On-demand Web-based Training

by Paul DeVeaux

ScreenWatch 2.0 Helps Merant Deliver E-Courseware for Customers

     This is a case study about the search for training production solutions that provided MERANT (Rockville, Md.) with the capability to translate two days of stand-up training into a few hours of accessible, on-demand Web-based training. To achieve its goal, MERANT's staff partnered with OPTX International (Chico, Calif.) to develop an online training course for its PVCS products. Instead of the industry's standard four-month turnaround, OPTX International's ScreenWatch 2.0 helped MERANT's staff create the training in less than five weeks.

INDUSTRY LEADERS
     MERANT is a global e-business software solutions company that e-enables its customers. OPTX International created ScreenWatch, a streaming screen capture software, which gives multimedia producers true-to-source screen recording capabilities. Since 1999, OPTX has provided reliable screen capture content via RealNetwork G2 Software over the Internet, corporate intranet or for CD-ROMs.

MERANT'S CAPABILITIES
     MERANT delivers application solutions to accelerate a company's e-business initiative. Founded in 1976, MERANT is a global organization with over $360 million in annual revenue, 2,000 employees and more than 500 technology partners. The company claims that more than 5 million professionals use MERANT technology and solutions at 35,000 customer sites, including the entire Fortune 1000, the majority of the Global 500 and over 400 leading dotcoms.
     MERANT'S offerings consist of Egility Infrastructure Solutions (I-Solutions) and enterprise solutions (e-Solutions). MERANT'S I-Solutions combines the company's technologies, expertise, best practices and partners. MERANT helps customers create an e-business application infrastructure so they can build, integrate and manage the multitude of applications that provide a competitive edge. One of the technologies fundamental to MERANT I-Solutions is MERANT's PVCS technology that provides the capabilities to manage Web content, the application development process, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and other packaged applications.
     MERANT's e-Solutions capabilities include business strategy, creative design, applications development and legacy integration. In addition to MERANT e-Solutions and I-Solutions, MERANT places a significant emphasis on training. The company believes it is important to help customers understand, develop and utilize technology in today's rapid technological change.

MERANT UNIVERSITY
     MERANT University was established to provide comprehensive education and training solutions to help IT teams build software for business advantage. Courses are offered at MERANT's facilities, at customers’ locations or in a variety of public settings. Its courseware is award-winning, and MERANT trainers have expertise in curriculum development. As a renowned software development and service company, MERANT has 25 years of experience in developing effective training solutions.
     As some companies have in-house trainers, MERANT offers "Train the Trainer" which provides customer's trainers with MERANT's management and technological expertise. This program offers consistent information and course content so that trainers can effectively teach others how to utilize MERANT's products.

A DAUNTING CHALLENGE
     MERANT University helps leverage the use of human capital through training and knowledge management. To develop its e-learning courseware, MERANT wanted a faster and less costly production method. OPTX International offered a solution to that problem. Laura Partyka, director of MERANT University, says that, "MERANT's Web-based e-learning courseware is one way that MERANT distinguishes itself from the competition. It's designed to help customers learn our products at their own pace. By working with OPTX and its ScreenWatch software we have been able to develop and implement our courseware in a fast and cost-effective manner."

TRAINING SOLUTIONS
     MERANT uses LearningStream from OPTX International to make it as quick and easy as possible to come up with turnkey training solutions for its customers. LearningStream is part of the DirectInfo family of comprehensive, cost-effective multimedia production services form OPTX. LearningStream virtually takes any company's top trainers to customer's sites via networks or stand-alone computers. ScreenWatch is DirectInfo's proprietary software developed by OPTX International for video and streaming applications. ScreenWatch is incorporated into the LearningStream solution for the recording and playback of streamed screen content.
     MERANT uses ScreenWatch to record PVCS content for delivery over the Internet because it is easily accessible by MERANT's customers. The company contends that it changes the way teams manage development, enabling higher productivity and quality with a faster time to market cycle. MERANT also argues that PVCS products allow customers to automate and manage the entire software development lifecycle, and deliver better software systems with repeatable success.
     Using ScreenWatch software incorporated into LearningStream from OPTX International, MERANT turned two days of stand-up training into a four-hour, Web-based session that is accessible any time. "The OPTX solution provides us with the capability to give our students word search functions for easy accessibility and a small footprint so that we can offer more information. It also provides a low bandwidth so that it is available for multiple platforms," comments Nancy Vodicka, manager of MERANT University e-learning solutions. "What’s more, there is no degradation of image or content. With perfect resolution, even when there's handwriting on an Ibid Board, small fonts on a computer screen are clearly readable. With full screen capture, we rest assured that all of the information gets to our students over the Internet or corporate intranets."
     Michele Hunter, MERANT's marketing manager, adds "Our students are living busy lives. They work at home or in a corporate setting. They need training wherever they are, and they can't always attend a class. Whether at home or work, they can log onto MERANT's Online Learning Center to take a class. ScreenWatch gives our students a virtual classroom experience."

OPTX: A SOLUTION PARTNER
     Founded in 1989 by Brian Meyerpeter, OPTX introduced ScreenWatch 1.0 software a year ago. Since then, ScreenWatch has become a leading streamable screen capture software. To celebrate its one-year anniversary in April, version 2.0 was announced. Version 2.0 provides multiplatform server support for Windows NT, Solaris and Linux platforms. It also provides users with live Webcast capabilities that enable desktop streaming in real-time when coupled with RealNetworks G2 Servers.
     Several new features for ScreenWatch were introduced in 2000. With these features, OPTX offers high-color, true-to-source screen recording capabilities for Windows 2000. This will provide multimedia producers with 16 bit capture of over 65,000 colors that can be streamed over a bandwidth as low as 24 kpbs.
     "OPTX is extremely easy to work with. I can't say enough about how OPTX works within our boundaries and how this company enables us to provide great training over the Internet,"” says Vodicka. MERANT's trainers view the collaboration between the two companies and the resulting courseware as a value-added process that benefits everyone. With ScreenWatch, MERANT's multimedia producers and trainers have an effective tool that helps them develop courses that support their products and customers.