Welcome to the first edition of WBT NEWS for 2004.
2003 was a landmark year for WBT Systems; we achieved and exceeded our sales targets and continued our expansion with the opening of new offices in the UK and Germany. As other e-Learning vendors retrenched and merged, WBT Systems reinforced its leadership position in the LCMS and LMS arena, and as the specialist solution provider for the financial services sector. In 2003 we secured major contracts with new customers in the US and Europe; we relaunched and expanded our partner programme and, on the development side, TopClass LMS was certified by AICC, and TopClass was awarded SCORM 1.2 certification - the highest level of conformance with the SCORM learning standard. We also welcomed new staff members to our German, US, UK and Irish offices.
2004 promises to be even more exciting. We have a number of major deals in the pipeline and are currently putting the final stages to the launch of TopClass Version 7, due in March 2004. We also plan to release our new research into e-Learning best practices for financial services in February 2004.
We hope you enjoy this edition of WBT NEWS and, as always, we welcome your comments, suggestions and ideas regarding the content of WBT NEWS.
We wish you and your colleagues a Happy New Year and we look forward to working with you in 2004.
Susanne Ryan
Senior Marketing Consultant
susanne.ryan@wbtsystems.com
AHIMA Selects TopClass as e-Learning Platform
AHIMA, the American Health Information Management Association, has selected TopClass as the e-Learning solution to centrally manage their learners' training needs. To ensure that its members meet professional standards of excellence, AHIMA issues credentials in health information management and following their initial certification, AHIMA members must continually be recertified.
Countdown to Launch of TopClass 7 and TopClass Compliance
The Beta testing for TopClass 7 starts at the end of January, with final release scheduled for March 2004. Interest levels for this release from existing and prospective customers has been very high, and we are very excited about its potential for 2004. We’d particularly like to thank those companies and partners who are participating in the Beta Program. We are producing new collateral for the release and a series of information events will take place early in the New Year. If you would like to find out more about the release of TopClass 7 and TopClass Compliance, please contact Tim Madeley, our VP of Product Development at
tim.madeley@wbtsystems.com
Duoc UC Selects TopClass for Learning Solution for 25,000 users
The largest university in Chile has selected TopClass to deliver the campus-wide e-Learning solution to 23,000 full-time students, 1,000 distance learning students and 1,000 teachers. With 800 courses on TopClass and 30% of all coursework carried out online, the solution has been very successful in increasing the consistency of course content and the level of collaboration between students and teachers.
TopClass 6.3 - Important Features
The latest release of TopClass, version 6.3 includes a number of important enhancements and features. One of the most significant features is support for the Apache web server (Version 2.0.47) and Oracle 9i (Version 9.2.0.4).
Version 6.3 includes out-of the box support for the LDAP security protocol (iPlanet Directory Server Version 5.1 Service Pack 2 from Sun | Netscape Alliance), which allows users to login into TopClass by authenticating against their LDAP profile. This new feature has been developed using the security API (SPI) which allows additional authentication methods to be added easily to the TopClass product. Previously supported authentication methods include integration with Siteminder (Netegrity), Oracle SSO integration and Windows authentication. In addition, we have added an LDAP user data integration module. With some minor configuration, this new module can synchronise (on the fly or on a scheduled basis) all users and associated data in TopClass with the data provided from an LDAP environment.
The new release allows a TopClass instructor to complete a test on behalf of a student. For example, if a student takes a test in an ILT setting, the instructor can later enter the results on the student’s behalf.
An extra question type has been added in TopClass 6.3. The new Check question is similar to the existing MCA question type but additional fields have been added to record date and a username/comment.
WBT Systems’ LMS Buy Back Program
Since the arrival of e-Learning in the mid 1990s, organisations have been implementing LMS/LCMS solutions from a variety of vendors. Some implementations have been more successful than others. Today a number of companies are facing the challenges of LMS discontinuation, poor customer service, integration issues and scalability problems. The WBT Systems Buy Back Program has been designed to enable companies to leverage their investment in content and process by implementing one of the most comprehensive LMS/LCMS solutions on the market on a risk free basis. The scheme offers a fixed price implementation and flexible financing.
IDT Commits to TopClass Mobile and TopClass LMS
IDT, a leading US communications IC company, has added TopClass Mobile and TopClass LMS to their TopClass e-Learning Suite implementation. IDT is using TopClass to train its global sales team and partner network on new product introductions and product enhancements. TopClass Mobile allows the IDT sales team to take their training courses at any location, without the need for a network connection.
TopClass Awarded SCORM 1.2 Certification
TopClass has been awarded SCORM 1.2 certification, the highest level of conformance with the Sharable Content Object Reference Model learning standard. "WBT Systems has always been a supporter of open standards and was one of the first to be SCORM conformant," said Paul Jesukiewicz, Director of the ADL Co-Laboratory. "Broad-scale adoption and support of the SCORM standard by industry leaders such as WBT Systems is crucial to the creation of a streamlined, common technical framework for e-Learning.
Triam Appointed as TopClass Reseller
Dutch company Triam has signed a partnership agreement with WBT Systems. Triam will provide full customisation, implementation and support services in conjunction with WBT Systems' Professional Services team. Since 1983, Triam has been providing learning advice and guidance to organisations in the Netherlands and has supplied e-Learning consulting and development services to a large number of clients both in the public and private sector.
Pictured signing the partnership agreement are, Louella Morton, VP Global Strategic Allicances, WBT Systems and Marcel Van Druenen, Managing Director of Triam Kennismanagement.
New Partner for WBT in the Gulf Region
In December, Webcentric became a TopClass reseller in Saudi Arabia. The agreement offers WBT a significant foothold in the Arabian Gulf and will enable WebCentric to offer the TopClass award-winning solution suite to its wide range of customers. Saudi Arabia has recently experienced a surge of interest in e-Learning with many companies finding it difficult to keep their employees up to date given the size of the region and the fact that employees are widely dispersed.
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Deirdre Grant (pictured), Betty Moupfouma and Paul Braswell (pictured below). Deirdre joins the WBT Professional Services team as a Senior Business Analyst. Deirdre’s particular skills lie in the areas of project coordination and management, customer requirement identification, gap analysis assessments and change management.
Paul Braswell has rejoined WBT Systems as Business Analyst to develop WBT's Financial
Services business in North America. Paul has extensive experience with WBT
and other e-Learning companies and brings much appreciated skills in the
areas of Enterprise Consulting, Pre Sales support, Business Analysis and
Project Management.
If you are interested in this area but didn’t get a chance to attend the live webinars we ran in the Autumn, you can view the recorded versions from our website. The webinars, which are fifteen minutes long, are given by Duncan Lennox, WBT Systems Chief Technology Officer.
WBT Systems freut sich Ihnen die Teilnahme an der Learntec 2004 mitzuteilen. Die Learntec ist Europas führende Bildungs- und Technologiekonferenz für Entscheidungsträger aus den Bereichen Unternehmen, Bildung und Regierung. Mehr als 10 000 Besucher aus mehr als 74 Ländern nehmen an ihr teil. Wenn Sie uns besuchen möchten, kommen Sie einfach an unserem Stand vorbei
(Schwarzwaldhalle, Stand No: 244)