Saba to Provide Learning Management Solution for U.S. Army Internet-Based Learning Portal
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. — Saba (Nasdaq: SABA), the leading provider of human capital development and management (HCDM) solutions, today announced that Saba Learning Enterprise™ will be used to help provide enlisted soldiers convenient and easy access to higher education degrees and advanced training certifications, via the Army University Access Online program (AUAO).
Saba is a member of the consortium that was awarded the AUAO contract, led by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the world’s largest professional services organization. “This contract represents the single largest e-learning contract ever awarded, and could prove to be a watershed for the industry,” said Trace A. Urdan, Analyst with WR Hambrecht + Co.
The AUAO program offers online courses leading to higher education degrees and vocational certifications to an estimated 80,000 soldiers over the next five years. This cutting-edge program provides enrolled soldiers a comprehensive technology package, including a laptop, printer, Internet connection and software for Web-based access to learning content from a variety of universities and learning content providers. The AUAO program is now being deployed at three US Army posts and will be expanded globally throughout the Army in the future.
“There has been a growing recognition among the military services that access to higher education degrees and certifications is crucial to improving the retention rate for enlisted personnel, particularly among the all-important non-commissioned officers,” said Bobby Yazdani, Saba’s founder and CEO. “The Army required a Web-native distance learning solution that included education services and program management of great power and scope in order to make a real impact on this issue. PricewaterhouseCoopers responded with an integrated learning solution that takes advantage of the globally scalable, open and standards-based infrastructure of Saba Learning Enterprise.”
Saba Learning Enterprise provides organizations with human capital development and management solutions for accelerating learner time-to-competency and improving retention rates across the organization. These features, combined with Saba’s global service and support network and experience with other large, multi-national enterprises, made Saba a key component of the overall solution.
“We are pleased to have Saba as part of our solutions-provider team for Army University Access Online,” said Brian Dickson, Management Consulting Services partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers. “We believe that our program management experience and deep knowledge of higher education, as well as our collaboration with vendors such as Saba, were key to the Army’s consideration and selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ services on this significant project.”
Added Yazdani: “The Internet-based Saba learning solution supports personalized environments and provides the needed scalability and functionality required to support Army University Access Online. Saba looks forward to providing the Army and PricewaterhouseCoopers with world-class human capital development and management solutions as we aggressively move into the public sector.”
About Saba
Saba is the leading provider of Human Capital Development and Management (HCDM) solutions that consist of Internet-based learning, performance, content and resource management systems, business-to-business exchanges, integrated content and related services. Customers around the world rely on Saba for human capital development and management infrastructure to increase competitive advantage by rapidly building critical skills throughout their extended enterprise of customers, partners, employees and suppliers.
As of November 30, 2000, more than 4 million people around the world and tens of thousands of training offerings were “on Saba.” Global 2000 customers include Anheuser-Busch, Cisco Systems, Ford Motor Company, DaimlerChrysler, General Electric, i2 Technologies, Veritas Software, EMC Corp., Sun Microsystems, iPlanet, Red Hat, Hyundai, 3Com, the Competence Network of Norwegian Business and Industry and the U.S. Veterans Benefits Administration.
Founded in 1997, Saba is a global company headquartered in Redwood Shores, Calif. For more information, please visit www.saba.com or
Contact Information:
Media:
Doug Hendrix of Neale-May & Partners
650-328-5555 ext. 115,
Saba Software, Inc
Courtney Ostermann of Saba Software, Inc.,
650-581-2501
