SkillSoft Announces Achievement
Awards in
e-Learning
Deloitte, Hewlett-Packard, U.S. Air Force, University of Iowa, and MCI Recognized for Innovation and Outstanding Successes in Enterprise Learning
Nashua, NH – April 30, 2004 – SkillSoft PLC (Nasdaq: SKIL), a leading provider of enterprise e-learning, announced the winners of SkillSoft’s annual Excellence in e-Learning Awards on April 21 at the company’s Perspectives conference. Each year, SkillSoft recognizes individuals and organizations that have demonstrated innovation, significant business results, leadership, and other accomplishments in enterprise learning.
The award winners were announced at a special dinner hosted by SkillSoft and presented by SkillSoft executives Jerry Nine, chief operating officer, Chuck Moran, president and CEO, and Greg Priest, chief strategy officer and chairman of the board.
Winners of the 2004 Excellence in e-Learning Awards are:
- E-Learning Leadership: Deloitte’s internal learning initiatives
were recognized for innovation, thought leadership, and business
impact. Today, approximately 80% of Deloitte’s learning
is delivered electronically. The company has established industry-leading
best practices in blended learning curriculum to achieve cost
efficiencies, reach global employee audiences, and support strategic
business initiatives. The breadth and depth of Deloitte’s
learning resources are instrumental in the ongoing skill development
of its professionals and its ability to attract and retain the
“best of the best.” Accepting the award were Candy
Haynes, director of consulting learning U.S., and Tony Gleeson,
global e-learning leader for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
- Industry Achievement: Jim Malanson, director of global development
for HP Services Workforce Development. Malanson was one of the
first executives to recognize the value of enterprise distance
learning for a global workforce. His teams have relied on e-learning
to deliver training designed for ongoing skill development, to
facilitate business change resulting from mergers and acquisitions,
and to keep pace with an aggressive competitive climate. Today,
HP’s learning audience exceeds 65,000 employees.
- Program of the Year: The Air Force CBT System provides standardized
licensing criteria to ensure users on all Air Force networks understand
their responsibilities for protecting information. Through a series
of standardized certification criteria, network professionals
maintain a demonstrable set of core skills and knowledge. In the
last 15 months, the program recorded over 215,000 IT course completions,
representing over 650,000 hours of training. During this same
period, more than 530,000 hours of Information Awareness training
was completed. Averaging more than 5000 new registrations every
week, the program expects to record over one million students
by the end of 2004. This program has already demonstrated a cost
avoidance that exceeds $35.5M. Jim Neighbors, technical director,
Air Force Communications Agency, accepted the award on behalf
of the U.S. Air Force.
- Instant Learning: Deloitte was recognized for its use of informal
learning throughout the organization – 110,000 employees
in 150 countries. In addition to supporting the “instant”
information needs of professionals, Deloitte has incorporated
online Referenceware® in strategic learning initiatives for
Six Sigma and performance coaching. Candy Haynes, director of
consulting learning U.S., and Tony Gleeson, global e-learning
leader for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, accepted the award.
- Training Administrator of the Year: Two winners for this category were announced: Maureen McCormick, director of learning and development for The University of Iowa, and Abbie Edwards, senior manager of MCI Technical Training Center.
McCormick and her team established a university-wide e-learning program encompassing approximately 41,000 faculty, staff and students in a tough budgetary climate. E-learning is now linked to key university initiatives such as leadership and management training for university supervisors, HR-related training for faculty and staff, ongoing skill development for IT, performance management consultation, and educational outreach to alumni and diverse Iowa communities.
In response to a variety of business challenges, Edwards and her staff have built a distance learning program to provide timely, quality technical training to MCI employees, with a special focus on MCI’s 10,000 employees involved in operations and technology. Last year, the MCI Technical Training Center offered training programs in MCI systems, safety, networking, DXC, routers/switches, transport, protocols, programming, fiber, power, operating systems and IP technologies – most of which was delivered through televised broadcasts, interactive web broadcasts, and self-paced learning.
“We are proud to recognize the achievements of these SkillSoft clients,” said Jerry Nine. “These organizations truly represent the ‘best of the best’ in enterprise learning and offer the industry outstanding examples of how learning can successfully address business challenges and deliver significant business impact.”
SkillSoft’s Perspectives user conference, held in Orlando from April 21 – 23, was attended by more than 200 client organizations.
About SkillSoft
SkillSoft is a leading provider of comprehensive e-learning content and technology products for business and IT professionals within the Global 2000. SkillSoft’s multi-modal learning solutions support and enhance the speed and effectiveness of both formal and informal learning processes and integrate SkillSoft's in-depth courseware, learning management platform technology and support services.
Content offerings include SkillSoft’s Business Skills Library and IT Skills and Certification Library; ITPro, BusinessPro, FinancePro, and OfficeEssential Referenceware collections by Books24x7; and health and safety compliance courseware by GoTrain.
