After six months of intensive development, https://www.skillvest.com[Skillvest] has 'soft launched' as a comprehensive online directory service designed to enable a quicker and more accurate matching of training needs with suppliers.
Over the past two years, several companies have endeavoured to capture this market including TrainingDecisions, TrainingDirectory, TrainingPages, TalkingTraining as well as the long established Training Index (which is also now available electronically). An initial browse around the Skillvest site shows that it offers a very different level of interaction and business-to-business service, designed, as the promotional material suggests "to provide suppliers and customers with a competitive advantage via the Web with no initial cost".
Chief Executive Jac Peeris says that not all the features have yet been published on the site and that a number of additional tools will be rolled out before the site's formal launch at the HRD exhibition in April. If those areas which are currently 'under development' reach the standard of the rest of the site, this will be a valuable resource for training managers.
At the heart of the site is a search facility which matches keyword enquiries against a database of training courses and resources. The size of this database is critical for the success of such sites. Skillvest have developed relationships with a wide range of course providers both large and small. Testing the system with some typical enquiries ('appraisal', 'time management') produced extensive listings, mostly of calendar courses and in-house bespoke opportunities, but also including some printed resources. Jac Peeris says that 2,500 courses are currently listed, and a further 10,000 are being loaded; more will be entered as the partner network expands. Beyond the simple search, there is a sophisticated advanced search which enables enquiries to be matched by price, location, industry sector, level, and style.
Unlike several other directories, the information on each entry is usually as comprehensive as you would find in a paper catalogue. As well as standard venue, date and price information, there is good data on the course content, and - helpfully - information about the suppliers' cancellation policy.
Being added to the site are a number of additional tools and features such as discussion forums, post-course evaluation pages, consumer views, and a range of background papers and articles. I will be interested to see how the support for purchasing consortiums, and the provision of a tendering facility, are developed - both could add considerable value to the service.
The Skillvest service is openly available over the Internet. It is also intended to be installed on company intranets in a way which compliments existing HR policy and practices. Clients can configure the process to track spending, log training, and administer assessment tools.
This is a well-thought out business-to-business site which offers substantial benefit to the Training Manager, particularly in larger companies (the main target audience). Individual users are equally able to use the search engine to locate courses of interest. The user will be able to compare offerings and prices, develop an overview of the resources available, and commission suppliers with ease.
For the training provider, Skillvest does not charge for listings (nor for searches), but negotiates a commission on sales achieved through the site.
The financial backing for this new company, the underlying technology, and the range of partners all suggest that Skillvest is a name with which training managers will become increasingly familiar. We'll look to commission a TrainingZone users review of the site shortly. Meanwhile, users views on this form of Directory service are welcome using the Comments facility below.
