Training and eLearning software is used at all points during an employee's experience - from initial onboarding to advanced professional development - and cuts across many industries. The eLearning Industry blog recently estimated about $35.6 billion was spent on self-paced e-learning worldwide in 2011.  Today, it's a $56.2 billion industry, and that's on pace to double by 2015.

This should come as no surprise; a recent IBM report cites that for every $1 that company spends on employee training, a company can receive $30 worth of productivity.

That said, there are a wealth of e-Learning software vendors that provide solutions for every need, every budget and every industry. eLearning is a common component of many HR Management Suites, but it can also be purchased as a standalone product. Some of the vendors we have listed on G2 Crowd are:

•   SuccessFactors

•   SilkRoad

•   Saba Enterprise Cloud

Training and eLearning software: Doing your homework

In addition to software reviews, these pages contain a wealth of knowledge critical to your selection. In her SuccessFactors review, Doty Sinclair, VP of Talent Strategy Services at Aasonn, writes, "Don't be fooled by a pretty UI - dig deep into functionality before making a decision on a product."

Even the most turnkey products will require time to learn, according to Angela Molock, a technical product manager at Rackspace. "You will need to make sure that you have plenty of ramp up time to learn the system and time in place to test the different features to find out which ones look best for you," she writes in her Adobe Captivate review.

In addition to learning about the vendors, there are a variety of industry blogs and publications that provide great industry insight, including Learning in the Modern Workplace, Chief Learning Officer, and The eLearning Coach.

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NOTE: This article was originally published on the G2 Crowd blog.