Let’s continue to explore the French market with Epistema and its director: Vincent Desnot.

Sébastien FRAYSSE (SF) – Before describing your LMS – Epistema LMS 2010 – could you present Epistema in a few words, as well as the different layers of your software offer?

Vincent DESNOT (VD) – Created in 2000, Epistema is a software publisher specialized in the domain of on-line assessment and training. At the present day, as a subsidiary of CrossKnowledge group, we are the French leader on this market. Epistema publishes an LMS and an assessment software on line: Epistema Assessment Server.

SF – The LMS market remains a very competitive one. How do you manage to get distinguished? What makes you different from your competitors? What are the reasons for opting for Epistema LMS?

VD – Epistema LMS is currently the mostly used platform in France with 60% of CAC 40 and a large number of schools, training centers and SMEs.
It is also the French platform which benefits from the strongest yearly R&D budget, ensuring durability and innovation.
We are also the only French actor to exclusively focus on e-learning. We are not a continuation of Talent Management. Our LMS is the result of Epistema and CrossKnowledge group 10-year experience as regards to on-line pedagogical formats.

SF – For about 2 years now, Epistema has joined up CrossKnowledge group. What are the resulting advantages? Are you benefiting from international opportunities? What is the impact for your customers?

VD – First of all, joining up CrossKnowledge group has developed our investment capability in the R&D domain, thus allowing us to invest in performance and the platform quality as well as in new pedagogical formats (mobile, social learning). We have also been allowed to rely on the excellent commercial network of the group, notably abroad (in particular Benelux, UK, Italy, Spain) to develop our sales. The turnover has been multiplied by 4 in 2 years.

SF – Epistema LMS is from now on interfaced with authoring tool Mohive that CrossKnowledge acquired in June 2010. Does the on-line and collaborative content development correspond to a real trend? Could you explain why?

VD – This takeover has enabled us to create a real integrated software suite to develop and diffuse on-line training programmes. Alike the LMS, Mohive enables to work within a multi-lingual and multi-actors environment. Mohive asset lies both in its power and its use easiness. This software makes our customers autonomous in the development of their trade contents.

SF – What shall be your future development axes? Which new functionalities or capabilities do you judge important to develop in the coming years?

VD – CrossKnowledge massively invests in new promising pedagogical formats such as « social learning » or « mobile learning ». We try to explore all the conditions which shall allow our customers to train faster, quicker, better and at a lower cost.

SF – Thank you very much Mister Desnot for this great interview. Our readers can visit the Epistema website to go further.