Technology is more slave than master
Online training and internal communication has an increasing role in companies. In addition to the interaction and distribution methods of new training, such as tablets and other mobile devices, customers pay more attention to the training related to distribution channels and to customer training. All this is part of more extensive trend where the boundary between a company’s internal and external communication is dissolved even more.
In regard to technology, information categorisation and selecting the right channels are the main questions here. The Prewise Gimlet™ product family is optimal when the goal is to keep the information inside a company, but could some public content be published on YouTube or Facebook, for example?
Data security risks, particularly highlighted last autumn, are the main issues to be resolved when you start distributing such material outside your organisation, which has in many cases only been initially intended for internal use only. In the application service approach, it must be possible for the customer to be confident that the technical implementation of the acquired service is in accordance with relevant data security procedures.
The Prewise Gimlet™ LMS has been inspected by a company specialising in data security auditing, and the system has been found to abide by the best data security practices. In addition, we monitor our servers and address any non-conformant traffic in the network.
Data security at the device and application level is the basis for the data security of the entire system. The users have the biggest impact on data security: how they store user IDs and passwords and how good their passwords are. When the users have to remember the user IDs and passwords for several systems, it is evident that there is more appeal in using the same password.
In fact, the Prewise Gimlet LMS system is compatible with different ways of one-off login where the user can access the system without a separate user ID and password. The main thing is that the right end user of the material has access to it as conveniently and securely as possible.
One of the major challenges for purchasing technical services is to find the right people in the organisation to meet with each other to discuss the technical matters. Prewise has the competence to ask the right questions, and after this, the actual implementation is trouble-free in most cases. This requires a productive technical specification which is preferably prepared face to face. Open discussion and in-depth system integration is also required in regard to one of the mega trends in online learning: the integration of LMS systems with the company’s systems, such as their intranet and HR systems, so that learning results can be more closely and effectively monitored.
It can be said that the role of technology is more of a slave than a master. First and foremost, technology should be regarded as something that makes it possible to communicate well and implement changes in daily life. The real performance indicator is how well a new lesson has been learned and adopted as part of your personal daily tasks. In addition to good technical usability, this is also very much about good story-telling and visual elements that you remember.
Have a risk-free and safe 2012!
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Juhani Mäkelä
Technology Director
Prewise Oy |