PLATEAU SYSTEMS Introduces Opensuite(Tm), The Industry’s First Open Architecture E-Learning Suite For The Enterprise

ARLINGTON, VA – March 8, 2004 – Plateau Systems, the leading provider of enterprise software for learning management and organizational readiness, announced today the availability of Plateau OpenSuite(tm), the industry’s first fully-integrated e-Learning suite that is built on open architecture, offering customers the flexibility to select a suite of applications that leverages their existing IT infrastructure and supports their business rules and strategies.

Through OpenSuite, Plateau provides a fully integrated, pre-packaged suite of learning management, content authoring and management, virtual learning, and business intelligence, supported by the industry’s leading professional services team. Plateau OpenSuite includes a plug and play alternative, allowing organizations to select from a menu of 15 best-of-breed systems that come with out-of-the-box connectors to Plateau 4 Learning Management System (LMS). If an organization wants to use WebEx Training Center(tm) as their synchronous learning platform, it can be provided as an integrated component of OpenSuite. If Microsoft Office Live Meeting(tm) is a better fit for their corporate environment, it can be implemented with similar ease.

There are numerous benefits to implementing an open architecture enterprise application, flexibility and choice among them. Several of Plateau’s Fortune 500 customers are currently realizing these benefits including:

· Leveraging Existing IT Investments: select the technology that best
fits an organization’s business rules and strategic needs
· Enhancing Organizational Readiness: OpenSuite increases an
organization’s ability to respond to change by utilizing the right knowledge across the enterprise
· Reducing Costs and Accelerating ROI: consolidating learning and
human capital management on an enterprise-wide suite provides economies of scale and leverages institutional knowledge across the organization
· Managing Turnover and Increasing Consistency: holistically assess
and manage corporate performance and reduce the negative impact of cyclical turnover

In developing OpenSuite, Plateau engineers built Application Program Interface (API) frameworks within Plateau 4 LMS, ensuring a seamless, advanced integration with all components of the suite. Specially engineered drivers for each of the component systems plug into their associated framework, providing out-of-the-box integration. Executives select the technology that best fits their existing IT infrastructure, and learning and corporate knowledge is managed across the enterprise in a holistic manner. OpenSuite components include:

· Plateau 4 LMS: the industry’s leading Web-based enterprise learning
application, built on open J2EE/EJB architecture. Plateau 4 LMS is the infrastructure for the largest corporate, government and non-profit LMS initiatives in existence
· Team Authoring/Content Management: bridges the gap between traditional authoring and learning content management systems, providing an open architecture platform for team-based e-Learning course creation, courseware development management, and learning content management
· Virtual Learning: provides organizations with a single platform to
incorporate dynamic, collaborative training into the learning landscape and manages it across the enterprise
· Business Intelligence: addresses the full range of an organization’s
analytical requirements, including data analysis, information access, data quality, and reporting

“Plateau OpenSuite is built for the real world, where large organizations must leverage their existing enterprise assets and implement learning and knowledge management suites that advance their corporate strategy,” said Paul Sparta, Plateau’s CEO and Chairman. “Working on the largest corporate, government and non-profit LMS initiatives in existence, we realized that a suite offering must be flexible and scalable enough to extend across the enterprise, and provide the agility needed to respond to change in today’s dynamic business world.”

About Plateau: Plateau’s enterprise-class software manages all of an organization’s learning and knowledge on one scalable platform. Plateau 4 Learning Management System (LMS) is built on Web-based J2EE/EJB architecture, and is the engine behind the largest LMS initiatives in the corporate, non-profit and government markets. Plateau 4 LMS automates the management and delivery of online and classroom learning, organizational knowledge and competencies for clients including the American Red Cross, General Electric, Union Pacific, the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Air Force. Plateau is listed as a leader in LMS evaluations from Gartner Inc. and META Group. The company is headquartered in Arlington, VA. For more information, please visit www.plateau.com.