RSS
Monty Kalsi

Knowledge as a Service (KaaS)

Sat, Nov 22, 2008

Monty Kalsi

Training Headache

Training is a challenging issue for companies, especially those that use enterprise solutions. It’s just too expensive to train, hire, and develop good employees. Unfortunately, you can’t avoid the problem.

Almost all training programs teach a particular set of facts ‘just in case’ users might need it. Organized training, including self-paced courses, delivers generalized information about how to accomplish a task or how to use a tool, but there is no context and little company-specific real-world application. In contrast, people learn best when they get training ‘just in time,’ when they can benefit from flexible timing and individual control.[i]

“Just In Time” Knowledge acquisition

The practical solution, on-demand knowledge acquisition, happens when employees call for it, so it’s easier for them to make sense of it within their everyday tasks.[ii]This is the moment when users’ motivation to learn is at its peak … when they can maximize understanding by applying it into a real-world task … and when they stay within the workplace, maintaining productivity. This approach gives “students time to work through their own ideas and experience confusion,” which, according to Harvard Professor Eleanor Duckworth engenders “deep and lasting understanding.”

Knowledge as a Service (KaaS)

KaaS combines the access of self-paced training with the kind of focused on demand knowledge acquisition previously available only through one-on-one telephone or consulting support. KaaS creates an ecosystem for information transfer and social networking that integrates the “informal tools — such as contextual learning and communities,” which Forrester Research says increases employee performance.[iii]

SPINACT has advanced the KaaS model, taking it many steps further, across both technology and business model. This gives SPINACT a unique place in the market.

The KaaS Marketplace

Market demand for KaaS-type solutions is already on the rise. Companies that need to deliver training — for their own employees or customers — are hungry for on-demand-training portals. Bersin & Associates reports that 61% of companies recently chose either a hosted or completely outsourced solution.[iv]

SPINACT’s solution incorporates a patent-pending Knowledge Marketplace platform that supports skill acquisition by professionals in all disciplines. By making it an open KaaS model with the marketplace dynamics, SPINACT intends to productize Knowledge as a commodity.

Please follow the link for a copy of our whitepaper on KaaS. 


[i]       http://books.google.com/books?id=Cz4aIXq5z8YC Handbook of Distance Learning for Real-Time and Asynchronous Information Technology Education

[ii]       Concept from: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/0,1000000091,39450410,00.htm

[iii]      See quote on first page from http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,42447,00.html

[iv]      Learning Management Systems 2008: Facts, Practical Analysis, Trends, and Vendor Profiles

Popularity: 13% [?]

, , ,

Leave a Reply