Asymetrix Corp. and Allen Communications announce Designer's Edge for ToolBook II; Strategic partnership brings standardization to the design and pre-authoring process.SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 11, 1996--Asymetrix Corp. and Allen Communication today announced an agreement to jointly create a version of Designer's Edge(TM) specifically for ToolBook II(TM) users, the first of many steps intended to introduce standards to the technology-based training community by the two companies. Designer's Edge is a pre-authoring tool that assists with the instructional design Instructional design is the practice of arranging media (communication technology) and content to help learners and teachers transfer knowledge most effectively. The process consists broadly of determining the current state of learner understanding, defining the end goal of planning and preparation that takes place before a technology-based training course is created. The new product, Designer's Edge for ToolBook II, will be identical to the version of Designer's Edge created and sold by Allen Communication, but will include specifically designed ToolBook II templates instead of the Quest(TM) templates that currently ship with Designer's Edge. Industry experts are encouraged by the strategic agreement. "Allen Communication and Asymetrix working together is great news for the CBT (Computer-Based Training) Using the computer for training and instruction. CBT programs are called "courseware" and provide interactive training sessions for all disciplines. community," said Steve Blumberg, publisher of CBT Solutions. "It's a unique situation when industry leaders are willing to quickly respond to customer needs by creating one standard across organizations, rather than competing standards. This is an extremely beneficial move for the entire computer-based training See CBT. (application) Computer-Based Training - (CBT) Training (of humans) done by interaction with a computer. The programs and data used in CBT are known as "courseware." industry which will create far-reaching benefits." The companies have forged this coopetition (COOPEration compeTITION) Cooperation between competing companies. In the information field, coopetition means settling on standards and then developing products that compete with each other using those standards. agreement in order to better meet the needs of the technology-based training market by creating the first of many needed standards, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Dr. Steven W. Allen, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Allen Communication. "Both Allen Communication and Asymetrix have a strong desire to improve people's ability to perform better. We both recognize the benefits of creating a pre- authoring standard to benefit the industry as a whole, no matter what authoring tool they're using. This is the first of many steps we will take together with Asymetrix to create industry standards." "Computer Based Training has the potential to become the killer application Killer Application Killer application or "killer app" is a buzzword that describes a software application that surpasses all of its competitors. Notes: The term is sometimes used to describe a type of software. for the Internet," said Jim Billmaier, president and CEO of Asymetrix. "Leading developers of CBT software must work together to provide a new standard in the industry in order to make this happen. The agreement between Asymetrix and Allen Communication is the first step to create standards in an industry which will make the creation, deployment, and management of CBT applications over the Internet and Intranets easier for the customer." According to the 1996 Computer-Based Training Report published by SB Communications, 62% of companies use more than one authoring tool, a number that has grown over the past two years. Additionally, in June 1996 Corporate University Review reported that 50% of training will be delivered in a CBT format by the year 2000, vs. the current 10% level. Allen Communication and Asymetrix believe that standardization on one pre-authoring approach supports these trends and will help the whole industry regardless of what authoring tool is used to be more productive and consistent in front-end design. A recent survey of Designer's Edge users revealed that organizations using Designer's Edge are increasing their productivity an average of 36%, resulting in an annual average cost savings of more than $26,000. This coopetition agreement should help to increase this productivity enhancement even further. Future standards announcements from the companies will help to increase overall productivity as well. "When Designer's Edge was first announced, it was very exciting news for the industry to finally have a tool that helps with the methodology of instructional design," said Liz Vasti, Curriculum Manager at Oracle Corp., which recently standardized on Designer's Edge. "The standardization and productivity benefits it offers as well as easy links into authoring environments is a huge benefit; to now open this up to include ToolBook II as well as Quest is excellent news for all of us who create multimedia training." Pricing and Availability ------------------------ The new Designer's Edge for ToolBook II will be available direct and exclusive from Asymetrix in the fourth quarter of 1996, and for a period of 90 days after its introduction. Suggested List Price is $2,995. About Asymetrix --------------- Asymetrix is a leading supplier of easy-to-use Internet authoring and development tools for distributed learning Distributed Learning means a method of instruction that relies primarily on indirect communication between students and teachers, including internet or other electronic-based delivery, teleconferencing or correspondence; (British Columbia, School Act, 2006). , web publishing Creating a Web site and placing it on the Web server. A Web site is a collection of HTML pages with the home page typically named INDEX.HTML. Web sites are designed using Web authoring software which provides a graphical layout capability or by hand coding in HTML or both. and Internet applications. The company also produces easy-to-use digital media content creation. Asymetrix products include ToolBook II, Asymetrix Digital Video Producer, Asymetrix 3D F/X F/X Effects , Asymetrix Web 3D, Asymetrix Web Publisher, and SuperCede Verb 1. supercede - take the place or move into the position of; "Smith replaced Miller as CEO after Miller left"; "the computer has supplanted the slide rule"; "Mary replaced Susan as the team's captain and the highest-ranked player in the school" . Asymetrix, a privately held software company based in Bellevue, Washington Bellevue is a rapidly growing city in King County, Washington, U.S., across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle,[1] it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. , markets to customers and clients around the world including leading corporate, government, and educational institutions. Asymetrix Corp., 110-110th Ave. NE., Bellevue, WA., 98004-5840, http://www.asymetrix.com. About Allen Communication ------------------------- Allen Communication, founded in 1981, is a wholly owned subsidiary Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. of Times Mirror, a large international media and information company. With headquarters in Salt Lake City, with offices in London, Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., and San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden , Allen Communication is dedicated to meeting all of the needs of multimedia developers in the training and education marketplace with design, development, delivery, and management tools and services. It produces Quest, an industry-leading authoring tool, Designer's Edge, a revolutionary pre-authoring software, and Manager's Edge, a training data management and tracking tool. In addition to software products, Allen Communication produces award-winning custom training courses for clients worldwide, including IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) , AT&T, American Express American Express (NYSE: AXP), sometimes known as "AmEx" or "Amex", is a diversified global financial services company, headquartered in New York City. The company is best known for its credit card, charge card and traveler's cheque businesses. , Mack Truck, and Prudential Securities. Allen Communication, 5 Triad Center, 5th Floor, Salt Lake City, UT 84180, http://www.allencomm.com. -0- Quest is a registered trademark and Designer's Edge and Manager's Edge are trademarks of Allen Communication. Asymetrix, Asymetrix 3D F/X, Digital Video Producer and ToolBook are registered trademarks and Asymetrix Web 3D, Asymetrix WebPublisher, SuperCede, and ToolBook II are trademarks of Asymetrix Corp. Inc. All other company and/or product names are the property of their respective owners. CONTACT: Asymetrix Corp. Dennis Sullivan, 206/637-2458 denniss@asymetrix.com OR Allen Communication Britta Jafek Glade, 800/662-4041 x352 or 212/398-0030 bglade@allencomm.com |
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