Plateau and Question Mark Form Alliance to Provide Integrated Solution to Global 2000 Customers

Companies to Integrate Best-in-Breed Authoring Assessment Tool with Award-Winning Learning Management System, Creating a Robust Adaptive Learning Solution

ARLINGTON, VA September 5, 2001 Plateau Systems, a provider of software that manages learning and improves business processes for organizations, today announced a partnership with Question Mark, creators of Question Mark™ Perception™ testing and assessment software. Through the alliance, the two companies will make their respective products interoperable, using emerging industry standard specifications as defined in the AICC and the IMS.

Question Mark Perception assessments and authoring tools will be fully interoperable with the Plateau 4 Learning Management System (LMS). Plateau customers will be able to launch adaptive Question Mark Perception tests from within Plateau. Perception will provide item analysis and statistics reports, while Plateau 4 will control student data.

The alliance will create a robust adaptive learning solution for customers. Plateau 4 manages content at the learning-objective level. This allows organizations to create, organize, manipulate, and reuse large and small blocks of instruction in ways that map content and learning objectives to individual tasks, skill sets, and job positions.

Plateau and Question Mark are currently working together with one of the world's leading health care companies to provide a complete adaptive learning solution. Question Mark has over 1,000 clients and 8,000 authoring systems deployed around the world. Plateau's global customer base includes Federal Express, Nestle USA, Motorola and the U.S. Air Force.

Global 2000 companies using adaptive learning strategies implemented by Plateau and Question Mark have greatly reduced the amount of time it takes employees, contractors and partners to learn specific material - saving time, money and resources. Because adaptive learning delivers instruction tailored to individuals, it also increases retention and reduces failure rates.

Question Mark's industry-leading assessment package gives us the ability to more powerfully use self assessments as the front end to a comprehensive adaptive learning strategy, said Paul Sparta, Plateau's Chairman and CEO. The synergies created by this integration will give organizations an unmatched ability to align learning activities with corporate objectives.

Plateau's ability to manage content in a way that delivers targeted knowledge and greatly reduces the learning cycle has been proven in industries where training is mission-critical, said Eric Shepherd, President of Question Mark. This alliance allows customers to fully utilize Question Mark's robust, adaptive assessment packages.

Question Mark Perception gives organizations an easy-to-use tool to create and deliver tests, quizzes and surveys on Intranets, the Internet or using Windows PCs. Perception also supports a variety of question types, including essay questions, word response, multiple choice and multiple response. Plateau 4 LMS is a fully Web-enabled, J2EE/EJB-compliant, n-tiered learning management system that manages the entire knowledge lifecycle of any enterprise or organization.

About Question Mark: Question Mark has been producing testing and assessment software since 1988. Question Mark Perception software allows people to create question files without programming experience or knowledge of HTML. Users can create multiple question banks from which to assemble tests and surveys, organizing questions into topics and sub-topics. They can shuffle questions and answers for each participant and preview sessions to see how they will appear post-deployment. They can present questions with videos, graphics and a wide variety of styles. Participants receive feedback as specified by the test author. Answers are saved to a file for scoring and analysis in a variety of report formats.

Businesses, governments, schools, colleges, and universities in more than 45 countries use Question Mark software. Typical applications include exams, quizzes, study aids, diagnostic tests, pre-course skills assessments, and course evaluations. Question Mark Corporation is actively involved with the IMS Global Learning Consortium and supports open standards. Visit http://www.questionmark.com for more information.

About Plateau Systems: Plateau manages learning and knowledge processes for organizations, improving their business operations by integrating and delivering the knowledge employees, customers and partners require to excel. Plateau's enterprise-class software supports online and traditional learning methods, and integrates seamlessly with other enterprise software applications to enhance their value and reduce the cycle of learning. Plateau 4 Learning Management System (LMS) is built on open, J2EE/EJB architecture, and is being used by clients across the globe, including Motorola University, Federal Express, Nestle USA and the U.S. Air Force. The company was founded in 1996, and is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.

###