Back to Resources

Should I buy off-the-shelf learning courses or tailored courses?

Simply put, off-the-shelf courses are ready to use and typically far less expensive than tailored courses. But… they cannot be tailored to your specific needs. For some topics, off-the-shelf makes perfect sense (e.g. communication skills, time management, people management, conflict resolution, etc.). However, if you require a high level of customization, you’ll need a tailored course. This is likely to be the case for on-boarding programs, specific processes or products, internal software, etc.
Developing a tailored course takes time. You’ll need to decide whether to develop it internally or externally. But in the end, you own your tailored courses, which means you can easily update them and don’t have to pay a subscription fee year after year.

To sum up, if you cannot wait or don’t have the budget, go off-the-shelf. If your needs are unique or you must own the training, the solution is a tailored course. Note that GalliLearn only creates tailored courses, but there are many off-the-shelf content providers (e.g. Skillsoft, Lynda.com, etc.).