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Click2learn the KS Space

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DQI Bureau
New Update

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.

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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."

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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

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