An ecosystem is an ecological community that, together with its environment, functions as a unit. Extending the definition to the e-learning environment, we can define an e-learning ecosystem as the learning community, together with the enterprise, united by a learning management system (LMS).

If e-learning is truly to provide greater access to education and support educational programs that reflect broader strategic business goals, many believe that the e-learning industry must take the time now to learn key lessons from its early adopters.

Add to this picture a climate of software industry consolidation, and the questions some see as critical for the fledgling e-learning industry are clear. Can it learn from the mistakes of elder siblings (customer relationship management, or CRM, and enterprise resource planning, or ERP), and can it adapt to the golden rule that we all were taught in preschool—the importance of playing well with others?

Today, a fully developed e-learning ecosystem can include a human-resources-integrated, Web-based portal where employees can also check their benefits and 401K statements, make changes to medical plans and access learning programs that teach competencies that tie to business objectives and personal career aspirations. Meanwhile, learning officers can access data that helps them integrate their programs to corporate goals, empower line managers to recommend and track training activity, and apply business discipline to help manage the learning assets and activity of the entire enterprise. Organizations with a systematic approach to rolling out these programs will ultimately benefit from a return on investment (ROI), increased productivity and improved employee performance. For most, the journey toward this goal has not been smooth sailing.

"From Chief Learning Officer".