“What is the SCORM Cloud?”
The SCORM Cloud is a SCORM content delivery service. It imports standards based content, delivers it to learners, and provides detailed reporting data. It is an elegant, in-place solution to a singular, complicated problem. LMSs have failed to implement SCORM well for years. This provides a complete solution to any system that wishes to deliver standards based training without the full features of an LMS. At Rustici Software, we do one thing, and we do that thing exceptionally well.
“What can I do with the SCORM Cloud?”
Today, eLearning is typically done within the confines of an LMS. While you can select from literally hundreds of LMSs, you are stuck with their sets of functionality. Nearly every LMS has a fairly similar approach to students and learning. We believe that software in general is moving toward the aggregation of best of breed services. Customers want to buy things that work perfectly, meet their needs, and do nothing else, because they can then tie them to their other systems that fit their needs so perfectly. By removing SCORM content delivery from these silo’ed LMSs, we hope to encourage you to build great new things related to learning and standards. We’ve spelled out some of our ideas here, but we hope you go far beyond our wildest dreams.
“Who benefits from applications that use the SCORM Cloud?”
We hope that everyone does. The idea here is that you build an application that sits on top of the Cloud. We get paid based on your usage of the platform, and you get paid from customers who need your application.
“How is the SCORM Cloud different from the SCORM Engine?”
The SCORM Engine does many of the same things as the SCORM Cloud. Both systems are built to be integrated directly with a host system, and handle the same core tasks (import, delivery, tracking). Where the SCORM Engine differs is that the SCORM Cloud is a hosted application, already up and running. Hosted on Amazon’s Web Service architecture, you have no ongoing need to keep the SCORM Engine service up and running. (Amazon’s AWS is particularly relevant in that it provides the fantastic level of service you would expect from Amazon in addition to “infinite” scalability for the Cloud… as loads increase, we can easily spin up additional machine instances to accommodate the load. This architecture is why were able to provide this service at reasonable prices.)
For some, operating based on a deployed architecture is discomforting. These folks are best served by the SCORM Engine (still a great product and the core of the SCORM Cloud). For others, hosting an application is a hassle, configuring it is a hassle, and an in-place architecture for SCORM delivery is a perfect fit.
The SCORM Cloud also comes with substantially lower initial costs, which can be an important option for certain customers.
