Alliance with MindLeaders, SkillSoft, PBS The Business& Technology Network and NTU Makes...

Business/Technology Editors

BILLERICA, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 24, 2000

Customers can now tap into TrainingNet's marketplace for instant

access to new partners' online training, including interactive

courses, custom libraries and college accredited courses

TrainingNet today became the single largest online marketplace for Web-based training and professional development courses by partnering with three of the industry's leading online training providers. TrainingNet's alliance with MindLeaders, SkillSoft, PBS The Business & Technology Network and National Technological University (NTU) puts TrainingNet ahead of competing online training marketplaces, providing customers with access to more than 3,500 online training courses.

MindLeaders, SkillSoft, PBS The Business & Technology Network and NTU are four of the industry's hottest online training companies in their respective fields. TrainingNet's Web-based marketplace is now the single source for customers to buy interactive self-paced online training and skills assessment testing from MindLeaders, e-Learning libraries of business and professional skills courses through SkillSoft, and take online management and technical certification courses from PBS The Business & Technology Network and NTU.

"Our goal is to provide corporate customers with the single largest online selection of Web-based training courses available," said Dave Egan, vice president of provider relations and chief evangelist at TrainingNet. "We're marching in that direction by partnering with four of the industry's leading online training providers, offering our customers one Internet marketplace that meets all of their training needs, and also provides them with key search and assessment tools."

Strength and selection in numbers

TrainingNet's alliance with MindLeaders enables customers to tap into more than 360 real-time interactive online training courses from MindLeaders, in addition to TrainingNet's hundreds of options from more than 1,200 training providers. Provider courseware spans multiple subjects, including information systems, end-user applications and business skills development. MindLeaders provides self-paced e-learning courses for technical, professional development and practical skills training to more than 700 large organizations and 1,300-plus ISP partners worldwide. MindLeaders also offers skills assessment testing tools to help managers gauge employees' knowledge on particular subjects and determine which courses a company should invest in.

The TrainingNet/SkillSoft agreement enables TrainingNet corporate customers to use TrainingNet's RFP Exchange, which matches corporate buyers' need for custom training with providers, to buy individual SkillSoft custom online training courses or libraries that meet their specific training needs, including cost, location and topic. SkillSoft is one of over 250 participating providers for TrainingNet's RFP Exchange service. SkillSoft provides Web-based e-learning solutions, including a library of more than 250 courses, for Global 2000 companies.

TrainingNet's partnership with PBS The Business & Technology Network and NTU allow TrainingNet customers to access MIT produced online courses, such as E-Business 2000, Integrated Supply Chain Management and Management of Technology-Based Innovation. PBS The Business & Technology Network, which offers professional development and technology courses through a variety of media, is a division of National Technological University Corporation, an affiliate of NTU. An accredited university founded in 1984, NTU offers online technical education and distance learning, including 15 master's degree programs in engineering, computer science and management.

About TrainingNet

TrainingNet is the leading business-to-business e-commerce marketplace for skills training and professional education, representing more than 1,200 providers and hundreds of thousands of course-events annually in 25-plus soft skill and information technology categories. The company is headquartered in Billerica, Mass., with technical operations in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, and regional offices in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Raleigh. For more information, contact TrainingNet at (978) 671-7500, or visit their Web site at www.trainingnet.com.