Streamline Learning Systems

The British Columbia Ministry of Forests, in partnership with Sierra Systems Group, decided to design a new web-based Billing System (HBS) to replace their aging application, the Harvest Database Billing System (HDBS), that was over 22 years old and based on mainframe technologies both difficult and costly to maintain. The 5-million dollar HBS application would be implemented in 3 phases to a widespread group of Industry and Ministry users. To smooth the widespread implementation of the new software release, and provide all users with access to training, a just-in-time widespread training solution was required.

	Client time/cost savings: The Ministry of Forests wanted to reduce the typical costs associated with the successful training of such a large and widespread group.
	Audience variety: Although the training was primarily created for Industry users as part of a widespread support initiative, the Ministry was also mandating that it's own internal staff take the training before working with the HBS application.
	Audio-visual delivery: Rather than providing the end users with large volumes of text-based training material, Sierra was looking for a training solution that represented the use of the actual software environment as closely as possible.
	Interactivity: Sierra requested that hands-on training be developed to allow students to try the actual lesson procedures in a simulated version of the HBS software environment before working in the real application. The interactive sections were to provide a secondary function of testing user understanding and reinforcing long term procedure retention.
	Compatibility: The Ministry required that the high quality training would run smoothly on a standard "233 MHz / 32MB RAM / 2MB Video" computer with any recent versions of Windows (95,98,Me,NT4,2000 & XP). For the training to be delivered over a diverse range of computer configurations, the training was to be designed so that it could be installed on dedicated training computers, be sent to users as a stand-alone CDROM, or streamed online over a 33.6K dial-up (or higher) Internet connection.
	Reliability and Usability: To reduce implementation support, Sierra required that the training be intuitive and easy to use, as well as highly reliable.
	Online Project Management: To ensure the successful completion of the training on or before the release of the application, a complete online project management site was requested to provide both Sierra and Ministry staff with access to training materials as they are developed, to allow submission of modification requests, and to allow key staff to monitor the successful realization of the training project deadlines.

With the training being developed in parallel with the creation of the actual application (and not from a complete working software environment), a number of complicated development challenges would need to be addressed. Probably the most challenging, was the fact that necessary components of the development application would not be fully functional, yet the training would still have to be created from a partial semi-functional environment in order to meet timeline objectives. Storyboards would need to be created from an understanding of how the functionality "should" work, and lessons displaying the software environment would need to be "simulated" to display a functional release-ready environment.

In order for the training to be ready for the application release date, the development was also bound to a very tight timeline. Often, 40 minutes worth of audio-visual animated and interactive training had to be created (from the writing of 5000+ word storyboards to delivery of complete audio-visual lessons) in less than 7 business days.

Within 20 days of beginning the project, Streamline provided Sierra Systems and the Ministry of Forests with a complete working prototype of the solution including; A custom project intro animation, a complex scalable menu and navigation system, 5 working voice-base animated lessons, a fully functional interactive hands-on lesson (simulating the actual HBS environment), and a customized buffering engine for lesson streaming. This prototype allowed everyone involved to get a true visual of the final product at the earliest possible stage in the development cycle.

At each concurrent stage of development, Streamline worked remotely with key Sierra staff to first gain an in-depth understanding of the HBS software environment and organize the lesson scripts and storyboards. To ensure that Sierra Systems and the Ministry of Forests could contribute during all critical stages of development, all Storyboards were sent to a review team for approval before the actual lessons were created.

After each animated voice-based lesson or hands-on activity were created, they were immediately placed on the project management web site for approval by the review team.

The finished solution contains 10 training sections and 47 individual lessons. A total of 3 hours 40 minutes (220 Min.) of voice-based training on the HBS software environment is now available to all existing and future users of the system.

To ensure that the solution would be easy to implement, Streamline provided the client with a complete set of professional implementation packages (shown on the left) to allow quick setup of web-servers for online delivery, dedicated training machines for larger user centers, and CD's for remote distribution.

The project was created successfully at a distance through the effective use of email, telephone sessions, and remote access the HBS development environment. In fact, Streamlines' development experience allowed the entire project to be successfully completed without the need for a single live meeting.

The HBS training solution was delivered on schedule, according to budget, and has exceeded both the Ministry of Forests and Sierra Systems expectations. The Ministry has been able to reduce their costs in educating the diverse HBS application user base, while significantly enhancing the quantity and quality of training that the average user receives.

The Phase 2 release of the training has been in use since April 2003, and the training has proven so reliable that not a single instance of product support has been required to date.

Streamline has recently signed a new contract with Sierra Systems and the Ministry of Forests and looks forward to providing the same high quality training with Phase 3 of the HBS application development. This additional training is intended to provide all users of the HBS environment with "just in time" training during phase 3 application release on October 31st, 2003.

"I am writing this letter to express our appreciation for the outstanding service and product we received recently from Streamline Learning Systems.

Their work for the Ministry of Forests� Revenue Branch on the Harvest Billing System web based training was top quality. There were very few modifications necessary for modules, no doubt due to their high skilled resources and interest in obtaining the necessary business knowledge required to produce a complex training package of this calibre. Questions and or concerns were addressed immediately and professionally, and the product was delivered within originally established timelines and costs.

Users throughout the province including the Harvest Billing System project sponsor and the executive provided very positive feedback on the ease of use and high quality of sound and design. I would not hesitate to recommend Streamline Learning Systems to any organization requiring development of a web based training package."