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85% Of Customers Rate Satisfaction at Good to Excellent with SumTotal Systems' Toolbook Simulation and Content Authoring Solution

Satisfaction rating up more than 10% over previous year in third annual user survey

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 4, 2004-- SumTotal Systems (Nasdaq:SUMT), the industry's largest provider of business performance and learning technologies, services and processes, today announced the results of its third annual ToolBook Customer Satisfaction Survey. In this year's survey, 85% of customers using the powerful simulation and interactive content authoring solution rated their satisfaction with the product at good to excellent, up more than 10% from last year's results.
ToolBook helps organizations create compelling content and simulations that are a critical success factor in any organizational learning initiative. Using ToolBook's powerful features, companies can create professional, standards-based simulations, tutorials, assessments, courseware and other interactive learning content without in-depth programming skills. Based on AICC and SCORM standards, ToolBook also makes it easy to launch and track ToolBook content through a standards-compliant learning management system (LMS).

The Web-based customer satisfaction survey polled more than 800 customers across a wide range of industry sectors to find out how they were using ToolBook in their organizations and how they rated the tool based on both author and end-user experience. One customer noted that, "in measuring our ROI, we have found the using ToolBook has saved our corporation hundreds of thousands of dollars in training and content creation costs over the past few years." Another said, "Great product! Keep improving it. I have received great service from every SumTotal employee I've encountered. They always listen to my needs and act upon them in a timely way."

To ensure that ToolBook continues to meet the real-world needs of its users, SumTotal also asked survey participants what types of content they most often create with the solution. The results underscore the growing significance of simulations as one of the most powerful tools for helping organizations rapidly achieve competency on mission critical systems and processes.

According to the survey, 70% of users were creating software simulations; 50% were creating "soft skill" simulations such as business skills, professional development, etc.; and 30% were creating "hard skill" simulations such as equipment or physical systems simulations.

ToolBook's powerful simulation capabilities allow content authors to:

-- More quickly develop simulations to deploy as demonstrations

-- Automatically repurpose recorded simulations into three delivery modes -- demonstration, practice and assessment, saving development time and more quickly providing the most training options to the enterprise.

-- More rapidly create and modify complex enterprise caliber software application simulations designed for demonstration, practice and assessment

-- More easily edit actions, transition steps and application features within software simulations with improved, built-in editing capabilities

-- Accurately, record, capture and create software application simulations -- including all user activities, application logic and on-screen controls -- with just a few mouse clicks

"Our most important priority as a company is to ensure that our customers are successful with our products and services, and the ToolBook survey is an important part of that effort. The powerful features of ToolBook 2004 represents an evolution of the product based on customer survey data and conversations with thousands of users working with the tool every day to solve business problems in their organizations," said Brad Crain, VP, ToolBook at SumTotal Systems. "The result is an ever-increasing level of customer satisfaction and a simulation and content authoring solution that meets the specific technical needs and unique business goals of our customers better than any other product of its type."

About ToolBook

SumTotal Systems' ToolBook has been named one of the best authoring software packages on the market today by learning analysts, training and human resource publications and thought leaders. Thousands of companies and organizations representing more than 120,000 licensed users rely upon ToolBook for their creation of SCORM- and AICC-compliant content. This long-term user base includes 13,000 major global corporations, hundreds of military and government organizations, and more than 500 colleges, universities and K-12 schools. ToolBook Instructor(TM) also acts as the Simulation Editor module in the SumTotal Enterprise Suite(TM).

About SumTotal Systems

SumTotal Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:SUMT) is the business performance and learning technology industry's largest single provider of technologies, processes and services. Formed by the merger of industry pioneers Docent and Click2learn, the company is uniquely focused on helping organizations harness and manage mission-critical intellectual power to solve real-world business problems and produce significant bottom-line results. SumTotal has helped accelerate performance and profit for more than 600 of the world's best-known companies, including Microsoft, Cingular Wireless, Vodafone, Lucent, Accenture, Cendant, Harley-Davidson, Wyeth, Wachovia and D & B. SumTotal Systems is headquartered in Mountain View, CA, with offices throughout the US, as well as in London, Paris, Heidelberg, Sydney, Tokyo and Hyderabad, India.

Safe Harbor Statement/ Forward-Looking Statements

Information in this press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about future business operations, industry leadership, financial performance and viability, customer benefits, timing and features of our product offerings, acceptance of our solutions, expected innovation, and other potential benefits and synergies to be derived from the transaction and other market conditions that include risks and uncertainties. These statements are not historical facts or guarantees of future performance or events and are based on current expectations, estimates, beliefs, assumptions, goals and objectives, and SumTotal Systems does not assume any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future results and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from the results expressed or implied by these statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, (i) the challenges and costs of integration and restructuring and the ability to achieve anticipated synergies associated with the recent merger; (ii) an emerging and rapidly evolving market, (iii) market uncertainty with respect to the merger and acceptance of SumTotal Systems' product offerings by customers and partners; (iv) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (v) delays or reductions in information technology spending; (vi) the ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees; (vii) intense competition in the marketplace and (viii) other events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in SumTotal Systems' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its quarterly report on Form 10Q filed on May 17, 2004.

Contacts


SumTotal Systems
Karen Peck, 425-637-1643
kpeck@sumtotalsystems.com

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