Marketing Indian eLearning: Crabs In A Bucket

Indian e-Learning companies are booming. Indian e-Learning companies are poaching off each other. Indian e-Learning companies are slugging it out in an ever intensifying competitive scenario. Indian e-Learning companies are currently like crabs in a bucket, pulling each other down instead of banding together and finding solutions to common problems.

Right now, more than ever, there is an acute need to have a common voice, a common body in place that will promote the Indian eLearning companies collectively and fight for mindshare in markets increasingly crowded by companies from Ireland, Scotland, Canada and even SE Asia.

We need to learn some lessons and learn them quickly.

Lets begin by considering Canada. Canadian eLearning companies band together under the umbrella of the Canadian eLearning Enterprise Alliance (CeLEA). According to the website, "CeLEA is an industry-based organization, established in 2003, to help Canadian elearning companies increase their share of revenues from the growing global elearning market place.

As the only organization in Canada focused solely on the commercial elearning sector, we have played a key role in fostering communication between industry, government, and other stakeholders in the elearning industry in Canada and abroad, with the ultimate goal of identifying and communicating business opportunities, and helping Canadian companies successfully compete for those opportunities."

Scotland seems to be have realized the power of collective marketing. eLearningScotland is a portal created to serve the needs of the Scottish eLearning community. While browsing through the forums on this portal, I came across an interesting thread titled, "Marketing Scottish e-Learning". The creator of this thread says that 'she been tasked with a research project to look at the Scottish e-Learning industry in general and more specifically to explore the opportunities that exist to market “Scottish e-Learning” more effectively.'  Her opening  question - ' Is “Scottish e-Learning” a brand we can market in the same way as VisitScotland have marketed tourism in Scotland?'

That is exatly the question we in India should be asking ourselves.

In the same thread, Harold Jarche of Jarche Consulting shares his experience with LearnNB, a body set up to increase the presence of and market e-Learning companies in New Brunswick. According to their website, LearnNB's four main thrust's are, 'collaboration among learning industry enterprises and institutions in New Brunswick; allied export marketing; career growth and networking for regional workplace learning and performance practitioners; and an online community of practice for e-learning professionals, wherever they may be.'

Harold says of New Brunswick companies, "The medium-sized companies (100-400 employees) have a very different focus from the small businesses (1-10 employees). For instance, the larger companies are focused on exporting products and getting large (US-based) contracts. The smaller companies are more service-oriented and many have embraced open source software as a low-cost way of delivering learning services. There is no single vision but the LearnNB brand seems to be getting us some more recognition. I'm not sure if it with translate into revenue, and only time will tell. So my advice is to find a few like-minded people and just go for it. The other option is to remain in analysis-paralysis"

Ireland has Enterprise Ireland, which supports Irish eLearning companies through a variety of ways, including organizing events around the world to display Irish capabilities in this sector. Ireland also has the Learn3K Research Centre (comprising of ICELT & REALT), an education-industry initiative, set up at the National College of Ireland, headed by Prof. Stephen Heppell.

So whether we do it under NASSCOM, or independent of, the idea is "TO DO IT!". If you have any further thoughts, and plans along these lines, please share them with the rest of us. 

Comments

[Mark White]

There has also been considerable industry "cluster" activity here in Australia, where the approach has proven popular with various state governments keen to showcase local tech companies. So far, I don't think this has necessarily translated to lots of extra revenue for the companies involved, or even increased collboration on a local level between these companies, but perhaps has lifted the industry profile within the local technology community if not the buyers of learning services & technologies.