Lotus To Form E-learning Business Unit

IBM and its Lotus Development subsidiary today will unveil a business unit dedicated to distance learning over the Web.

IBM said it plans to make a considerable investment in e-learning. The move is expected to help Lotus deliver on a strategy in which the company plans to focus on three areas: distance learning, knowledge management, and its core messaging and collaboration software.

"It's my intention to have Lotus established as the franchise player in the knowledge managementand distributed learning space," said Lotus CEO Al Zollar.

The rate of new technology development is outpacing companies'abilities to train workers, Zollar said. Consequently, businesses aren't realizing the benefits of newly implemented technologies as quickly as they should.

"We're finding that in some cases, the time to training is exceeding the time to market," he said.

Proponents of distance learning said it can help meet key business goals by letting companies quickly train employees and speed delivery of products and services to the markets they serve.

"It's a great and growing space, and gaining momentum," said Fred McCrea, a research analyst at Thomas Weisel Partners.

According to e-learning company Hungry Minds, IBM's entrance could provide a big boost to the industry.

"We're among the early movers, and we're looking for validation," said Hungry Minds CEO Stuart Skorman. "It takes [a company the size of] IBM doing this to get it off the ground."

Lotus' first e-learning product, Learning Space Anytime 3.0, was released last year. The company's first knowledge management system, Raven, is being tested at 250 customer sites. The software will let companies retrieve content from throughout their IT systems and locate people who can provide needed knowledge and expertise. Lotus said it plans to make Raven available in the second half of this year.