7th September 2006


BUPA benefits from e-learning


An e-learning programme, developed specially for BUPA by the global e-learning producer Tata Interactive Systems (TIS), has reduced training time by 40 per cent, reduced travel costs significantly and is proving so popular with BUPA staff that only one person has requested the classroom-delivered training alternative to the e-learning programme since that programme was introduced in June.


The TIS-developed programme teaches BUPA staff how to operate their Blackberry PDAs efficiently and effectively. Since its introduction in June this year, it has reduced the training time for this from two and half hours in a classroom to just one and half hours of e-learning - with consequent reductions in training-related travel times, which averaged four hours per trainee.


Tiina Paju-Pomfret, manager of BUPA's Business Technology Training (BTT) department, explained: "BUPA staff who spend time travelling and need to be contactable via email can receive a Blackberry PDA. Of course, all those who have a Blackberry need to be trained in how to get the best value from its many functions.

"Our first solution to this need was to set up a series of two and a half hour classroom-delivered training sessions. However, it proved difficult to get people, who were spending much of their working life travelling, together at a mutually convenient time and place for training.


"Fortunately, the introduction of a learning management system (LMS) pilot which embraces all of BUPA's business units - enabling the monitoring and tracking of a wide range of training programmes - gave us the opportunity to develop an e-learning course to replace the instructor-led Blackberry training programme," she said.


"Using the LMS, we can check that the training has been done - and the trainee's skills are not only assessed objectively but also recorded. The learners are happy as they can take the course at a time most convenient for them and receive their new Blackberry faster."


Since introducing the e-learning programme - specifically developed for BUPA by global e-learning producer, Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) - BUPA noticed an immediate improvement in skills transfer and a reduction in training costs.


Paju-Pomfret explained: "The e-learning programme lopped an hour off the training time taken to achieve competence and it saved, on average, one and half hours travelling time per trainee. So, the e-learning programme not only reduced the time taken to train staff by 40 per cent but also resulted in clear cost savings."


BUPA had worked with TIS before - notably on a specially designed and produced e-learning product for its Care Services business unit - so it knew TIS's capabilities, quality of work and track record.


"We have received a great deal of highly positive feedback about the e-learning course from those who have taken it and, as an organisation, we are beginning to reap the benefits of the programme through improved efficiency in our communications," she continued.


The e-learning programme has the added advantage of providing easily accessible refresher training at any time for a Blackberry user who wants to check on any aspect of operating a Blackberry.


"Since June, we've been allocating a day a month in our training programme in order to run an instructor-led course in using a Blackberry," said Paju-Pomfret. "However, since the introduction of the e-learning programme, only one person has asked to attend the course. Everyone else in BUPA prefers the e-learning course."

End

Notes for editors


About BUPA
BUPA is the UK market leader in health and care with a strong international presence. It has 8 million customers in 180 countries and 44,000 employees. Its main interests are health insurance, hospitals, care homes for older people and young disabled, health assessments, workplace health and childcare services. Sanitas in Spain, HBA in Australia, IHI in Denmark and Amedex in the US are all part of the BUPA Group. BUPA is a provident association which reinvests all its surpluses back into the business. The BUPA Foundation is an independent charity which funds medical research.

About Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) 
Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) is a global pioneer in e-learning, with more than 15 years of experience in designing and developing innovative and cutting-edge e-learning solutions. TIS is a part of the $18 billion Tata Group - one of the largest and most trusted business conglomerates in India. 

TIS employs a global team of over 900 multi-disciplinary specialists - a unique mix of project managers, software engineers, instructional designers, content developers, visual designers and animators. Its service bouquet includes Simulations, Systems Training, New Hire Training, Business Processes and Skills Training, Regulatory and Compliance Training, Sales and Customer Service Training, Adaptive Assessments, Story-based Learning Objects, M-Learning and EPSS. TIS also has a K12 math practice and a K12 content practice, as well as having substantial experience in developing learning content and tools across keystages and subject areas.

Powered by creative talent, sound processes and technological excellence, TIS has developed e-learning solutions for more than 300 clients - including 50 Fortune 500 companies - across the US, the UK, Australia, Mainland Europe, Japan, UAE and India. Its client roster includes leading corporations, renowned educational institutions and government bodies such as American Airlines, British Airways, Citibank, Colgate-Palmolive, ExxonMobil, GE, GlaxoSmithKline, HP, McGraw-Hill, ntl, Orange, Pearson Education, Qantas, Qwest, Royal Mail, Swiss Re, UNICEF, University of Phoenix, University of Maryland and Vodafone, along with Hodder, Oxford University Press, Granada Learning, Nelson Thornes, Research Machines PLC, Compass Learning, Florida Virtual School, Harcourt, Prentice Hall and, in the government sector, BECTA, UFI and DODEA. 

Apart from holding ISO 9001 certification, TIS is the only e-learning organisation in the world to be assessed at Level 5 in both the SEI-CMM and P-CMM frameworks. TIS’s quest for excellence is reflected in numerous prestigious industry awards, including a Silver - Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Award 2005 and 2004, APEX 2005 Award of Excellence, BETT 2004 Best Product Award, and 2 Business World-NID Design Excellence awards. 

For more information log on to www.tatainteractive.com

About the Tata Group 
The Tata Group, established in 1904 by the great visionary Jamsetji Tata, is one of Indias largest and most trusted business houses. The group pioneered the industrial revolution in India by founding, among other things, the first steel plant, power plant and chain of luxury hotels. 

The Group employs more than 330,000 people in 91 companies across diversified industry sectors including steel, automobiles, cement, telecom and IT. Generating revenues to the tune of £7bn per year  2.6 per cent of Indias total GDP  it is recognised as a leader in several industry segments such as such as steel, power, software exports and chemicals. It is also the parent company to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Asias largest software producer. 

Further information from:
Alan Samuel, Tata Interactive Systems, 020 7905 0156, www.tatainteractive.com