acep eTraining: Offering a unique learning experience with Odoo

Company name: acep eTraining GmbH
Location: Germany
Industry: eLearning
Partner name: Bergmann Consulting, TUTORize GmbH
Main Apps implemented: E-Commerce/Website, Events, Accounting
Company Size: 10
Number of Users: 1
Hosting Type: On-Premise

Overview

acep eTraining provides digital training courses for aviation employees and beyond. After struggling to gain new customers as setting up and configuring an LMS usually resulted in long-term inflexible user agreements, the company quickly realized they needed to find a new method to provide their eTrainings. Working in collaboration with Bergmann Consulting using an agile software development approach, acep’s Odoo solution was deployed over a 6 month period. Thanks to Odoo, the e-training company is now able to deliver their e-trainings in a faster, more flexible and above all, less bureaucratic way. 

Key Challenges and Requirements

On request, acep provides web based training (WBT) on a learning management system (LMS) and supports the aviation and other industries in organizing the education and training for their employees. As everything is done digitally, acep provides training in an efficient, modern and environmentally friendly manner.

In addition to providing digital training, the company also supports training providers from a variety of companies and industries in the selling of digital training formats. They provide support with the requirements for the automatic management of trainers, registrations of participants, creation and dispatch of certificates, billing, etc. For acep, these are optimally met with the help of the LMS and the eCommerce interface in Odoo.

Prior to implementing their Odoo solution, acep was struggling to get new customers and providing e-trainings was a complex and manual process which usually resulted in long-term inflexible user agreements for a learning management platform. acep quickly realized if they wanted to entice new customers and become a partner to even more education providers, they needed to find a way to deliver their eTrainings in a faster, more flexible and above all, less bureaucratic way.

Solution

Odoo partner Bergmann Consulting was recommended to acep thanks to their expertise in creating an interface to the existing learning management system. The two worked together and implemented the following Odoo apps:

Events: The API of the LMS was used to create a connection between acep’s eTraining courses and Odoo events. As they are now selling event registrations, customers can now buy and consume content without being dependent on acep setting up an LMS system for them in advance. This has enabled the company to address customers with little user numbers. The Odoo partner even developed integrations that allow Odoo to automatically handle users in the LMS and add further details to certificates originating in the LMS. Today, acep offers a unique experience to customers that clearly sets them apart from competitors.

Website: The e-training company’s existing website design and content was transferred to Odoo in order to integrate the eCommerce module. With Odoo, they are now able to create and manage courses in the LMS and automatically synchronize the information to their online learning academy. acep is happy to have the option to further enrich the information incoming from other systems by using the content management system available in Odoo.

Accounting: With courses being booked online, acep is very grateful for the connected processes like invoicing, the correct application of taxation as well as the automated mail features running independently.



Project discussions began in January 2021 and the project went live late June as planned. Odoo partner Bergmann Consulting coached the company using an agile software development approach. A rough scope of the project was defined early on but during the project they were able to adapt features on the go to best meet the audience’s needs. Besides writing user stories, the company and the partner worked collaboratively on sketches, screens and workflows. This was very helpful in steering the direction of the project. As soon as a user story or feature was finalized, acep were directly involved in testing. This way, they were always able to change course if needed.

After GoLive, acep decided to internationalize their website and were amazed that the work was finished in just a few days. The content translation tools in Odoo were very helpful in translating acep’s content. The company even has some images that change depending on the selected language - this feature was added by Odoo partner Bergmann Consulting.

Results

acep received a lot of feedback and feels the market is much more interested in the progress of their company now than prior to the existence of the online learning academy. They have seen revenues fluctuate during the first two months which they expected because the platform was launched during the same time as the publishing of a one-time compulsory training course for cockpit crews. What has been fascinating for the company is that the revenue issue for the yet limited number of available WBT is the reason why their consulting service in addition to their partner programs are attracting greater interest. The engagement rate is very promising and so far, they have received a lot of valuable input from external sources.

“We are thrilled about the opportunities Odoo is adding to our already very sound LMS. The developed online academy perfectly fits the demand to automate the selling, booking & accounting processes for all sorts of training to the external market. While using just one platform to organize users and training, we now can address both - employees and external customers - at the same time. Thanks to the efforts of our partners Bergmann Consulting and TUTORize we are implementing further upgrades regularly so our customers will get even more opportunities in the future.”
-Nikolaus Kühner, Managing Partner at acep eTraining

Odoo comes with a lot of features out of the box that acep were able to make use of right away and the features are perfectly integrated. For the e-training company, Odoo feels like a framework perfectly built for integration and adaptation. Odoo has enabled them to create new functionality that they need without losing compatibility to the standard system. For acep, this is extremely powerful. They were able to take Odoo standard as a foundation and add features that really enhance processes and created a unique customer experience, helping acep to further differentiate themselves from the competition.

About acep eTraining
acep e-training provides digital training courses for aviation employees and beyond. Upon request, we provide these WBT (Web Based Trainings) on a learning management system (LMS) & support companies in organizing their education and training organization in an efficient, modern and CO2-efficient manner.

About Bergmann Consulting
Bergmann Consulting supports SME in growing their business by combining deep scientific and practical knowledge about business models, software and modern IT infrastructure. We not only identify and improve business processes worth changing for better efficiency. We are also here to assist in discovering new business opportunities. With us, you hire a coach for your digitization projects who proactively supports you from concept to GoLive.

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