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Technology Stocks
SKIL - Skillsoft Corp.

An SI Board Since January 2000

Posts	SubjectMarks	Bans
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Emcee: westpacific	Type: Unmoderated

Introduction Compact

SKILLSOFT CORP (SKIL)
S-1 Filing (SEC form S1)
We are a leading provider of Web-based training resources for Global 2000 companies that cover a variety of professional effectiveness and business topics (commonly called "soft skills"). All of our courses and support tools have been specifically designed to take advantage of the benefits offered by the internet and the Web-based environments of our customers. This enables the users of our products to access the material they need, with the specificity or breadth that they require, anytime or anywhere that they may need it. Our customers receive comprehensive training and support solutions for their employees, comprised of:

- our library of 126 courses, which encompasses a wide array of professional effectiveness skills, such as management, leadership, communication, project management and customer service, as well as business topics such as finance, marketing, sales and strategy; and

- our Web-based online performance support tools, such as: Search-and-Learn technology, which permits users to perform online searches of their company's entire library of SkillSoft courses for a specific training topic and to directly access only what they need; Online Mentoring, which enables users to interact via e-mail with experts on a topic from any Web connection; and Online Job Aids, which consist of approximately 380 topical refreshers and worksheets that are accessible online.

Our training resources are designed to increase the competitive strength and productivity of organizations by improving employee performance with immediate, universally accessible skill enhancers and job support tools. We believe that our courses appeal to a broader range of employees than do courses on information technology and other specialized topics, and assist in improving employee retention by sending a positive message to employees that they are valued. We market our courses primarily to Global 2000 companies and other large businesses, governmental organizations and educational institutions. As of August 31, 1999, we had 27 customers, including Adobe, Citibank, Dayton Hudson, EMC, Ernst & Young, Fluor Daniel, GTE, IBM and National Car Rental.

According to TRAINING magazine, domestic corporations with over 100 employees budgeted approximately $60.7 billion for training in 1998 (including the costs of internal training). There are a number of problems that make it increasingly difficult for traditional classroom instruction to address the training needs of many larger corporations, such as: travel costs; scheduling difficulties; the opportunity costs of employees' time; and the inability of classroom instruction to deliver training at the time and place an employee most needs it -- such as right before the employee needs to apply the skill in the workplace. As a result, companies are increasingly utilizing technology-based training solutions to meet the educational needs of their employees.

To date, companies have typically relied upon CD-ROMs and other technology-based forms of instruction to alleviate the shortcomings of instructor-led training. We believe, however, that our Web-based training solution provides a number of significant advantages over other technology-based training products including:

- more flexible and cost-efficient deployment of courses, enabling users to
access our training materials anywhere, anytime and only in the amounts
they need;
- online performance support tools, such as Search-and-Learn technology,
Online Mentoring and Online Job Aids, that enable users to tailor our
educational resources to their individual needs and pace and to obtain
specific, real-time assistance when they need it most;
- easier to use products that incorporate intuitive navigational concepts;
- improved means of product and user support through Web distribution; and
- increased ability for administrators to monitor use and effectiveness of
courses.

By applying new technological capabilities of the internet, such as search engine architecture and hypertext links, we believe that our training resources will transform corporate training from a distinct event, often off-site and limited in scope, to a process of continuous learning and improvement that will inherently maximize time utilization and employee effectiveness. Our courses and support tools are developed using cross-platform technologies such as Java (a programming language), HTML (a Web document formatting language) and JavaScript (a scripting language). To reduce the risk of technical problems that would limit access to our training materials, our products do not use platform-dependent proprietary plug-in technologies. Our detailed Web-based architecture enables users to perform intelligent searches of their company's entire library of SkillSoft courses to identify relevant training materials on specific topics. In addition, our products all employ advanced techniques for compression and caching of text, graphics and audio to deliver high-quality performance within the bandwidth limitations of most corporate intranets and the internet.

Our objective is to be the leading global provider of high-quality Web-based learning and performance support products. To achieve this objective, we are continuing to expand our library of courses and to integrate new Web-based technologies that address the needs of our customers and make our products easier to use and more effective. We are also increasing our domestic sales force and developing an international sales organization, while leveraging our blue-chip client relationships to deepen our penetration within those companies and in the market. Finally, we are continuing to increase our reseller network and are expanding our strategic alliances with educational institutions to further diversify our distribution channels.

OUR MANAGEMENT
Our executive management team, led by our President and Chief Executive Officer, Charles E. Moran, has over 70 years of combined experience in the technology and education industries. Mr. Moran's prior experience includes National Education Training Group (NETg), where Mr. Moran served as President and Chief Executive Officer from 1995 through 1997 following its sale to Harcourt General, and Softdesk, Inc., a software company where Mr. Moran served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer and helped lead its initial public offering in February 1994. Other members of our management team have prior experience at technology-based learning and other technology companies such as CBT Group, Compaq, NETg and Motorola.

Go to reply# or date (mm/dd/yy):

Reply	Message Preview	From	Recs	Posted
4	SS SKIL @ 18 This POS has crept up again, and I am smacking it back down to the	Street Hawk	-	7/20/2000
3	A quote from the SEC 424B1 filing: <i>"We believe that our courses	Street Hawk	-	4/13/2000
2	Scanning for shorts, and look what came up. SKIL. A recent POS IPO. Well, ju	Street Hawk	-	4/13/2000
1	Skillsoft sets IPO at 3.1 mln shares, $12-$14/shr WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters)	westpacific	-	1/28/2000

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