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Trying to build and deliver an online program yourself is like deciding to build your own house. Could you do it? Perhaps. But how much time would it take? What would be the costs? Is it a good use of your time and resources? Even if you eventually manage to get the walls up, are you spending the rest of your days fixing leaky roofs, faulty plumbing, etc.? For most of us, it’s likely not worth the price in terms of time, aggravation, and wasted dollars (from having to fix all the false steps).

It’s the same with trying to “do it yourself” with an online learning program. You have to become an expert in online curricula, faculty development, technology deployment, 24/7 technical help desk and student support services, online marketing and lead generation and student retention strategies for online learners - and that’s just for starters. If you are not a specialist in developing online learning courses or programs, the learning curve can be steep and the investment in hardware, software, staff (and time) can be significant. Even if you finally get your online learning program up and running you will still need to support a uniquely skilled in-house IT group to keep it online and running reliably for 24 x 7 x 365.

So, the first order of business is to get down on paper all the hardware, software, staff, training and services you need to have in place to deliver the kind of quality program you envision for your school.

As you may have guessed all the pieces that go into making up a quality online learning program will cost a lot of budget dollars. That said, your next order of business must be to develop a “total-cost-of-ownership” (TCO) report. This report should list not only what you need to put in place to launch your program but all the pieces that you will need to support it on an ongoing basis in the years ahead. Most TCO reports try to look ahead 3-4 years.

When you see that final number you will be no doubt shocked. One common reaction to the real cost of going online is to keep it simple by using a “Basic” (cheaper) version of one of the popular Course Management Systems (CMS), hosting the software on one or two in-house servers, hiring students to monitor the help desk, giving one of your IT people a pager so they can answer difficult student and faculty questions after business hours, and have your online courses consist of text only. However, today’s students expect more than that - much more.

What many small schools don’t realize is you can look to outside organizations to provide all of these components and services. A growing number of vendors will provide the eLearning technology, the courses, the instructors - even the enrollment marketing service for you. More importantly, for many years now a number of vendors have adopted a business model whereby you pay for their products and services on a per-enrollment basis. The first critical decision you have to make is whether you want to handle these essential components yourself or outsource them to a company that provides these full-service, turn-key solutions.