The company found that hotels in London are charging more than 100% the normal rates for a night during the Olympics, which is pushing businesses to cancel or postpone their staff training around that time. "That's not necessarily the best decision for businesses to make, considering that work will be much slower for many of them during the Games", says Jeff Smithies, channel director at Redtray Solutions.

Smithies adds, "Companies think it's more cost effective to postpone their training because travel disruptions and accommodation prices in London during the Olympics add to the overall cost of training. But delaying the development needs of the business may not necessarily be the best resolution."

He believes the biggest assets of an organisation are its people, and to be competitive in a constantly changing business landscape it's important to invest in their learning and development. "The solution for this situation is simple: live online learning. Go remote and encourage your staff to train from their homes or offices", says Smithies.

Live online learning, also referred to as cloud-based learning or virtual classrooms, is often compared to traditional classroom training. Smithies explains, "Online classes and workshops are delivered in real time with live instructors, which makes the virtual class environment very similar to the one in a traditional classroom."

According to him, cloud-based training does more than merely save businesses the cost of accommodation and spare people the hassle of travelling around London during the Games. "It also makes learning easy because it eliminates information overload. Live online classes are broken down into small chunks, which is not the case in day-long classroom training sessions. This allows for efficient, long-term improvement of skills."