It’s crucial for the company to gain more predictability into course launches to properly allocate internal resources. A critical step towards achieving this is to work with instructors to create a course timeline with specific delivery dates along with consequences for missing those dates. Without this, there is no way for us to hold ourselves or instructors accountable, no transparency in the course development process, and consequently, no predictability in course launches.
We need chapter-wise delivery dates so that the Content team and other teams within the company can adequately allocate time and resources. Delivery dates are critical for the following reasons:
Curriculum planning: We need to know which courses will launch when to plan future courses.
The time of Content Developers is allocated according to expected course launch dates.
The Marketing team needs launch dates to plan campaigns (which will benefit the instructor’s course, so it’s in everyone’s best interest).
The Sales and Customer Success teams communicate launch dates to potential and existing customers, and sales forecasts are made accordingly.
During the handoff from Curriculum Manager to Content Developer, a delivery schedule will be laid out and agreed upon by both DataCamp and the instructor. If you, as an instructor, anticipate a delay in meeting your delivery schedule, you should contact your Content Developer as soon as possible. Failing to make your course content available to us according to the delivery schedule will constitute a material breach in your Content License Agreement with DataCamp, and DataCamp reserves the right to terminate the Agreement without any further payment obligations.
The bottom line is that having this transparency helps the company, our users, instructors, and investors. We will do everything from our end (within reason) to help you deliver on time, but if you are unable to meet deadlines, moving forward with course development is likely not a good idea. We want you to launch your course, and having a clear timeline is in everyone’s best interest to ensure launch happens.