Catapult, an IBM Company, Continues Advance with Strategic Focus on Integrated Learning Solutions.

Business Editors

BOTHELL, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 2000

Catapult Continues to Lead the Training Industry as an

Expertise-Driven Company Focused on the Design, Development and

Delivery of Private Classes and Custom Learning Solutions

Catapult, Inc., an IBM Company and subsidiary of the world's largest learning company, IBM Learning Services, announced today a shift in its training delivery focus. The company is transitioning its public class training from the classroom to the Internet and will focus on meeting clients' needs through custom classes and learning solutions.

"This isn't the end of the computer classroom," says Tom Bahn, Chief Executive Officer of Catapult, Inc., a leading provider of performance-based computer training for Fortune 1000 companies and government agencies. "Rather, we're adapting our business model in response to the new approaches in computer learning being shaped by the rise of the Internet and the needs of our customers in the areas of custom classes and education services." Already a leader in assessing, designing, developing and managing corporate training, the new alignment is designed to better serve the needs of Catapult's clients while still providing them access to Catapult's award-winning content over the web.

The company believes that the workforce is largely computer-proficient, and that, these days, organizations need learning solutions customized for their unique needs to improve performance. "Our clients are demanding more customized learning," said Bahn, explaining the shift. "They're looking less and less for the basics and more and more for the skills and applications that will help their people perform in their roles." He added that the need for education consulting, courseware and instructors who teach people how to teach themselves is growing.

To meet the new direction, Catapult will continue to offer instructor-led training in private classes for both end-users and IT professionals on a nationwide basis and retain facilities for classroom and conference use in 12 major markets - Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

"Instructor-led learning will always be with us," says Bahn. "Knowledge is passed from person to person. But we're learning that classrooms are most effective for teaching certain skills to certain groups of people. We're getting better at what we do best -- focusing on meeting our customers' unique needs with the highest quality solutions."

Catapult, Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM Corporation and has been a recognized leader in both instructor-led and computer-based technology training since its founding in 1990. Additional information on Catapult's family of training products and services can be found at www.catapulttraining.com.