Business Services Industry

IDC Recognizes Plateau Systems for Leadership in Providing Comprehensive Talent Management Solutions Suite

Business Wire, July 5, 2006

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Report Commends Plateau for Delivering Strong Performance, Career, Succession, and Learning Software that Uniquely Addresses Vital Talent Management Market Requirements

Plateau Systems, a leading provider of software for developing, managing and optimizing organizational skills and talent, today announced that the company was recognized for its visionary talent management strategy and comprehensive solutions in a new research profile by International Data Corp. (IDC). Plateau's integrated talent management suite, comprised of Plateau Performance, Plateau Learning, and Plateau Career & Succession, was specifically recognized for its strong functionality, integrated learning and performance capability, and single scalable architecture. IDC also acknowledged Plateau's high growth and potential for future expansion, citing its recent launch of Plateau OnDemand, the industry's first enterprise-class on-demand performance, learning, career, and succession talent management solution. The full report can be viewed at http://www.plateau.com/docs/IDC-PlateauProfile.pdf.> "Plateau's performance management offering is a strong entrant into this market with integrated goal setting, an easy to use interface and strong linkage to learning for performance remediation," said Lisa Rowan, IDC's Program Manager for HR and Talent Management Services Research and author of the report. "The fact that Plateau's suite is organically developed and operates on its own single data model positions it well among its competitors. Plateau has already forged a robust network of marquee customers and influential business partners, and the company will continue to position itself to appeal to an even broader array of buyers with its new delivery of an on-demand option."

Rowan noted that the market for talent management products and services is growing rapidly as companies recognize the critical importance of managing talent more effectively. In a 2004 study, IDC reported that 48% of firms had little to no linkage between learning and performance. It is clear, however, according to Rowan, that there is a market need and drive to establish this link to measure the impact of learning and development on workforce and ultimately, business performance.

The profile also cites succession and career planning as the next logical step in the performance management continuum. "With looming workforce shortages and a need to improve business performance by establishing a secure and consistent workforce, enterprises are taking a closer look at how the succession and career planning function can be used to plan for natural attrition and to reward high performers," said Rowan. "Plateau helps organizations to easily bring this process to all levels through its succession offering that builds upon Plateau's strong competency management capabilities and integration with goals achievement."

IDC's favorable analysis follows Plateau's release earlier this month of Plateau OnDemand, a fully managed, hosted talent management offering that allows companies of any size to leverage the enterprise-class power and functionality of Plateau's proven solutions.

"Organizations are increasingly recognizing the importance of linking learning and performance and are focusing more attention on succession planning," said Paul Sparta, chairman and chief executive officer of Plateau Systems. "This report validates Plateau's commitment in delivering best-in-class performance management and succession planning capabilities that meet the current and future needs of customers."

IDC analyst Lisa Rowan authored the study. As program manager for HR and Talent Management Services at IDC, Rowan provides expert analysis focused on both the business services addressing HR and talent-related process issues, including human resource consulting, processing services, and business process outsourcing services; and HR IT services.

About Plateau Systems

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 that include the American Red Cross, General Electric, Internal Revenue Service and Wendy's International. Industry analysts have consistently rated Plateau a leader in functionality, technology and customer satisfaction. The company is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. For more information, please visit www.plateau.com.