SkillSoft Releases 27 Business Skills Courses Localized for Chinese Market

January 15, 2002

SkillSoft Corp. (Nasdaq: SKIL), a leading provider of e-learning courseware and Referenceware for business and IT professionals, today announced the release of 27 business skills courses localized for the Chinese market and covering areas such as project management, customer service, and leadership. The ongoing localization initiative is the result of SkillSoft’s strategic alliance agreement with Beida-Online, a joint venture of Peking University and Jade Bird Group, a major Chinese IT company. Under the agreement, Beida-Online,

which is headquartered in Beijing, has distribution rights to all SkillSoft courses and other products in China.

Localizing courses for use by Chinese corporations involves translation from

English to Mandarin and incorporation of appropriate imagery and examples relevant

to the Chinese market. Localization work is shared by Beida-Online, which handles

all development work, and SkillSoft, which provides the development tools, methodology,

and quality assurance. Plans call for a significant number of SkillSoft’s 1,000-plus

business skills courses to be localized for the Chinese market over the calendar

year.

"Chinese businesses are eager to learn more about business. Our company

sees e-learning as an efficient way to help Chinese businesses of all sizes

learn the business skills required to compete in today’s global business market,"

said Ni Jinlei, president and CEO of Beida-Online. "We evaluated other

e-learning content vendors as potential partners and chose SkillSoft because

of its extensive course library and excellent industry reputation."

In addition to SkillSoft courses, Beida-Online also offers its own courses, developed through the use of information resources available

through Peking University, China’s oldest and most prestigious university. China’s

largest web-based training provider for professionals and businesses, Beida-Online

counts among its customers Lexmark (China), Industrial Bank of China, and Ping

An Insurance. In a recent survey conducted by the China Internet Statistics

Center, a majority of respondents predicted that on-line training would be the

biggest Internet business in China, outpacing on-line shopping and B2B commerce.

One of the largest in the industry, the SkillSoft business skills library encompasses

areas such as such as management, leadership, communication, project management

and customer service, as well as business subjects such as e-commerce, finance,

marketing, sales, and strategy. SkillSoft courses were among the first to be

designed purely for web-based delivery. Incorporation of learning object architecture

and job aids into each course gives learners the ability to search and find

the specific information required for

"just-in-time" job performance support. SkillSoft’s library currently

contains more than 12,000 learning objects — self-contained sections of information

about specific topics requiring about five- to ten-minutes of learner time —

and 2,500 job aids such as checklists, outlines, and samples.

"We are very proud of our partnership with Beida-Online. Beida’s belief

in the business value of web-based training is a perfect match to our own philosophy.

They also share a similar commitment to quality," said Chuck Moran, president

and CEO of SkillSoft. "As companies throughout the world begin to compete

on a global scale, the demand for business skills training will continue to

foster the widespread adoption of e-learning."

About SkillSoft

With more than two million user seats, SkillSoft is a leading provider of comprehensive,

integrated e-learning solutions for Global 2000 companies and government organizations.

Customers receive comprehensive learning and performance support solutions for

their workforce through SkillSoft’s business skills library, comprised of more

than 1,000 courses for global business markets, of which over 550 are in U.S.

English. The library, which also includes more than 12,000 learning objects

and 2,500 job aids, encompasses a wide array of business skills, such as management,

leadership, communication, project management and customer service, as well

as business subjects such as e-commerce, finance, marketing, sales, and strategy.

SkillSoft complements SkillSoft courses with SkillSimulations, Web-based simulations

designed to reinforce skills newly acquired through specific courses. SkillSoft

courses can be managed and tracked through SkillPort, an e-learning management

platform that offers rapid implementation at a cost-efficient price point, or

through third-party learning management systems.

SkillSoft recently acquired Books 24×7, which offers subscription clients detailed

online searches to more than 1,700 unabridged IT and business books. Books24x7’s

patent-pending technology platform gives users the ability to perform multi-tier

searches of the company’s Referenceware lines: ITPro, BusinessPro and OfficeEssentials.

For more information, visit www.skillsoft.com.

SkillSoft, SkillPort, RolePlay, Search-and-Learn, SkillSimulation, and Referenceware

are trademarks of SkillSoft Corp. All brand names, trademarks, or registered

trademarks are the property of their respective holders. Safe harbor language:

This release includes information that constitutes forward-looking statements

made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation

Reform Act of 1995. Any such forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties

that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results

encompassed within the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause

or contribute to such differences include competitive pressures, changes in

customer demands or industry standards, adverse economic conditions, loss of

key personnel, litigation and other matters disclosed under the heading "Future

Operating Results" in the Company’s most recent Report on Form 10-Q filed

with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking information

provided by the Company in this press release represents the Company’s estimates

as of January 2002. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will

cause the Company’s estimates to change. However, while the Company may elect

to update this forward-looking financial information at some point in the future,

the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. This forward- looking

information should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s estimates

of its future financial performance as of any date subsequent to the date of

this release.

CONTACT:

Linda Galloway

Apollo Associates

+1-203-790-1591

lgalloway@apolloassociates.com

John Catlin

Managing Director of SkillSoft Asia Pacific

+61 2 9960 0040

jcatlin@skillsoft.com

Web site: http://www.skillsoft.com/