name as an essential upgrade to a typical knee-jerk finance director. Worse, it does sound ‘suspect’ having a private company trademark the name of an open standard. I say that no matter how honourable or benign their actual intent.

Whichever name they settle on, they need to settle on it quick and stop the road show confusion. The benefits of this new standard, whatever it is called, means promoting this stuff to eLearning professionals should be pushing on an open door. Adding this confusion pulls the door back. Guys, sort it out.

Guy McEvoy is Managing Director of GuyKat, he’s looking forward to Tin Can or Experience or whatever it’s called freeing up eLearning content from the restraints of SCORM compliance. He hopes if you take nothing else from this article it’s that, for now, Tin Can API and Experience xAPI are exactly the same thing.  Oh, and that whatever it is called Docebo LMS  already supports it!