Nuance Communications, Inc. is a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. In 2007, the Nuance learning and development team recognized that the company’s existing learning and information gathering methods would not adequately provide its globally distributed technology workforce with the resources needed to learn about new and emerging technological advances or keep skill sets up to date.

For the L&D team, a Web-based source of information that could be deployed throughout the enterprise was the logical solution. To be successful, and to meet the needs of the Nuance R&D and IT groups, it would have to be capable of providing the most current, most reliable technical material and it must be accessible at anytime from anywhere
in the world.

The uniquely specialized technology that defines speech recognition and imaging products is developing at an accelerated pace and the Nuance engineers and developers must be constantly honing their skills and knowledge to stay abreast of the latest advances. Often, in order to keep product offerings up to date and competitive, the Nuance teams need to know about trends and implement developments before they are widely known or in practical use.

With employees in more than twenty countries located throughout the world, and the bulk of the company’s workforce engaged in technology research and development, Nuance could incur significant cost for supplying offices with multiple copies of technology-related books, and additional expense for purchasing updated versions of material. A more important consideration, however, is time—project hours lost while workers are looking for books and searching for relevant information.
And, when that information is erroneous, there are the added costs
of reworking and opportunities lost due to missed deadlines and
launch dates.

Provide technology workers with an online digital library that gives users instant access to the most popular books and news about technology from the most respected publishers and authors. From its surveys of technical managers, the Nuance L&D group learned that its technology teams consistently referenced books and resources from O’Reilly Media, citing O’Reilly Media as the leader in technology and programming publications and information. Given its exclusive subscription access to O’Reilly content, it was evident that only Safari Books Online would meet the
needs of Nuance.

With Safari Books Online, users know that they are acquiring information that is accurate. And, with the Safari Books Online collaboration feature, users can share and discuss the information they’re reading—making the entire team more knowledgeable and productive. Finally, Safari Books Online’s Rough Cuts feature, which provides access to new books and technology information prior to publication, ensures that Nuance’s R&D
and IT teams get the earliest possible access to new developments in technology—helping them to maintain a competitive edge
in the marketplace.