Knowledge_as_a_Service (KaaS) - cumulusIQ Blog!

Users rate SAP consultants and partners online

"An web-based tool helps SAP users find the right partners

To help its 60,000-plus membership, Americas' SAP Users' Group, or ASUG, released a web-based product called Edge earlier this year to help users sort the consultancy wheat from the partner chaff.

Edge is a searchable online directory of consulting firms and independent consultants who offer SAP services. It also provides customer-input reviews on those consultants and other service providers in the North American SAP community. The annual cost for access to the Edge product is US$995 for ASUG members and US$1,495 for nonmembers.

CIO.com senior editor Thomas Wailgum talked with Strout about the ASUG Edge tool and the problem it aims to fix."

Here is the Link to complete article. 

The role of Edge is to show rating of Consultants and Partners so that SAP customers can better select the right resources for their SAP initiatives. I think that is a good approach to filter out the better performing resources from the ones that are not so good.

However the fundamental issue with SAP service sector is to grow new skills both within the existing user base and by creating new workforce. Especially since SAP is entering the SMB sector and the software is changing rapidly due to industry trend towards SaaS, Cloud computing etc. and the competition. We can only accomplish so much by isolating the better performing SAP skilled user base.

As Thomas Wailgum questioned Steve Strout:

Can this help with the SAP skills gap that currently exists?

The short answer is "NO". We need a better system that allows for anyone including the folks that are new to SAP to be able to quickly search and acquire new skills and SAP knowledge On Demand while maintaining their routine chores in their day to day work life. Unfortunately current systems including ASUG Edge or the traditional choices for training (Onsite/Offsite) doesn't address this fundamental issue.

See my earlier Blog on issues with ERP Training. http://tinyurl.com/5fywkz

SPINACT (www.spinact.com ) On-Demand Knowledge Marketplace offers both SAP customers and SAP consultants a better way to trade SAP knowledge and at the same time build and recycle the skills to grow the industry organically. The Knowledge as a Service™ offers new paradigm in On Demand Knowledge acquisition strategy for both SAP users and consultants.

Knowledge as a Service (KaaS)

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.

 The SPINACT Advantage

SPINACT combines an open KaaS platform and independent content production along with a visionary and business-savvy approach to online on-demand training. With a nod to Gartner’s Magic Quadrant, the chart below shows how SPINACT fits in to the knowledge-delivery market.

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

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[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