E-learning is learning enabled by the Internet. It can be used to teach users (employees, customers, channel partners, and consultants) about products, or to communicate with them. The issue is how to use this powerful teaching method to achieve results, and how to measure its effects.

This short book describes how Cisco, and a few other organizations, use e-learning methods to achieve productivity objectives. The book is interesting because of its case studies, describing how the e-learning initiatives were designed, organized, and implemented to achieve these gains. The cases provide suggestions for best practices in designing and implementing e-learning. There is an emphasis on measurable results, with testing as an important element.

Cisco has been very effective in using e-learning to train its sales force, as well as its channel partners and others, such as consultants. Cisco has been unusually successful in using certification-based e-learning, both as a motivation for learners, and as a measurement tool. The Cisco results provide useful background information for anyone involved in designing e-learning projects, and any company planning e-learning initiatives. The reported savings from e-learning at Cisco depend on assumptions that may not apply at other companies, but the approach employed, and the disciplines used in implementation and testing, are broadly applicable.