Saba Increases Investment in Centra Products to Meet Evolving Needs of Academia

Business Wire, Sept 26, 2006

Unveils Extended Integration with Blackboard Enterprise Products and Macintosh Platform

BOSTON -- Saba (NASDAQ:SABA), the premier Human Capital Management (HCM) software and services provider, announced at the Saba-Centra Summit, being held in Boston this week, that it is extending its investment in the academic market with several enhancements to its Centra Live virtual classroom, training and collaboration software and is launching a dedicated academic business unit.

This move enables Saba, which acquired Centra in February 2006, to provide academic institutions with a broader range of tools and services for the delivery and management of initiatives such as distance learning, real-time student collaboration, and one-on-one mentoring programs. Hundreds of academic organizations currently use Centra and recognize it as the leading solution for delivery of highly interactive online classrooms.

Centra Live now offers extended integration with new products in the Blackboard suite, a popular Course Management System (CMS) for academia, enabling organizations to offer a blend of classroom-based and online courses into their curricula. Formerly known as Web CT products, the Blackboard Learning System products, including Enterprise License; Vista Enterprise License; CE Enterprise License and CE Basic License, will integrate with Centra through a single sign-on process, driven through the Blackboard interface. This simplifies the administration of both types of courses and makes it easier for students to attend live classes via Centra.

"Academic institutions must cater to growing, geographically-diverse student populations and cost-effectively deploy a wide variety of innovative tools to drive collaboration between students and faculty," said Rick Cramer, vice president, Academic Business, Saba. "According to a study by the Sloan Consortium, online learning is an essential part of the curriculum, with 2.3 million students taking at least one full course online in Fall 2004. By launching a dedicated business and continuing to extend our support for key technology, we are committing skills and resources to the ongoing development of the Centra platform to address the evolving needs of the academic community."

Saba has also launched a dedicated Customer Advisory Board with representatives from top universities and schools. The group will advise on the strategic direction for Saba's Centra line for the academic community.

Planned Release for Macintosh and Open Source Solutions

Later this year, Saba also intends to release Centra Live support for the Apple Macintosh platform to enable students with either Macintosh or Microsoft Windows PC to attend live Centra classes.

To meet the growing interest from academic institutions in open source solutions, Saba intends to provide Centra Live support for several key open source learning initiatives, such as the Moodle CMS and the Sakai distance learning solution. Combined, these two platforms are used by a community of hundreds of thousands of developers, educators and students around the world to deliver and attend courses. With the integration of Centra's virtual classroom functionality, academic institutions will also be able to manage their e-learning programs through the same open source platform.

Saba Learning Solutions Support Faculty-facing Training Initiatives

Saba's strategy for meeting the needs of Academia also includes its Saba Enterprise Learning solution. With sweeping changes in regulatory compliance from organizations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as key faculty training initiatives such as operational compliance and sexual harassment, many universities require a robust, production-proven learning management system to deliver critical information and training to its faculty and staff.

Saba's solutions for compliance training help organizations deliver, manage, and report on every aspect of their compliance training strategy. From the creation of training materials, to the design of personalized learning tracks, delivery of highly interactive virtual training classes, and certification, Saba has helped hundreds of organizations accelerate knowledge transfer around compliance issues while significantly lowering costs.

Hundreds of academic organizations use Saba and Centra solutions to build innovative programs that reach beyond campus boundaries and provide students and faculty with a rich, collaborative, interactive learning experience that can fit into their busy lives. Customers include: Bentley College; California State University; Capitol College; Florida State University; Graduate School, USDA; Fuquoa School of Business at Duke University; Harvard Medical School; London Business School; National University of Singapore; New York University; North Virginia Community College; Stanford University's Education Program for Gifted Youth, University of South Australia; and University of Tennessee. More information about Saba's products for academia is available at http://www.saba.com/solutions/industry_solutions/universities _education.htm. (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)