Schneider Electric – Transitioning from traditional training to a robust LMS

Schneider Electric is a French multinational corporation and a Fortune Global 500 company with 110 office locations across 108 countries. The vision at Schneider is that all people should have access to energy, no matter their location or needs. Based on that vision, Schneider Electric combines world-leading energy technologies and advanced services to generate solutions for homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure, and industries.

In 2009, Schneider launched the Energy University, which they use to both educate customers all over the world and attract potential customers to Schneider Electric.

In an interview with Senior Program Manager Tom Clune, he explained the challenges they faced, as well as the relief he feels after using eFront for the last 5 years.

The training challenge

We had to train customers all over the world, so the need for an LMS was more than urgent. Initially, we ran some instructor-led training workshops around our data centers and found that they did the job well enough. But, we soon realized we needed to take our training online so people all over the world could take their training by themselves.

We looked into many options, and over the last 14 years, we’ve tried 5-6 different LMSs. We’d always encounter the same problems: Bugs and an inability to fully control the platform. Many of the LMSs we tried would also go down unexpectedly due to the enormous amount of users we hosted.

We’d wake up in the morning in the US, and we’d have 200 emails from users saying they couldn’t access their training.

Why Schneider Electric chose eFront

Right off the bat, I noticed that we could have full control over the learning platform. From course updates to exporting reports, I can do everything on my own and ask for help only when I need it.

That was just my initial impression. As I looked into it more, I found even more reasons to choose eFront:

• Ease of use: I had to keep ease of use in mind because I’m the sole administrator, and there’s not a whole team to manage a platform of 400,000 users and 300 courses in 14 different languages. eFront felt like an easy tool to work with.
• Scalability: We were looking for an LMS that would help us grow and also grow along with us. And eFront had all the necessary features to do that.
• Reliability: We wanted a platform that could handle all the data from hundreds of thousands of users who take hundreds of courses every day — and not break.
• Pricing: The pricing model was tailored according to our needs and budget. Needless to say, the cost is much more reasonable compared to other LMSs.

The Results

Over the last  5 years, we’ve trained more than 400,000 users and delivered 300 different courses with eFront. We’ve experienced zero technical problems, and it’s been so easy to use. As we continue to grow, the platform grows with us. 

I don’t think our decision to choose eFront is as important as the decision we make to stay. 

eFront is not just a training tool for us, but an integral part of our corporation. The eFront team is also a huge part of it. They’re very responsive, and I always feel like there’s someone there to help. Someone who’s interested in what we’re doing, wants to help us get better at it and even wants to help us grow.

Generally, the platform is trustworthy and reliable. When I need to train someone on how to use eFront it literally takes me a few hours. With other LMSs, I’d have to set up weeklong classes just to teach them how to upload a course. 

So, the system itself is very intuitive and allows me to save time and focus on other work-related tasks too. After all, managing our LMS is only one part of my job. Luckily, eFront has boosted my productivity, and I can now work on additional work tasks throughout the day.

But honestly, the number one benefit of using eFront is that I no longer have to worry about it. I know that even though I manage an LMS of 400,000 users, everything is going to run smoothly.

In my 20-year-long career, I’ve had people calling me at all hours of the morning because the website was down. And this was when we had a significant training initiative that people couldn’t access.

Tom Clune

Sr. Program Manager, Schneider Electric