Centra announced CentraOne 6.0

Centra recently announced CentraOne 6.0, a complete open architecture Web platform for knowledge delivery

featuring real-time collaboration, content management, and authoring built on

a common framework. This platform is the culmination of over seven years of engineering,

in-market experience, and continual innovation based on customer requirements.

Unlike competitive products that offer niche technologies, CentraOne is the only

solution that addresses every step in the enterprise knowledge sharing process,

including end user and professional content composition, knowledge delivery and

collaboration, learning content management, and tracking and administration.

"CentraOne 6.0 provides a platform for the exchange of information on

products and strategies with employees, customers, and suppliers, and fits neatly

within our concept of empowering a ‘real-time enterprise,’" said Bruce

Richardson, Senior Vice President of Research at AMR Research. "Access

can be immediate or content can be played back for participation at a more convenient

time. CentraOne is ideal for companies wanting to manage proactive change or

respond rapidly to changing business environments."

Offering a single access point to all live online events, self-service knowledge

resources, and ‘one click’ knowledge capture capabilities, CentraOne enables

business users to share knowledge and acquire the skills they need to reach

their business goals faster, and at a lower risk and expense to the organization.

By integrating a rich set of capabilities on one platform, customers realize

the business benefits of eLearning and collaboration more quickly, while retaining

the flexibility to integrate third-party tools of choice.

"As companies move to align their corporate eLearning and collaboration

strategies with definitive business objectives, there is pressure to deploy

solutions quickly and widely," said Leon Navickas, Centra Chairman and

CEO. "Armed with the most advanced technology, a rich partner ecosystem,

and a compelling return on investment, Centra transcends niche products with

substantive solutions that can impact the success of any business process."

Suite of Applications and Tools

The new CentraOne 6.0 platform supports an array of compatible applications

that accelerate the creation, management, and sharing of knowledge across the

organization, including easy-to-use software tools for content authoring and

composition, a centralized repository for managing corporate and personal knowledge

assets, engines for search and personalization, features for measurement of

individual and organizational competency, and user interfaces for the delivery

of content in live, interactive or self-service formats.

By making these tools and applications widely accessible to any user, CentraOne

allows business professionals across the organization to collaborate in the

knowledge delivery process as subject matter experts, teachers, and contributors.

Using CentraOne’s content creation tools, for example, anyone can quickly author

and publish interactive content and knowledge objects through an easy-to-use

extension to Microsoft(r) PowerPoint(. Users can then access CentraOne’s searchable

online catalog to quickly browse content and recordings by category, title,

and type, making knowledge and information centrally available to everyone 24×7.

Powerful Business Solutions

While the past year witnessed the heightened use of Web collaboration services

in business – as a way to achieve immediate travel cost savings and facilitate

communication – the ability to attain long-term competitive advantage lies in

an organization’s ability to share its ubiquitous knowledge assets over the

Web more broadly. By combining the essential elements of real-time collaboration

and knowledge delivery with all of the world’s content available for sharing

and re-use, CentraOne 6.0 addresses a more critical set of business challenges,

accelerating core business processes to ensure increased revenue and improved

workforce performance.

"We rely on Centra to help empower more than 7,500 employees in 200 locations

across North America with the information and skills they need to create a consistent

customer experience. It’s the key to maintaining our brand and keeps guests

coming back to our hotels," said Mark Eggers, Manager of Online Training

for Wyndham International, a participant in the CentraOne 6.0 beta program.

"In this economy, Centra is an especially great fit for us, enabling us

to reduce expenses and deliver information faster. It lets our employees sharpen

their skills without the extra burden of travel."

Architected for the Global Enterprise

CentraOne 6.0 is the only eLearning and business collaboration platform able

to meet the scalability, integration, security, and globalization requirements

of major corporations today. Architected for the global enterprise, CentraOne

provides a seamless extension to existing infrastructure with significant new

features including:

• Dynamic support for up to 12 languages on a single system, allowing users

  to log in and participate in live sessions in their preferred language;

• Satellite Server facility creating a distributed global network of Centra

  servers to minimize bandwidth impact on an enterprise’s network infrastructure;

• Full encryption of content, communication, and system management data to

  protect corporate information assets delivered over the Internet;

• Dynamic integration of enterprise directory services, such as Microsoft(r)

  Windows(r) 2000 Active Directory(tm), providing organizations with single-point

  user management;

• Integration with Microsoft(r) Outlook(, enabling users to schedule Centra

  meetings, invite participants, and send-receive meeting and training session

  notices from within their calendar system.

Open Environment for Third-Party Integration

CentraOne 6.0 provides an open environment for third-party development and integration

that leverages existing investments in corporate computing infrastructure and

extends the capabilities of the core platform. Through Centra’s standards-certified

API toolkit, diverse systems can be integrated seamlessly with CentraOne, including

third-party Learning Management Systems

(LMS) and global content distribution systems, such as those from SmartForce.

In addition, CentraOne 6.0 builds on Centra’s rich legacy of working with partners

by delivering a set of open and extensible knowledge delivery technologies that

enable providers of business consulting, content development and systems integration

services to implement high-return solutions rapidly for their clients.

"CentraOne is a manifestation of our firm belief that fostering industry

collaboration, openness, and interoperability between eLearning solutions gives

the customer the options they need to configure the best, most comprehensive

solution possible," said Alan May, Vice President of Strategic Alliances

for Centra. "Through this powerful, comprehensive platform, service and

technology companies will find working with Centra the fastest path to their

success and that of their clients."

Packaging and Availability

CentraOne 6.0 is scheduled for general availability worldwide in June 2002.

Elements of the platform, add-on modules, and applications can be licensed separately,

or together as a complete eLearning and collaboration environment that can be

installed on-site or accessed through Centra’s secure ASP. Pricing varies based

on configuration. Call 1-800-414-3591 or 781-994-1168 for details.

About Centra

Leading with an undisputed track record of helping millions of users to increase

revenue and improve overall business performance, Centra provides Web collaboration

solutions that enable the delivery of information in a variety of live and self-service

formats, and add value through unmatched capabilities to capture interactions

and content, personalize and manage this information, and instantly re-use it

across the enterprise. Today hundreds of global organizations across every industry

and market sector choose Centra, including ExxonMobil, Cadbury Schweppes, Citigroup,

AT&T, Procter & Gamble, McKesson, Merck, Nationwide Insurance, Sysco,

and Stanford University. Centra’s products are bolstered by a vital ecosystem

of strategic partners, including PwC Consulting, Deloitte Consulting, EDS, KPMG

iLS, Microsoft, Siebel, Cisco, Oracle, and SmartForce. Headquartered in Boston’s

technology corridor, Centra has sales offices throughout North America, Europe

and Asia. For more information, visit www.centra.com.