SumTotal Systems Announces Customer Beta Program for SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.0

Industry Leaders Pfizer, Symantec, Seagate, Baker Hughes, Mercury, Motorola, US Army Training Support Command, Wachovia, Starwood and Bechtel among first SumTotal customers to road-test groundbreaking new platform

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA (October 11, 2004) – SumTotal Systems (NASDAQ: SUMT), the industry’s largest provider of learning and business performance technologies, services and processes, today announced the formal launch of the beta testing program for the SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.0, the highly-anticipated next edition of the company’s market leading learning and business performance platform. Industry leaders Pfizer, Symantec, Seagate, Bechtel, Baker Hughes, Mercury, US Army Training Support Command, Wachovia, Motorola and Starwood Hotels and Resorts are among the first of SumTotal’s enterprise customers to use and test version 7.0, due for full market release during the upcoming quarter.

Providing unparalleled breadth in application and depth in business functionality, the SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.0 will be the industry’s most comprehensive, scalable learning and business performance offering, and the only one to combine learning management, learning content management, in-depth analytics and other mission-critical learning applications on a single, integrated platform. The SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.0 promises more flexible, rapid, strategic delivery and management of learning activities; unprecedented options for measuring learning impact on revenues, expenses, cycle time and other business results; and unique interoperability and integration capabilities that dramatically reduce the cost of ownership.

Participants in the SumTotal 7.0 beta program have been asked to evaluate a number of the new product innovations that SumTotal expects will set the suite apart from all other offerings on the market. Among them are:

• Dynamic Administration, radically changing the ease of managing user organizations, reporting, and certifications


• Open Activity Architecture (OAA), revolutionary new functionality that allows for streamlined management of blended learning, learning plans and courses
• Integration Framework and Web Services, offering unprecedented interoperability and integration with other technology applications and infrastructures

“We are delighted that these clients have chosen to participate in this important phase of bringing SumTotal 7.0 to market,” said R. Andrew Eckert, SumTotal CEO. “Over the past eight months, we have spent time gathering feedback from more than 400 customers during the product planning process. We believe that this final stage of validation is essential to delivering a product that best meets their specific needs. We are confident that the efforts of these clients will help us deliver another industry-leading solution.”

About SumTotal Systems, Inc.

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 and federal and local government agencies, including Microsoft, the US Army, Cingular Wireless, US Air Force, Vodafone, Lucent, USDA, DSHS, 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. These statements represent SumTotal Systems’ expectations or beliefs concerning future events and include statements, among others, regarding SumTotal Systems’ estimated development and shipment date for its new product, SumTotal 7.0. 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 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. Readers of this press release are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to (i) SumTotal Systems' limited operating history, and Docent's and Click2learn's history of losses; (ii) delay in development or shipment of our new product, SumTotal 7.0, anticipated to be released during the fourth quarter of 2004; (iii) customers or partners delaying purchasing or upgrade decisions until our new product, SumTotal 7.0, is released; (iv) acceptance of SumTotal Systems' current and future product offerings; (v) long sales cycles for closing software contracts and seasonality in purchasing decisions; (vi) an emerging and rapidly evolving market; (vii) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (viii) continued market uncertainty with respect to the merger and the challenges of integrating Docent and Click2learn into one company, and the ability to achieve anticipated synergies associated with the recent merger; (ix) dependence on the growth of SumTotal Systems' market and fluctuation in customer spending; (x) delays or reductions in information technology spending; (xi) the ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees, and the risk of losing employees, especially sales personnel, if the SumTotal 7.0 release date slips; (xii) intense competition in the marketplace causing, among other things, pricing pressure; (xiii) failure to continually implement requisite internal controls and procedures; (xiv) increase of litigation and their related costs; (xv) other market conditions that include risks and uncertainties such as risks associated with financial, economic, political, terrorist activity and other uncertainties; and (xvi) other events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in SumTotal Systems' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the quarterly report filed on Form 10Q on August 12, 2004. SumTotal Systems assumes no obligation to update the information in this press release."