Click2learn the KS Space

Sure, the slowdown has taken its toll and many segments of the IT industry
have taken a beating to outmatch any other. But for those who have written off
the IT training business as a non-performer in the foreseeable future, here’s
a wake-up call–Indian IT training giant NIIT, moving quietly but surely, has
bought out Click2learn, a leading provider of enterprise learning platforms, in
a deal valued at $3 million.

Under
the terms of the multi-year, multifaceted alliance, NIIT and Click2learn will
jointly develop e-learning and knowledge solutions, using Click2learn’s Aspen
platform and NIIT’s knowledge services. NIIT will acquire the assets of
Click2learn’s custom development business and will be Click2learn’s
exclusive commercial custom development partner. The alliance also establishes
NIIT as a reseller of Click2learn’s Aspen enterprise learning platform and
ToolBook line of products.

"When you team together the industry’s leading platform, Click2learn’s
Aspen, with one of the industry’s largest custom developers, NIIT, what
emerges is a significant force in all meaningful measures, including revenue,
customer base, depth of products and services offered, and technology
leadership," NIIT chief executive officer Vijay K Thadani said. "NIIT’s
global reach will help serve Click2learn’s large customer base, including more
than half of all Fortune 100 companies."

"NIIT’s large footprint, scalable infrastructure and rich experience
will provide our customers with the rapid and cost-effective content solutions
they require, while allowing Click2learn to focus our resources squarely on the
Aspen Platform," Click2learn chairman and CEO Kevin Oakes said adding,
"This alliance is truly a win-win situation. Click2learn gains a strategic
partner for its custom development business and a global reseller for Aspen,
while NIIT gains a significant competitive edge for its solutions offering with
the addition of Aspen and ToolBook. Even more exciting is that together, we can
bring value to our customers through a fully integrated technology and services
offering and better leverage our combined customer base."

The size of the business is expected to be in excess of $15 million in the
first two years. The move is aimed at providing NIIT customers with the most
comprehensive and technologically advanced e-learning and knowledge solution to
date. Click2learn is a NASDAQ listed, leading provider of enterprise learning
platforms based in the US. Click2learn’s Aspen is the industry’s leading
platform and the company has completed 300 e-Learning platform implementations–an
active user base of 3 million.

As part of the alliance, NIIT will acquire Click2learn’s current commercial
custom development assets and transition existing projects. Click2learn will
exclusively partner with NIIT for future custom development. Knowledge
Solutions, a part of NIIT’s global software business, will service Click2learn’s
customer base. "We will access Click2learn’s customers and this will
position us in the knowledge solutions business," an NIIT spokesman added.
In addition, the Aspen platform will be used by NIIT in development projects by
its 500 developers and for its internal corporate university, which serves its
employees in 38 countries. It will also be the foundation for its commercial
e-learning initiative, Netvarsity.com, which reaches 500,000 students.

Described by industry analysts as the new model for enterprise learning
technology, the Aspen platform is designed to facilitate the capturing,
management and dissemination of corporate knowledge to improve productivity and
business performance. "Click2learn and NIIT have demonstrated unrivalled
leadership and vision in the e-learning and training markets,"
International Data Corp’s Cushing Anderson said, commenting on the
acquisition. "Teamed together, they create a global enterprise with
unequalled depth both in terms of world-class learning technology and custom
content development.

They will be a formidable force in the global learning market."
According to a company spokesman, the platform has an open architecture and is
made up of three modular but independent components that are designed to work as
an integrated system.

Rajeev Narayan in New Delhi