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Inexpensive, simple and tailor-made: SaaS model is becoming more and more attractive for further training 

Saarbrücken, 24 August 2010 – CLIX SaaS has arrived  in HR departments. For six months now, the software, which is available as a service option of the successful Learning Management System (LMS) of IMC AG, has been used extensively to optimise training. As LMS market leader and SaaS pioneer, IMC AG shows a positive interim result. "Since its introduction we have managed to acquire 25 new CLIX SaaS customers. Amongst those include the employment agency Adecco, but also "Hidden champions" like the packaging specialist Brangs & Heinrich, the British training provider Maven Training and the Australian training provider epsi learning", explains IMC CEO Dr. Wolfgang Kraemer. “The sales discussions run smoothly, we complete the contract quickly and above all – we gain new customers from sectors which up until now have hardly worked with or not worked with learning technologies at all."

Small city runabout or van, saloon or estate, petrol or diesel engine – there is seldom one solution which meets everyone's needs at any time. What car sharing is to the car industry, the SaaS model is to training. Whether an individual package or a comprehensive training package, whether an ad-hoc requirement or long term training - just like a balloon, the scope of utilisation of the LMS can be flexibly expanded or reduced. And all this, within the shortest space of time and with full cost control. Getting started with SaaS is just as easy as with rental cars: The only necessity is Internet access. Implementation of the system into the customer’s IT infrastructure is not necessary and in addition, complete hosting is provided by IMC.Therein, lies one of the successes of SaaS for Kraemer. “If the HR departments can initiate training projects without any assistance from IT, they will not hesitate for long." An additional plus point is of course the rapid availability of the system. “If we have previously put in a request to our hosting service provider for provision of ASP architecture, we had a lead time of at least four weeks. Today, the architecture is in place and ready for use within a few hours”, Kraemer adds.

More than three million users worldwide now work with CLIX; and the trend is increasing. From the SaaS version, Kraemer hopes for a further catalyst, above all due to the undisputed cost advantages. “The customer not only saves the need for investment in hardware and software licences but also saves installation and maintenance costs. As we charge in a fair and transparent way per invoice booking, the customer only pays for the services which he actually uses. The scenario of already paid for, but unused licences, belongs to the past.”  Savings of up to 60 percent against the on-premise model are easy to achieve on this basis.    

   
85 percent of the economic output in German is generated by medium-sized companies and CLIX SaaS is the optimal solution for this customer segment because, continues Kraemer, “a company cannot live solely on the back of Dax groups who prefer individually customised on-premise solutions.” For medium-sized companies in particular, CLIX SaaS is a manageable investment and suitable introduction into the world of technology-based training. “The high number of new customers who we have gained over the past few months confirms the concepts success”, declares Kraemer in conclusion.