Mission E-Possible: The Cisco E-Learning Story

Training & Development, Feb, 2001 by Patricia A. Galagan

Cisco CEO John Chambers has done for training what trainers have long said they most wanted: Chambers declared publicly that learning is a strategic priority for his company and important to the world economy. But there's a catch. He's not talking about the kind of training that most practitioners have in mind when they seek top-level corporate support. Chambers is endorsing the fast-moving, results-oriented learning that is only possible with e-learning.

But why e-learning rather than another thriving Internet application such as e-commerce or e-health? Either one would drive network traffic and thus help Cisco sell more routers and switches.

"I love e-learning because it makes employees more productive, and it's available anytime, anywhere," says Chambers. "Although I think it will take three to four years for e-learning to make as much of an impact as e-commerce or virtual close (closing a company's financial books online), I truly believe that it will change the way schools and universities teach, the way students learn, and the way businesses keep employees up-to-date with the skills and information for this fast-changing Internet economy.

"Not only that, e-learning increases network traffic. And as the CEO of a networking company, I can only be happy about that."

So, what's it like to be a trainer in a company whose chairman has become spokesperson-in-chief for e-learning, declaring far and wide that it's the "next killer app for the Internet" and that its use will "make email look like a rounding error"? Chambers has planted a flag. What about the people who must supply the wind to make it fly at Cisco?

The epicenter for e-learning at Cisco is the Internet Learning Solutions Group. Although it's one of almost 30 training groups in the company (and not the first or the only one to introduce e-learning), it's the proving ground for e-learning as a business strategy that can be applied across the company--in business-speak, "an integrated solution."

"There are solid reasons that Cisco cares deeply about e-learning," says Mike Metz, director of marketing for the Internet Learning Solutions Group.

The first is obvious: The more people learning online, the more networking gear Cisco can sell. The second is that Cisco has big plans for growth and, consequently, has big learning needs. In 12 years, it has become an $18 billion company; in the next four years, it intends to grow to a $50 billion company.

That kind of growth will require Cisco to have a workforce of more than 50,000 employees, a 40 percent jump from today. Data from TDC, a firm that tracks and predicts information technology trends, shows that by 2003, the demand for IT networking professionals will exceed the supply, a shortfall that could leave Cisco and other Internet-related companies ambushed at the skills gap.

"We really believe that our e-learning programs are a more effective way to grow skills in high volume in a shorter time than in the past," says Metz. "It's a fundamental strategic imperative for us to train more people to plan, design, and install the Internet infrastructure that we're building."

Making it happen

It's one thing to strategize, another to implement, and nowhere is that more true than with e-learning. The technology is expensive, the pace is fast, and the required mind shifts can be daunting. When training is pushed to a companywide strategic level, the key decision makers are not likely to be training traditionalists.

Enter Tom Kelly, the Harley-riding, poetry-writing, bonsai-growing ex-Marine in charge of the Internet Learning Solutions Group. Kelly has 20-plus years in the training trenches. But, when it comes to e-learning, he's not afraid to attack some sacred cows. "Putting trainers in charge of e-learning is like putting postal workers in charge of email," he says.

When Chambers declared that Cisco would be the leader in e-learning, its own training operations were, to be blunt, a bit of a mess.

"Three years ago, when I joined Cisco, training was an irrelevant backwater," says Kelly. "Training was fragmented, unsupported, and unsuccessful. The gag was, 'Friends don't let friends work at Cisco training.'"

"It was an interesting dynamic," says Metz, who wasn't on board at the time but who has heard stories. "There were e-learning skunk works around the company, but nothing was coordinated. And then comes this top-down directive."

"Chambers fired the gun," says Kelly. "The mission facing us was, 'Make it exemplary, and make it serve thousands."'

The Internet Learning Solutions Group is the largest and most centralized training organization within Cisco, with about 165 staff supplemented by contractors as needed. To answer Chambers's challenge, the ILSG and other e-learning stakeholders across the company came together to form the Cisco E-Learning Business Council, sponsored by HR executive Barbara Beck, head of corporate marketing Keith Fox, and Doug Allred, the executive in charge of customer advocacy. The mission of the council, and therefore of the ILSG, is "to implement an integrated e-learning solution across Cisco."