Backstage 20CPE.com

Backstage 20CPE.com

by Helmi AJ – 4 Dec 2020

Since we launched on 21 March 2020 – 3 days after the Movement Control Order (MCO) began as a measure to flatten the infection curve of the SARS-CoV-2 – we have played host to hundreds of participants. Malaysia’s first recipient of online CPE points was R Chin on 30 March 2020. Today, we continue to see a great deal of interest from people who are reconsidering their professional learning approaches.

As we approach 2021 and a promising end to the triple whammy – health, economic and social issues – arising from the pandemic, it seems right to reflect upon our journey so far.

We have been working hard quietly behind the scenes from the moment the SIDC announced their new framework which allowed for CPE points to be gained from structured e-learning. The SIDC defined structured e-learning as being online courses where the participants are assessed on their understanding of the subject. The assessment is through a quiz with either objective questions, subjective questions or a combination of both.

When Covid-19 struck early this year and the government subsequently announced the MCO, many training companies were caught offguard. These were traditional training providers who have been offering classroom-style programmes complete with one or more speakers. As face-to-face training was banned, the classes had to be cancelled.

Our classes were not spared either.

Years of building helped us go online faster than anyone else. Many other training providers negotiated with the SIDC and successfully reached a middle ground. Live video conferences were allowed in the interim until they were able to launch their own e-learning systems.

Constructing a fully functioning system for online courses is not as easy as it sounds. It is as complex as a production house with many moving parts. Just like traditional classroom training, we have to prepare a course outline, splitting each programme into sections. The sections are further broken down into sub-sections. All the while making sure that the flow of the programme is tight.

But that’s where the similarity ends.

We also have to shoot videos of the speakers. Record voiceovers. Source for footage, graphics, music and sound effects. The videos and sound for every module have to be edited. The entire process of putting together the videos for a programme can take months to complete.

There are some that take the easy way out. They record a training session whole and then chop it up into sections. Hardly any editing is done. You get the raw version, warts and all.

At Neurover, we take great pains to ensure the quality of our courses. Our videos are professionally scripted and produced using best in industry equipment and editing software. We strive for documentary level infotainment, fusing together a visual spectacle with auditory delights.

All these take a toll on the infrastructure supporting our services. That is why we have pursued a delivery strategy based on redundancy. While our website itself is hosted in one data centre, our videos are stored in servers in other geographically distant data centres. This ensures that downtime is virtually eliminated and it gives you – our customer – a smooth and satisfying experience.

Our data centres are all in Malaysia to maximise speed. Imagine if the videos are stored in other countries like the US. The request has to travel from Malaysia through cables to the US and the video has to travel back the same way. Speed is compromised and crashes occur frequently. Local data centres are closer to you and therefore are better able at sending data uninterrupted.

Our media servers are specifically tuned to deliver the highest quality video at the highest internet speeds. It will however adapt to your internet connection. If the signal in your area is patchy, our media servers will automatically reduce the video quality so that you still enjoy it with minimum lag. If you are watching on a device with high internet bandwidth, our media servers will deliver 1080p HD quality video practically lag-free. If you need to re-watch a video, you can always do so during the extra long 30-day access period.

The underlying architecture of our system is open-source and built upon Linux – the chosen operating system for robust mission critical networks. We tie up with a number of domestic and international partners providing a multitude of services and products including backup, caching, e-commerce, antivirus and network security. We employ Secure Socket Layer (SSL) a communications technology that encrypts all the data between your device, our servers and the payment gateway. This ensures that communications are private and prevents snooping. You can rest assured that the security of your data is topmost in our minds.

Our core learning management system has been developed in-house in partnership with a reputable international firm. Their experience of successfully being deployed in millions of similar systems around the world gives us the solid confidence and best in class foundation to build upon. Our system is designed for section-by-section progression. Every time you complete a module our system will record the event and allow you to progress to the next module. That is why we know exactly where you left off.

One of the prime features of our system is the flexible quiz design. However for the simplicity of our courses, we have chosen a combination of single choice and multiple choice questions. Our system records your answers and your score. Notwithstanding, these are for your own use and we don’t typically share them with anyone.

Finally, our choice of Stripe as the payment system is grounded upon our aligned values and culture. Stripe’s payment gateway system – like our e-learning system – is simple and clean. Their focus is squarely on getting the job done, which is to get your payment details and quickly turnaround with the payment confirmation. Their simplicity is positively correlated with speed. The end result is you get to take our courses much faster compared to other payment systems. It’s no wonder that they are CNBC’s No. 1 Disruptor 50 company.

We believe in continuous improvements. Our partners regularly launch upgrades to their hardware and software. On our end, we persist in making our system operate better. We have no qualms about letting go of partners. We constantly install new technologies to expand our capabilities, We sometimes replace existing modules where new ones appear that offer better value.

We have a whole line up for 2021 covering areas such as financial modelling, Islamic finance, equities market, treasury products and legal and compliance. In addition to creating new programmes, we re-visit existing courses to refresh the content. If you would like to have a sense of what we offer, you can take a tour with our free tutorial.