The Army National Guard also has its own criteria for developing or buying course material. The Guard uses in-house resources if they exist and turns to vendors or contractors for expertise that might be lacking or unavailable within the organization. When it comes to developing in-house material, the Bank of Montreal focuses on the business process from the start. Because of rapid product obsolescence, the DLPS found that its clients don't want to wait for lengthy learning application development cycles or to pay for costly upgrades. Instead, the DLPS developed a system where it performs a needs assessment with the client department, begins design and development with their input and then immediately implements a first version of the product, notes the report.
Subsequent versions incorporating improvements and changing client needs quickly follow.
If something isn't available from a vendor, then the LC decides whether it should be internally developed immediately or if it can wait until there is an overwhelming need for the new application.