New Zealand's Accident Compensation Corporation Selects SumTotal to Improve Workforce Readiness

Injury prevention, rehabilitation and compensation agency adopts e-learning strategy to improve organizational efficiency and staff proficiency nationwide

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA (August 9, 2004) -- SumTotal Systems, the industry’s largest provider of learning and business performance technology, services and processes, today announced that New Zealand’s Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), which handles approximately 1.5 million personal injury claims a year, has selected SumTotal technology to manage, track and deliver training to 2,200 employees across the company’s 40 branch offices and service centers nationwide.

ACC provides 24-hour injury coverage, including medical and rehabilitation services, case management, income replacement and injury prevention services. The agency chose SumTotal to support its commitment to e-learning and to improve in staff performance across the organization. According to ACC’s e-learning manager, Deborah Ebbett, the decision to purchase SumTotal marks the organization’s first step into incorporating the ‘e’ into learning. Implementing the platform will be pivotal in helping ACC to meet regulatory compliance obligations and to deliver ongoing training to its staff on new industry legislation.

"ACC services a broad range of stakeholders and communities, all of which have complex needs. Incorporating online learning as part of our organization’s learning strategy will help us grow the skills and capabilities of our staff while ensuring these diverse stakeholders get the best possible customer service," said Ebbett. “e-Learning also delivers an important strategic advantage to ACC in that training development and delivery will match the pace of planned service improvements. SumTotal’s platform will help us quickly and effectively disseminate updated information, so our frontline staff are able to provide the best possible service to their stakeholders at all times.”

According to R. Andrew Eckert, SumTotal CEO, ACC’s learning plans reflect a maturing market that is demanding more from technology than a simple online training delivery tool. “There’s a growing trend among organizations to align learning directly with core business objectives, driving both business performance and the organization’s bottom-line profitability. ACC understands the strategic importance of learning and how these solutions can help maintain its reputation as an employer of choice and as a provider of excellent customer service. In addition to consolidating learning for ACC employees nationwide, the solution will help ensure all of ACC’s learning and development-related activities are effectively integrated and managed.”

“New Zealand and the Asia Pacific region as a whole are emerging as increasingly sophisticated learning markets, with many companies and government organizations focusing on ways to accelerate organizational performance and business profits with learning technologies,” said Eckert. “With a growing customer base in the region, including ACC, Telecom New Zealand and others, we anticipate that SumTotal will continue to play a key role in the support and development of organizational learning initiatives with solutions tailored to the specific needs of both local and global enterprises in the region.”

About ACC

The Accident Compensation Corporation is a New Zealand Crown entity responsible for providing personal injury insurance cover entitlements including income replacement, case management, medical and other care and rehabilitation services. It is also charged with promoting injury prevention within New Zealand. ACC cover is available to all New Zealand citizens, as well as residents and temporary visitors to New Zealand, irrespective of fault. In return people do not have the right to sue for personal injury, other than for exemplary damages. ACC has 2200 staff and 40 branches and service centers. Last year, it received 1.5 million claims.

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.