SUMTE Sumtotal Systems (MM)

Learning and Business Performance Leader to Offer Attendees of Industry's Largest Event an In-Depth Look at Newly Launched SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.1 and ToolBook Service Pack 2 SumTotal Systems (Nasdaq:SUMTE), the largest provider of learning and business performance technologies and services, today announced highlights of its annual appearance at the ASTD International Conference and Expo (ICE), the learning industry's largest event, being held this year from June 6-8 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. SumTotal will host the show's opening reception and will showcase newly launched versions of its industry-leading products -- the SumTotal Enterprise Suite and ToolBook. On Sunday, June 5, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Convention Center, SumTotal will officially kick off the expo as the exclusive sponsor of the show's opening night reception, one of the conference's primary networking events. During the remainder of the conference, SumTotal's main focus will be on spotlighting the SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.1, the latest version of its flagship learning and business performance platform, and ToolBook Service Pack 2, the newest evolution of the award-winning simulation and content authoring solution, which will launch in conjunction with the ASTD conference. SumTotal will demonstrate both products at its booth (#2007) throughout the show. SUMTOTAL ENTERPRISE SUITE 7.1 The hallmark of the SumTotal Enterprise Suite is its unmatched flexibility and adaptability, enabling organizations to "mold" the platform to the specific characteristics of their business models. Since its introduction in December 2004, the SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7 has generated significant market response. To date, 33 new SumTotal customers have purchased the platform, 18 existing customers are in the process of upgrading from previous versions and more than 50 additional customers have expressed plans to upgrade to the SumTotal 7 platform in the coming months. SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.1 is the first update of the platform and incorporates multiple new and enhanced functionalities, including enhanced reporting management, new standards support for SCORM 2004, broader offline access and expanded localization capabilities. -- Enhanced Reporting Management -- The Report Manager available out of the box with TotalLMS allows organizations to easily and securely create a wide variety of reports from any LMS data, effectively measuring the impact of learning activities on a wide range of business objectives and facilitating strategic decision-making. SumTotal 7.1 enhances this unique capability, making it even easier for individual users to design custom reports that fit their specific organizational structures and processes without the need to call in IT resources. With a simple drag-and-drop functionality, and more than 50 filter options in each report, users can configure and generate detailed reports in seconds, with no programming or specialized knowledge required. -- New Standards Support -- SCORM 2004 -- SumTotal 7.1 represents a major milestone in SumTotal's initiative for SCORM 2004 compliance. SCORM 2004 is the latest version of the "Shareable Content Object Reference Model," and SumTotal 7.1 now enables organizations to deliver, track and report on SCORM 2004 learning content through TotalLMS. -- Broader Offline Access -- SumTotal 7.1 fully leverages the capabilities of the TotalAccess module, which enables offline delivery, interaction and tracking of Web-based content. Designed for organizations with dispersed employee populations, traveling field personnel, or limited connectivity, TotalAccess provides offline users with a similar learning environment and experience to that of online users, with learning progress, scores and certifications automatically recorded and stored for later synchronization with the LMS database when users reconnect to the network. -- Expanded Localization With a Single Click -- Reflecting the increasing globalization of learning initiatives across extended enterprises, SumTotal 7.1 has added support for three new languages -- Canadian French, traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese -- with support for several additional languages in development. TOOLBOOK SERVICE PACK 2 Following beta testing by more than 500 SumTotal clients, ToolBook Service Pack 2 will launch in conjunction with the ASTD conference. ToolBook Service Pack 2 represents the most powerful version of the simulation and authoring solution ever brought to market, delivering an easier, more flexible user experience to learners and content authors alike. Responding to customer demand and evolving industry trends, SumTotal has added significant new features to the product, including Java-free deployment, support for SCORM 2004 content and expanded browser support, among others. -- Java-Free Deployment -- With this release, users can launch and interact with ToolBook's rich Web content without the need for Java in their Web browsers. This decreases restrictions on content, making it much easier to access and use by a broader range of learners. -- SCORM 2004 Support -- Mirroring the SCORM 2004 support in SumTotal 7.1, ToolBook Service Pack 2 also adds support for the standard, strengthening the integration of ToolBook content with TotalLMS or other SCORM 2004-compliant learning management systems. Ensuring the smooth deployment of learning content through an organization's LMS, this reduces cycle time for content authors and the total cost of learning initiatives as a whole. -- Expanded Browser Support -- Also providing increased flexibility and options for the ToolBook user community, ToolBook Service Pack 2 incorporates new support for browsers Mozilla and Firefox in addition to its continued support for Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape. Now larger audiences of users can run ToolBook content through a broader variety of Web browsers without having to install new applications or worry about incompatibility of the content with their systems. "ASTD ICE always gives us the valuable opportunity for one-on-one interaction with customers, partners and colleagues and for dynamic discussions about how our products can evolve to address changing business problems and market-driven issues for our clients," said R. Andrew Eckert, SumTotal CEO. "We are especially glad to be showing what I believe to be the most exciting and effective product offerings we have ever delivered -- the result of months of innovative design and development. We anticipate a very enthusiastic response to SumTotal 7.1 and ToolBook Service Pack 2 and we look forward to introducing them in greater detail to the visitors at our booth." About ASTD ASTD is a leading association of workplace learning and performance professionals, forming a world-class community of practice. ASTD's 70,000 members and associates come from more than 100 countries and thousands of organizations -- multinational corporations, medium-sized and small businesses, government, academia, consulting firms, and product and service suppliers. About SumTotal Systems SumTotal Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:SUMTE) is the largest provider of learning and business performance technologies, processes and services. Formed by the merger of industry pioneers Docent and Click2learn, the company is uniquely focused on helping organizations harness and manage mission-critical intellectual power to solve real-world business problems and produce significant bottom-line results. SumTotal has helped accelerate performance and profit for more than 675 of the world's best-known companies and federal and local government agencies, including Microsoft, United Airlines, US Army, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard, Vodafone, Aetna, Accenture, Cendant, Harley-Davidson, Wyeth, Wachovia and D & B. SumTotal Systems is headquartered in Mountain View, CA, with offices throughout the US, as well as in London, Paris, Heidelberg, Sydney, Tokyo and Hyderabad, India. For more information on SumTotal and its solutions and services, visit www.sumtotalsystems.com. Safe Harbor Statement/Forward-Looking Statements "Information in this press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements represent SumTotal Systems' expectations or beliefs concerning future events and include statements, among others, regarding SumTotal Systems' new product, SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.1. These statements are not historical facts or guarantees of future performance or events and are based on current expectations, estimates, beliefs, assumptions, goals and objectives, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from the results expressed or implied by these statements. Readers of this press release are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to (i) unknown errors or bugs in SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.1; (ii) inability to fix in a timely fashion unanticipated bugs, errors or defects that materially impact the functionality or usability of SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.1, or unanticipated problems in customer upgrades to SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.1 from prior SumTotal products (iii) unexpected shipment problems or delays of SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.1; (iv) customers or partners delaying purchasing or upgrade decisions until there is widespread market acceptance of SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.1; (v) the acceptance of SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.1 and future product offerings; (vi) the ability to successfully implement SumTotal Systems' solutions; (vii) the ability to successfully address technological developments and standards; (viii) ability to successfully manage growth, significant current and expected additional competition, and the need to continue to expand product distribution and services offerings; and (ix) other events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in SumTotal Systems' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the quarterly report filed on Form 10Q on November 15, 2004, and its Form 8-Ks filed on February 2, March 8, 10 and 17, and April 6, 20 and 28, 2005. SumTotal Systems assumes no obligation to update the information in this press release."