Plateau Listed in Leader Quadrant

November 4, 2003

ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 3 — Plateau Systems, the leading provider of enterprise learning management systems (LMS), announced today that it has once again been placed in the leader quadrant in the updated 2003 Gartner’s e-Learning LMS Magic Quadrant — a comprehensive analysis that is considered a main barometer of the industry.

Gartner Inc., an influential technology research and advisory firm based in Stamford, Conn., reviewed 24 LMS companies in the update to its most recent report, titled: “Magic Quadrant for Learning Management Systems, 2H03.” Gartner describes leaders as companies that are performing well today, have a clear vision of market direction and are actively building competencies to sustain their leadership position in the market.

Plateau 4 LMS is the only fully Web-based enterprise LMS built on J2EE/EJB architecture, considered the industry standard for enterprise software. Plateau’s J2EE-based LMS was first released to market in 2001, and now manages learning for more than 3 million students at corporations, government agencies and nonprofit associations around the world. Federal government officials have cited J2EE as the preferred software architecture for all e-Gov initiatives.

While much of the e-Learning industry has been adversely affected by the economy, Plateau has prospered. The company has been profitable in its last four consecutive quarters, and will continue to be profitable throughout 2003. Plateau has grown its revenues by more than 100 percent for four consecutive years. Additionally, Plateau is successfully implementing the largest corporate, nonprofit and government LMS initiatives in existence — at General Electric, the American Red Cross, and the Gov Online Learning Center.

“As the sophistication of buyers has grown in this market, Plateau has emerged as the dominant enterprise LMS player,” said Paul Sparta, Plateau’s Chairman and CEO. “In every deal where technical and functional scalability are issues, Plateau has a clear edge. We are honored that Gartner has once again placed Plateau in the leader quadrant, and we intend to continue our position by offering the best suite of products and customer service in the industry.”

Note: Gartner’s permission to quote its Magic Quadrant research should not be deemed to be an endorsement of any company or product depicted in the quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is Gartner’s opinion and is an analytical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It measures vendors against Gartner-defined criteria for a marketplace. The positioning of vendors within a Magic Quadrant is based on the complex interplay of many factors. Gartner does not advise enterprises to select only those firms in the Leaders segment. In some situations, firms in the Visionary, Challenger, or Niche Player segments may be the right match for an enterprise’s requirements. Well-informed vendor selection decisions should rely on more than a Magic Quadrant. Gartner research is intended to be one of many information sources and the reader should not rely solely on the Magic Quadrant for decision-making. Gartner expressly disclaims all warranties, express or implied of fitness of this research for a particular purpose.

About Plateau Systems: Plateau’s enterprise-class software provides the infrastructure to manage all of an organization’s learning and knowledge and enhance its intellectual supply chain. Plateau 4 Learning Management System is built on open, J2EE/EJB architecture, considered the industry standard for enterprise software. Plateau’s global clients include the American Red Cross, Wendy’s International, the Internal Revenue Service, Federal Express, Nestle USA, Motorola and the U.S. Air Force. The company was founded in 1996, and is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. More information about Plateau is available at http://www.plateau.com.


Danica LowThe SheaHedges Groupwww.sheahedges.com(703) 287-7813