Plateau and Macromedia Partner to Deliver Breeze Through USALearning Initiative; Macromedia Contributes Advanced Web Communications Solution and Government Technology Expertise to Win Contract

Business Wire, August 3, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO -- Macromedia (Nasdaq:MACR) today announced that Plateau Systems, a leading provider of software for developing, managing, and optimizing organizational skills and talent, is leveraging Macromedia Breeze(TM) to provide e-learning and content development in support of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) USALearning initiative (formerly GoLearn). USALearning provides a broad range of learning and employee performance management solutions to federal agencies.

"Plateau partnered with Macromedia on the USALearning RFP because of its strong technology and installed base in federal civilian agencies," said Joe Herman, senior vice president of product management and alliances, Plateau Systems. "Breeze offers a combination of live web conferencing with easily integrated, on-demand, rich media capabilities. Breeze also seamlessly integrates with Plateau's software, resulting in more powerful online training for government users."

OPM's e-Training Initiative is one of the President's Management Council approved e-Government initiatives supporting the President's Management Agenda. The vision of the initiative is to create a premier, government-wide e-learning environment that supports the development needs of the federal workforce. Providing simplified, one-stop access to high-quality e-learning products and services, USALearning serves as the portal site for the e-Training Initiative, supporting the training needs of the 2.7 million federal workers in the U.S. The USALearning contract is a five-year contract estimated at $225 million, with multiple awardees such as Plateau Systems providing e-learning capabilities in a fee-for-service model.

Plateau will offer Breeze Meeting to create live virtual classrooms and Breeze Presenter for rapid e-learning content creation. Breeze Meeting enables live online meetings, virtual classes, and group collaboration, allowing organizations to effectively share a wide range of content such as live and recorded video, Macromedia Flash(R) content, live screen sharing, application sharing, audio, and multi-user text chat. Breeze Presenter enables anyone with basic knowledge of Microsoft PowerPoint to quickly create on-demand, Flash-based training modules that include synchronized voice narration, animation, quizzes and surveys. The integration between Breeze and the Plateau LMS allows agencies to rapidly author, manage, deliver, and measure both live and on-demand learning content on a scalable, web-based platform.

"For over 15 years, Macromedia has been a leader in the government training community, contributing to a wide range of strategic programs," said Barry Leffew, vice president of government sales, Macromedia. "We are proud to extend our commercial partnership with Plateau to deliver online training solutions that will help federal agencies develop and optimize their workforce and meet the government's e-learning needs."

Plateau and Macromedia have been business partners since 2003, and have many joint clients in the commercial and federal sectors. Plateau software is tightly integrated with a host of Macromedia products, including Macromedia Breeze Meeting, Macromedia Breeze Presenter, as well as Macromedia Authorware(R), Macromedia Dreamweaver(R), and Macromedia Flash.

ABOUT MACROMEDIA GOVERNMENT

Macromedia Government helps federal, state, and local government agencies drive technology and business process transformation. Through innovative solutions, industry partnerships, and special purchasing programs, Macromedia Government enables government agencies worldwide to increase their time-to-knowledge in the critical areas of training, e-government, and information-to-decision superiority.

ABOUT MACROMEDIA

Experience matters. Macromedia is motivated by the belief that great experiences build great businesses. Our software empowers millions of business users, developers, and designers to create and deliver effective, compelling, and memorable experiences -- on the Internet, on fixed media, on wireless, and on digital devices.

ABOUT PLATEAU

Plateau is a leading provider of adaptable Web-based software for developing, managing and optimizing organizational skills and talent to increase workforce productivity and business operations performance. Plateau's software is being used by some of the world's largest, most successful enterprises, including the American Red Cross, General Electric, Internal Revenue Service, and Wendy's International. Industry analysts, including Forrester Research and Bersin & Associates, have rated Plateau a leader in functionality, technology, and customer satisfaction. The company is headquartered in Arlington, Va. For more information, please visit www.plateau.com.

Copyright 2005 Macromedia, Inc. All rights reserved. Macromedia, the Macromedia logo, Macromedia Authorware, Macromedia Breeze, Macromedia Dreamweaver, and Macromedia Flash, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macromedia, Inc., which may be registered in the United States and internationally. Other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.