Cost/benefit analysis -Reply

[Lisa Comeau <COMEAUL -at- CSA -dot- CA>]

Will you be developing the CBT in-house, or will it be third-party? If it is third party and the same company will be providing the "live trainer", this will make a cost difference because they may give you a break.

One of the things you might want to include is whether or not people will USE the CBT, and maybe find some info on how many calls users make to the HelpDesk with CBT vs "real-life" instructors. 

A human being may cost more per hour, but what about costs of development, upgrades, HelpDesk employees to answer questions, writers, developers' time (esp. if they're trying to do other jobs simultaneously) and so on. And as an instructor, I can tell you that many people prefer having their hands held when it comes to new software. A "live" person can answer questions better than any CBT program I've seen. (A mix of the 2 is a good idea, but I'd have to know more about the split before I recommended it)

 A good way to do cost analysis for this would be to call your nearest computer training center, and find out the cost of CBT and of an instructor, and average them. Also find out from anyone who's developed CBT how long it took, what kind of snags, etc. and figure out how many people are going to be working overtime to complete this task. Then double any money and time amounts you come up with, because I can guarantee you'll need more time and cash.

I have some info on CBT vs. contract instruction costs, if you like, I can email them to you off the list.

Good Luck!

(Real-live instructors smile more than CBTs...)
Lisa Comeau
IS Super-User/Trainer
Certification and Testing Division
Canadian Standards Association
Rexdale, ON
comeaul -at- csa -dot- ca