Contacts:
Linda Galloway
Apollo Associates LLC
203 790 1591
lgalloway@apolloassociates.com
SkillSoft Corporation Fact Sheet
January 2005
Business:
SkillSoft PLC (Nasdaq: SKIL) is a leading provider of enterprise e-learning, with
learning resources targeted to business and IT professionals within Global 2000
organizations and complementary technologies to increase learning efficiencies.
SkillSoft’s multi-modal learning solutions support and enhance the speed and
effectiveness of both formal and informal learning processes and integrate SkillSoft's indepth courseware, Referenceware®, learning management technology, and support
services.
SkillSoft was founded in 1998 and became one of the first companies to bring business
skills training to the e-learning environment. In September 2002, SkillSoft merged with
SmartForce, an industry pioneer established in 1981 that focused primarily on IT training.
SkillSoft focuses on meeting the comprehensive business skills and information
technology learning needs of professionals through a comprehensive range of e-learning
solutions.
The primary content offerings of SkillSoft include:
•
•
•
Business Skills Library: More than 2,280* course and simulation titles
encompassing professional effectiveness, management/leadership, project
management, sales and customer-facing skills, business strategy and operations,
finance, human resources, health and safety, and financial services. Courses
feature strong visual design; a focus on instructional objectives at the application
and analysis levels; learner interactivity and reinforcement through RolePlays,
SkillSimulations, and case studies; and pre- and post-course assessments with
prescriptive learning capabilities.
IT Skills and Certification Library: More than 1,900 course titles encompassing
software development, operating systems and server technologies, Internet and
network technologies, enterprise database systems, Web design, and desktop
computer skills. The library also supports more than 80 current certification
exams.
Books24x7 ITPro™, BusinessPro™, FinancePro™, EngineeringPro™,
OfficeEssentials™, ExecSummaries™, and ExecBlueprints™ Referenceware
collections. More than 6,000 unabridged IT and business books, reports, and
expert summaries are available to online subscribers through SkillSoft’s
subsidiary, Books24x7. A unique, award-winning search engine gives subscribers
the ability to perform multi-level searches across all Referenceware resources.
•
Environmental, health, and safety compliance courseware from SkillSoft’s
GoTrain division. More than 90 courses, many of which are also available in
Spanish, address standards mandated by the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the
Department of Transportation (DOT). Topics covered include asbestos
awareness, defensive driving, chemical safety, environmental controls, electrical
safety, ergonomics, personal protective equipment, and hazardous materials. The
company also offers more than 30 environmental, health, and safety courses that
address UK-mandated standards.
*Numbers include both U.S. English and localized courses.
Mission:
SkillSoft’s goal is to provide the right learning resource, at the right time, in the right
place, and in the right way to support the learning and productivity needs of individual
learners and overall corporate objectives. The company believes that for learning to be
truly effective, it must be ongoing and integrated into the very fabric of the enterprise.
Company activities support the following tenets:
•
Learning has the power to transform individuals and companies; a learning culture is
critical to achieving success over the long term.
•
Complete learning solutions encompass content, technology, and services designed to
provide formal learning and informal performance support.
•
Depth, breadth and quality of resources are important, but the ability to give efficient
access to the resources is equally important.
•
Products must blend seamlessly within complex learning environments and support
overall learning goals with measurable results.
•
Integration with other software, systems and providers is key; leadership in standards
is how we can achieve this.
•
Success is dependent upon helping customers understand the constantly changing
world of learning and working together to shape learning’s future in ways that will
benefit them.
Industry Standing:
SkillSoft currently has more than 2,800 corporate and government accounts across the
globe and more than five million licensed users.
SkillSoft offers courseware in 16 languages, including U.S. English, U.K. English,
Canadian French, European French, Latin American Spanish, Castilian Spanish, Italian,
German, Dutch, Polish, Brazilian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese Mandarin, Chinese
Cantonese, and Chinese traditional.
SkillSoft’s IT Skills and Certification Library supports 85 certification exams for project
managers, programmers, systems engineers, system administrators, security technicians,
database administrators, and web designers. Examples of supported certifications
2
include: Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), Microsoft Certified Solutions
Developer (MCSD), CompTIA A+, CompTIA Security +, Oracle Certified Professional
(OCP), ISC2-SSCP; CISSP; ISSEP, Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP), and
Project Management Professional (PMP)..
SkillSoft also offers mentoring support services, which include 24x7 email support,
focused chats, study path reminders, and test preparation exams. Earlier in 2004,
SkillSoft introduced Express Guides; electronically delivered instructional guides that
support newly introduced technologies and corresponding new certification requirements.
Current Express Guides address changes in Cisco’s CCNA, CCNP, CCDA, CCDP,
CCIE, and CCSP certification programs and Oracle’s 10g.
The Business Skills Library meets continuing education requirements for organizations
such as the Project Management Institute, the National Association of State Boards of
Accountancy (NASBA), and the Human Resources Certificate Institute. SkillSoft
business skills courses have also been approved for college undergraduate degree credit
by Drexel University and the University of Phoenix, among other colleges.
Books24x7 Referenceware libraries give subscribers online access to more than 6,000
unabridged books and reports, as well as more than 160 business book summaries, from
more than 100 leading publishers, including AMACOM, ASTD, Harvard Business
School Publishing, McGraw-Hill, Sybex, and John Wiley & Sons. Approximately 25 to
45 titles are added to the libraries each week.
Customers:
SkillSoft’s customers include organizations such as: Unisys, Deloitte, Humana, U.S.
Army and U.S. Air Force. Books24x7 customers include companies such as: Bank of
America, Lockheed-Martin, EDS, and Avanade (a joint venture between Accenture and
Microsoft).
Alliances:
SkillSoft has established alliances with several content providers, as well as a variety of
companies in categories such as these: human capital management, learning management
systems, collaboration tools, vertical market specialists, post-secondary education,
professional certification, competency and assessment tools. This list includes partners
such as Cisco, Oracle, Microsoft, The Wharton School, Project Management Institute,
SumTotal, Saba, Thinq, and Exxceed.
Books24x7 also has integration, hosting, and reselling partnerships with a variety of
companies.
Senior Management Team:
SkillSoft Corporation
Chuck Moran: CEO and president
Jerry Nine: Chief operating officer
Greg Priest: Chairman and chief strategy officer
3
Tom McDonald: Executive vice president and chief financial officer
Mark Townsend: Executive vice president, software development
Colm Darcy: Executive vice president, content development
Lee Ritze: Senior vice president, marketing and corporate development
Kevin Young: Vice president and managing director, EMEA
Glenn Nott: Vice president and managing director, Asia Pacific
Doug Lyons: Vice president, Americas sales
Books24x7
John Ambrose: General manager
Doug Jenkins: Vice president, engineering
Ted Purcell: Vice president, corporate sales
Offices:
USA Headquarters:
107 Industrial Park Drive
Nashua, NH 03062
Phone: 603-324-5000
Fax: 603-324-3009
www.skillsoft.com
EMEA Headquarters:
5 Heathrow Blvd.
278 Bath Road
West Drayton UB7 ODQ
Phone:+44(0) 208 283 1800
Fax:+44(0) 208 283 1801
World Headquarters:
Belfield Office Park
Clonskeagh
Dublin 4, Ireland
Phone: +353 1 218 1000
Fax: +353 1 283 0379
SkillSoft Asia Pacific Headquarters:
Suite 1, Level 1
71 Epping Road
(PO Box 365, North Ryde NSW 1670)
North Ryde NSW 2113
Sydney Australia
Phone: +61 2 9941 6333
Fax: +61 2 9887 1780
Books24x7:
100 River Ridge Drive
Norwood, MA 02062
Phone: 781-440-0550
Fax: 781-440-0560
www.books24x7.com
Instructional Design:
SkillSoft courses are designed to be highly interactive and engaging, through the use of
instructional features such as simulations, case studies, hands-on exercises, assessments,
photo-quality illustrations, and audio. SkillSoft courses follow industry-proven
instructional design methodology and maintain company-mandated quality and
consistency standards. SkillSoft courseware is also developed according to certification
standards established by the ASTD Institute for usability and instructional design.
Offerings are also compliant with Section 508, the federal guidelines ensuring
accessibility of software technology by those with physical disabilities.
4
Learning Technologies:
SkillSoft is committed to support our customers’ choices in learning platforms and
training-related technologies. Consequently, all courseware is developed in conformance
with major industry standards, including the Sharable Content Object Reference Model
(SCORM) and the Aviation Industry CBT Committee (AICC). Recently, SkillSoft
achieved official certification for both AICC and SCORM interoperability standards.
Additionally, we have established integration partnerships with more than 20 vendors of
learning management systems and other training-related technology. These partnerships
are based on successfully tested integrations, conducted by our professional services
team.
SkillSoft also complements its learning content resources with SkillPort, a learning
management platform that offers rapid implementation at a cost-efficient price point.
With SkillPort, companies can take advantage of multi-modal learning that encompasses
both formal and informal learning resources. SkillPort manages both off-the-shelf (from
SkillSoft and other vendors) and custom content (including Word, PowerPoint, and PDF
documents). Central to SkillPort’s “on-demand” learning environment is Search-andLearn™, which provides learners with a fast and easy way to search a broad array of elearning content including courseware, Referenceware, online mentoring, TestPrep
exams, job aids, SkillBriefs, Express Guides, and custom content. Learners can then
select the learning resource most appropriate for their specific needs.
SkillSoft Dialogue™, a newly introduced virtual classroom technology product, gives
customers the ability to conduct live and recorded web-based classes and events, to
rapidly create learning resources from presentations by subject-matter experts, to manage
and track these learning events through SkillPort and other third-party learning platforms,
and to “mix and match” portions of these events with other learning activities, such as
course objects or other training materials, into customized blended learning solutions.
SkillSoft Dialogue will also provide the foundation technology and tools for future
SkillSoft blended learning products incorporating live and recorded class sessions.
Market Research:
In its report “Begin Act II: Worldwide and U.S. Corporate eLearning Forecast, 2002 –
2006,” the research firm IDC predicts that the worldwide corporate market for e-learning,
encompassing both IT and soft skills training, will reach $23.7 billion by 2006. The U.S.
market, the largest single national market, is expected to grow 36.5% over the next five
years.
In IDC’s 2003 survey of information workers, it found that more than 50% of
information searches are unproductive because they don’t yield answers or require
excessive time. IDC estimates that unproductive searches cost companies billions of
dollars – up to 11% of payroll costs – each year.
5
Copyright (C) 2004 SkillSoft. All rights reserved. SkillSoft, the SkillSoft logo, Ahead of the Learning Curve, SkillPort, Search-andLearn, SkillChoice, Books24x7, Referenceware, ITPro, BusinessPro, OfficeEssentials, EngineeringPro, ExecSummaries, Express
Guide and Dialogue are trademarks or registered trademarks of SkillSoft PLC in the United States and certain other countries. All
other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
6