"Everybody loves this product. It's selling like hotcakes," said Xpert Learning Director Paul Gledhill. "The eLearning market is really taking off in this region, and clients need a stable and straightforward platform to deliver and manage eLearning initiatives. EKP is not only easy to install and set up, but it is scalable. This allows us to start with pilot projects for organizations that are planning eLearning initiatives and then, when executive approval is given, scale these up to enterprise levels with the minimum amount of fuss."

Xpert Learning's client base includes financial services firms, petroleum operations, education services, and retail companies in the region.

NetDimensions CEO Jay Shaw credits the Dubai success to the professionalism of Xpert Learning, in particular the support team. "The staff at Xpert Learning has done a marvelous job as a NetDimensions partner. Not only have they signed some of the leading national corporations in Dubai, but they have even signed additional agreements with one of our existing global clients, ABN AMRO," said Shaw.


The Middle East is the fastest growing market for eLearning products and services worldwide. "There is a strong interest in education motivated by large-scale changes in the economic systems (of Middle Eastern countries)," said Dr. Bassem Khafagi of Nahda University, Egypt, an expert on eLearning in the region.


According to figures from Madar Research, in Dubai alone the eLearning market will grow to US$ 24 million in annual expenditures by 2008, boosted by government-led education initiatives and a knowledge-conducive environment.

While Dubai sees itself as a frontrunner in the region's deployment of eLearning, other Gulf regions are not standing still. The Saudi Arabia eLearning market is on track to grow at a compound average annual growth rate of 32 percent through 2008.