As experts make their predictions about the future of e-learning, one prediction seems to appear most frequently on nearly everyone’s list: an explosion in the amount of custom developed courseware produced by third-party organizations. This trend is fueled by the fact that more organizations find the following to be true:

• They need large volumes of content available for self-paced, online delivery.
• They realize that their own limited, internal resources may not be sufficient to carry out their enterprise e-learning visions.
• They find that the needs of their learners are becoming more sophisticated, requiring more dynamic and more interactive, rich learning content such as simulation-based content and experiential e-learning.

But, how do organizations requiring courseware development services locate potential providers? It may surprise you to learn that almost all courseware development vendors are chosen via word-of-mouth. In a survey conducted by Brandon Hall Group, purchasers of custom content development were asked to name 10 custom courseware development companies. Most could not name five.

A need clearly exists for more resources to help organizations locate custom content development vendors that create superior and compelling training content. At least 570 vendors offer e-learning custom content creation, but no real reference materials or resources exist to help organizations find courseware developers that create specific kinds of content or follow particular training methods and practices.

To that end, we are proud to announce the 2012 edition of the "Custom Content Developers" KnowledgeBase. The purpose of this KnowledgeBase is to provide apples-to-apples, comparative information about custom developers, similar to what we have done previously when examining LMS tools, LCMS tools, live e-learning tools, simulation products and services, and authoring tools.

This online service allows you to explore in depth the content development and training services of 180+ firms that focus on creating custom content for clients. Use this KnowledgeBase to learn the following about each vendor:

• Instructional development processes
• Project management philosophy
• Competitive strengths
• Company size, staffing, and background experience
• Awards
• Customers
• Areas of specialty
• Technology and tool preferences
• Ballpark pricing information

Alternatively, you can use this information to find a company in a specific geographic location or one that focuses on your area of subject matter expertise.

Composed of thousands of pages of information, these profiles of custom content developers (each eight- to 12-pages long) can help you locate vendors who specialize in particular kinds of content or who serve specific industries. It is the only resource of its kind and is sure to become an indispensable reference guide for e-learning professionals, purchasers, and anyone else who needs to diligently compare e-learning custom content providers, courseware developers, and training outsourcers.

The KnowledgeBase also comes with specialized online tools to help you more effectively compare custom content, training courses, and courseware development vendors.

First, the Dynamic Comparison Grids allow you to compare custom content development vendors side-by-side. You can compare how content development companies price their services, how they support standards, and who their competitors are. You can learn about their top clients, their employees, which instructional design methods and training philosophies they prefer to follow, awards they have won, the industries they focus on, and much more.

Second, the KnowledgeBase contains a Selection Tool that allows you to enter your particular requirements for content development and training outsourcing services and find firms that match your course development business needs. Find custom content development firms in your geographic area who can develop with the tools you prefer, who specialize in the content areas you require, who can work within the bounds of your LMS system, and who can meet other courseware and content development requirements for your particular scenario. Nothing has ever been this detailed to provide you with a window on the custom content development world.

In addition, each courseware development vendor profile offers three case studies that illustrate innovative courses or techniques practiced by the custom content development company. Also included are screen shots that illustrate each company's approaches to developing content and outsourcing training.

Plus, the KnowledgeBase provides metadata information to spotlight trends among the group, meaning you can spotlight averages across-the-board for pricing, industries served, etc. It is designed to help you evaluate data on custom content and course development services vendors so that you can effectively find the information you need to make your training outsourcing decisions.

This online service is the only custom content development vendor reference of its kind. In the past, this information was offered as a hefty 1,000+-plus page report. Now, it is all online and available from the convenience of your desktop. Go beyond word-of-mouth, and make truly informed decisions about the custom content marketplace with this one-of-a-kind collection of research on vendors who provide custom courseware development and training services.