Competitor Intelligence Report
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DECLASSIFIED
Competitor Overview
Highlights
Synergy 2011 Reseller Conference
In a fast‐changing technology market, competitor intelligence is
key to positioning our products correctly and developing the
right anti‐sales pitch strategies that will highlight our strengths
against our competitors' weaknesses. EKP has numerous built‐in,
multi‐awarded functionalities that just need to be pitched right
to prospects, combining competitor knowledge with diligent
client needs assessment.
Liam Butler
1/21/2011
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NetDimensions Reseller Network Only
Distribution or reproduction is strictly prohibited.
NetDimensions
Hong Kong, 2011
NetDimensions
Hong Kong, 2011
CONFIDENTIAL
For Reference of the NetDimensions Reseller Network Only
Distribution or reproduction is strictly prohibited.
OPEN SOURCE VS. COMMERCIAL SOLUTIONS MATRIX
Open Source
Major players in this space
Cost
Commercial Solutions
(e.g. EKP)
moodle, Kineo
+ Code is free
‐ Installation/setup isn't free (users have to
execute this themselves)
‐ Most effective
solutions have a price
tag
‐ Branding isn't free (user has to develop this)
‐ Customization isn't (user has to do this);
customization work could overlap with patches
or upgrades; customization must be re‐checked, + Better commercial
re‐tested and re‐applied each time
solutions ensure that
each new
‐ Authentication isn't (user has to be
upgrade/release will
responsible for this)
work on your system
‐ Hosting isn't (user has to use own facility/get
hosting)
‐ All this might require hiring new technical
people or outsourcing
Support
Reliability/Integrity
+/ ‐
+ Provide client support
‐ No dedicated, always‐available tech support
and maintenance
services (some 24x7)
Training/tech support done via community
forums
‐ Does not always go through full quality
assurance process (i.e. limited reviews/testing).
The moodle site contains this kind of caveat :
"WARNING: Please be aware that some of these
items have not been reviewed, and the quality
and/or suitability for your Moodle site has not
been checked. The modules here may have
security problems, data loss problems, interface
problems or just plain not work. Please think
carefully about maintenance before relying on
contributed code in your production site, as some
of this code may not work with future versions of
Moodle. " (see
http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?id=6009)
+ Maintained by a
professional
development team with
redundant checking and
testing processes for
quality assurance
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‐ Customers sometimes unaware of importance
+ Many reputable
of ISO 9001 certification on the part of the
software company/freelance developers they're
engaging
commercial providers
are ISO 9001‐certified
and indicate this upfront
(imposes higher
standards on outsourced
processes, requires a
quality management
system strategy, etc)
‐ Customers sometimes unaware of importance
+ Many reputable
of ISO 27001 certification for hosting services
commercial providers
are ISO‐27001‐certified
and indicate this upfront
(ensures higher level of
data security and service
reliability)
‐
Several cases of Moodle security breaches
already (http://eldoom.com/)
‐
If an open source solution has a bug or flaw
that results in loss of data or a security breach,
there is no recourse. An open source platform
and its developer community cannot be held
accountable
Design vs. Actual Use
‐ moodle was designed as a training
management system for colleges, not as an LMS,
not built for commercial organizations /
purposes; one cannot create a complex
organization taxonomy on moodle, or cascading
levels of authority; some companies like Kineo
trying to repackage
Marketing Spin
‐ They name drop big organizations i.e. Marks
and Spencer. In reality, only 350 of Marks and
Spencer employees are using moodle ‐‐ for
coffee or tea‐pouring training
+
The rest of Marks and
Spencer's 70,000
employees use EKP
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Software as a Service (SaaS)* vs On Premises** hosting
Major players in this field
SaaS
Cornerstone OnDemand, SuccessFactors
+ Easy concept to understand (e.g. with many popular online services now ‐ webmail, etc)
+ Transparent cost of ownership (no hidden charges)
+ Popular these days
‐ Multi tenant architecture (single instance of a software application serves multiple customers)
is very inflexible, difficult to customize because affects other users
‐
Costly to implement basic 3rd party connections such as single sign‐on, or ERP and HR
software integration.
‐
Takes a long time to implement (e.g. SuccessFactors' SIEMENS project ‐ a deal won June
2009, but which still isn't 'live' now; they gave up after 18 months)
Challenge
In some context, SaaS offers great value for money, very hard to compete with. But it
becomes complex and messy when client wants integration, ERP integration, HR integration.
Opportunity Have a proof of concept or show use case demo of how quickly and inexpensively we
can implement EKP vs. SaaS (Marc Blumenthal, Intelladon)
*Saas/"in the cloud" ‐ a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider and made
available to customers over a network, typically the Internet.
** On‐premises software is installed and run on computers on the premises (in the building) of the person or organisation using the
software, rather than at a remote facility, such as at a server farm or cloud somewhere on the internet.
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EKP COMPETITOR MATRIX
Cornerstone
OnDemand
Plateau
SumTotal
Saba
Cobent
Oracle
Learning Mgt
‐
US‐focused, but say
they're international
+
International
‐ US‐focused
Others:
Learning & Training
Event Mgr (TEM),
(ERP Human Capital
Solutions)
Coursemill
‐ CFR 21 Part 11
+ The SAP market. The
space mainly
main reason people buy it‐‐
it's SAP. Some companies
won't do business with you
unless you do SAP. They
have an edge that we don't
have (Liam Butler, NetD
GM, EMEA)
Coursemill for small
business, small‐scale
(OLM)
Market
SAP Enterprise
(Trivantis);
Indian LMS
companies
‐
But also limited to SAP
market
Functionality
‐ Weak spot:
+ Functionality rich
Only 21 canned
reports in the
backend
"bolted onto" a core HR
record, i.e. end‐to‐end
human capital solution
(Matt Underwood,
NetDimensions)
‐ Very restricted
classroom
functionality
‐
No SaaS offering
‐
Trap to set: No e‐
commerce/extended
enterprise functionality.
Core SAP application is
good for procurement, etc,
but with regard to working
with the supply chain,
pushing out training to
them, and charging them ‐‐
they can't do it. (Liam
Butler, NetD GM, EMEA)
+ In fairness: Coursemill
is a "pretty good system",
Java‐based, less powerful
than EKP (somewhere
between EKP bronze and
silver) , like a desktop
software version…. Until
EKP 7, it had one
advantage: Javaless
SCORM (Coen Flach, The
Courseware Company);
they bolt on Lectora
Inspire (to create Flash
animation)
They failed where we
excel: Some Indian LMSs ‐
not bad, but failed
penetration testing
(security assessment)
GUI
TM
NetDimensions
Hong Kong, 2011
+
+
Modern and intuitive
Reasonable TM story
+
+
‐
Attractive
Strong and
compelling TM story
+ Credible TM
story
Poor GUI
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EKP COMPETITOR MATRIX
Cornerstone
OnDemand
Plateau
SumTotal
Saba
Cobent
Oracle
Learning Mgt
(OLM)
Sales Quality/
Network
+ Watch out!!!
"Best of the best" sales
team, fantastic distribution
network (Liam Butler,
NetDimensions GM, EMEA)
+
Know your enemy:
"Their pre‐sales guys
and some of their
sales guys are
exceptional" (Steve
Curtis, Channel Dir.)
+
High quality
international sales and
partner network
Cost
SAP Enterprise
Learning & Training
Event Mgr (TEM),
(ERP Human Capital
Solutions)
‐ Expensive to
+ Low‐cost
Indian LMS
companies
‐ Very expensive to
+ Sometimes given as ‘free’ + Coursemill is low‐cost
implement & maintain.
Must be Oracle
environment DB etc.
as part of Human Capital
Solution
‐ But there are 'trick' costs
‐ Flexible, but costly
‐ Architecture makes
‐ Inflexible
‐ They [Oracle] don't
‐ Very costly, with hidden
to implement and will
take a long time
(Steve Curtis)
customization a costly
process
platform
have local resources.
Their resources come
from the US so
implementation was
time‐consuming and
expensive. They spent
almost $100,000 in
hardware and licensing
and we did the same
installation [using EKP],
with the same number of
users for $20,000.
(Fernelly Morales,
CognosOnLine)
costs
+ Stable and robust
(Trivantis);
High quality
sales and partner
network
e.g. very expensive bridging
middleware that cost
$US600,000 (Jay Shaw,
NetD CEO)
Stability
Coursemill
+
purchase,
implement and
maintain
Customization ‐ Problematic
Others:
+ Good platform
(lower than EKP) ‐ this is
their main pitch (Coen
Flach, The Courseware
Company)
Indian companies willing
to sell source code to
clients
‐
Coursemill is out‐of‐
the‐box, no
customization; lots of
problems with localization
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Distribution or reproduction is strictly prohibited.
EKP COMPETITOR MATRIX
Cornerstone
OnDemand
Plateau
SumTotal
Saba
Cobent
Oracle
Learning Mgt
(OLM)
Support
‐ Back‐end admin
‐ Confusion and doubt on
‐ An extremely
future of company. ADP
partnership and legal
issues; IPO & cash burn
dragging on; In Sept 2010
filed S‐1 with SEC for IPO;
in Dec 2010, announced
losses of $31.5 mn for 1st 9
mos. of the year. Lost $2
for every $1 of sales they
made.
'heavy' application
requiring Oracle
database, Oracle
application server
(Jay Shaw, NetD CEO)
We need to be careful
about making hasty
conclusions about how the
issue with ADP would be
resolved because if we
make a wrong prognosis,
we could lose our
credibility. "Walk softly."
(Marc Blumenthal,
Intelladon)
Learning & Training
Event Mgr (TEM),
(ERP Human Capital
Solutions)
‐ Weak client support,
only available in US
English; 210 of 220
employees are in the
US (Steve Curtis,
Channel Director)
Company
Intelligence
SAP Enterprise
time‐consuming
They [clients] were very
concerned about local
support ‐‐ and that was
the key point (Fernelly
Morales, CognosOnLine)
+
Good historical
reputation; Enterprise
LMS ‐ LARGEST market
share
‐ Strategy seems to be to
grow from acquisitions
(e.g. Softscape,
GeoLearning),
ending up with a
“hotpot” of solutions.
‐ Very bad comments
about the company and
its products on social
media
‐ SumTotal clients
leaving
‐ Good SumTotal staff
left in 2010
+
“Instant”
Global Network:
Partnership with
IBM has given
them global
reach into global
corporations.
They now have
20,000 IBM
people 'selling'
Saba LMS.
(Liam Butler,
NetD GM, EMEA)
‐ Lack of dedicated staff.
At Oracle, no one wants
to work in the OLM
department…. It's not
Oracle's core business.
(Liam Butler, NetD GM,
EMEA)
Expose the weak link:
They subcontract to
QuestionMark Perception,
which is weak in compliance
(Liam Butler, NetD GM,
EMEA)
Others:
Coursemill
(Trivantis);
Indian LMS
companies
CONFIDENTIAL
For Reference of the NetDimensions Reseller Network Only
Distribution or reproduction is strictly prohibited.
EKP COMPETITOR MATRIX
Cornerstone
OnDemand
Plateau
SumTotal
Saba
Cobent
Oracle
Learning Mgt
(OLM)
Their sales &
marketing
Strategy
+
When entered EMEA,
gave away their solutions
free of charge; as a result,
they were able to grab
market share
geometrically; grabbed
resellers overnight
‐ Sales people are not +/‐
in charge of the sales
cycle; the Professional
Services are (which
earns 80% of the
revenue) ; they have
no strategy/plan for
Asia Pacific, not
chasing this market
(Steve Young, NetD
Partner Manager ‐
Asia Pacific)
“Safe bet”
argument: Their
reputation makes their
solution a 'safe bet' for
blue chip companies ‐‐
but this may not be the
best solution for their
company
‐
Offshoring to drive
prices down:
Offshoring of pro‐serve
and customizations to
lowest bidder has led to
'poor quality' issues
+
They’re
practically giving
it free of charge
most of the time.
They make
money from
implementing
this on the Lotus
systems of
clients
(Liam Butler,
NetD GM, EMEA)
‐ "One‐trick‐
+ People [in Colombia]
pony" ‐‐ pitching
itself mainly as
low‐cost CFR Part
11‐compliant LMS
were saying Oracle gave
the license for free
(Fernelly Morales,
CognosOnLine)
SAP Enterprise
Learning & Training
Event Mgr (TEM),
(ERP Human Capital
Solutions)
Others:
Coursemill
(Trivantis);
Indian LMS
companies
CONFIDENTIAL
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Distribution or reproduction is strictly prohibited.
EKP COMPETITOR MATRIX
Cornerstone
OnDemand
Plateau
SumTotal
Saba
Cobent
Oracle
Learning Mgt
(OLM)
NetD Counter‐
strategy
Challenge! Insist that the
potential client does a risk
management analysis of
Cornerstone's financial
position (Jay Shaw, NetD
CEO)
Our network’s
advantage: We are
international (the
backend of LMS in 30
languages); focus on
our quick
implementation
Our ‘silver bullet’:
Present our solutions as
low‐risk, tested, 'bullet‐
proof'; take advantage of
a weakness in Sum
Total's acquisitions
strategy ‐ where they
bought certain LMSs over
the years and moved
them to the new
platform ‐‐ but this upset
old clients of these LMSs
a lot. They recently
changed this policy
because they lost a lot of
clients this way.
Our point‐of‐
attack:
Price point and
post‐sales cost
argument ‐
expensive not
only to purchase,
but also to
implement and
maintain
Our competitive
edge:
EKP has 500 out‐
of‐the‐box reports
(vs Cobent's 21
canned reports);
"ex‐ colleague
fresh out of
Cobent said how
fantastic they
thought EKP's GUI
was in
comparison to
theirs" (Liam
Butler, NetD GM,
EMEA)
Our reseller strategy
makes us global but local:
Local companies have an
advantage in terms of
local resources, support
and pricing. We didn't
give the license for free.
Also, we delivered the
integration of EKP with
the HR system ‐‐ that was
something else that they
were looking for. We
were a world‐class
solution with localized
services, with local price.
And that was what they
were looking for....
We install at 80% less.
People from client's IT
couldn't believe EKP
installation costs just
$20,000 vs $100,000 for
Oracle. They monitored
our EKP solution for 2
months night and day
[and it worked fine]
(Fernelly Morales,
CognosOnLine)
Let sleeping dogs lie.
Oracle is a sleeping giant
[in South Africa] so we
don't wake them up. We
always position EKP as a
middleway to enable
elearning and blend. And
as you prove the
case....you kind of let
them view the capability
of bolting on pieces to it.
(Irwin van Stavel, LR
Management Group)
SAP Enterprise
Others:
Learning & Training
Event Mgr (TEM),
(ERP Human Capital
Solutions)
Coursemill
Tip: slide into the water
quietly, don’t make waves.
Risky business: cheap but
not tested
There are no successful
implementations in the
enterprise sphere in S.
Africa (Irwin van Stavel,
LR Management Group)
Same strategy as with
Oracle. Positioning: "We
don't want to replace
SAP/Oracle...." / 'interim
LMS' strategy
This 'interim LMS' strategy
was also effective with ING
.... and with the Civil
Aviation Authority in the UK
which has been trying to
use SAP as an ERP system
for 4 years (Liam Butler,
NetD GM, EMEA)
When you see SAP/Oracle,
see this as an opportunity,
not a threat
(Trivantis);
Indian LMS
companies
Brandon Hall Research:
EKP is “bulletproof.
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EKP COMPETITOR MATRIX
Cornerstone
OnDemand
Plateau
SumTotal
Saba
Cobent
Oracle
Learning Mgt
(OLM)
Tip: Dig for the right
strategy. Find out from IT
of client what their
strategy is. If it's a best‐
of‐breed solution, you
can show that EKP can be
easily integrated via APIs.
But if it's a situation
where SAP (or Oracle) are
already installed and they
'rule the roost'... say "We
don't want to replace
SAP/Oracle.... but it's
gonna take a long time
for you to get that up and
running so just put us in
for 6 months until you get
that going." What
happens is that they
never get SAP or Oracle
up and running so you
end up with your LMS
winning (Steve Curtis,
Channel Director)
When you see
SAP/Oracle, see this as an
opportunity, not a threat
SAP Enterprise
Learning & Training
Event Mgr (TEM),
(ERP Human Capital
Solutions)
Others:
Coursemill
(Trivantis);
Indian LMS
companies
CONFIDENTIAL
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Distribution or reproduction is strictly prohibited.
EKP COMPETITOR MATRIX
Cornerstone
OnDemand
Plateau
SumTotal
Saba
Cobent
Oracle
Learning Mgt
(OLM)
Other NetD
Strengths:
Data security
SAP Enterprise
Learning & Training
Event Mgr (TEM),
(ERP Human Capital
Solutions)
Others:
Coursemill
(Trivantis);
Indian LMS
companies
Huge insurance company
in the UK was pushing out
one of these solutions
from India…. But they
failed penetration testing
(security assessment).
This is an important factor
in the UK where strong
employee data protection
laws penalize breaches
not just with fines but
with imprisonment.
(Liam Butler, NetD GM,
EMEA)
In US, e.g. California, if
you have personnel data
loss, you could be fined
$60 per record (10,000
records = $600,000 fine)
(Jay Shaw, NetD CEO)
Security and Data
Protection concerns are
coming up in all the RFPs
now.
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mEKP vs Offline Players
Competitors in this space
Saba Anywhere, SumTotal TotalAccess, Meridian Anywhere
Setup
mEKP
Courses, exams, assignments, news, reference materials,
catalogs, job profiles, videos, podcasts, career development
information and more
No installation required
Portability
Fully portable (USB drive)
Users
Single‐ and multi‐user
Content
Security
Standards
Applications
Setup
Multi‐level with full encryption
SCORM, AICC, OLSA, RSS
Surveys, courseware and exam delivery, assessments,
certifications, smart search, performance support, news and
updates, career and talent development, compliance (and other)
training, content repositories, and more . . .
mEKP
Courses, exams, assignments, news, reference materials,
catalogs, job profiles, videos, podcasts, career development
information and more
No installation required
Portability
Fully portable (USB drive)
Users
Single‐ and multi‐user
Content
Offline Players
Courses
Must be installed, cannot
be easily moved
Only on one installed
system
Single‐user
?
SCORM and/or AICC
Courseware delivery
Offline Players
Courses
Must be installed, cannot
be easily moved
Only on one installed
system
Single‐user
Security
Standards
Applications
NetDimensions
Hong Kong, 2011
Multi‐level with full encryption
SCORM, AICC, OLSA, RSS
Surveys, courseware and exam delivery, assessments,
certifications, smart search, performance support, news and
updates, career and talent development, compliance (and other)
training, content repositories, and more . . .
?
SCORM and/or AICC
Courseware delivery