SmartForce Introduces New e-Learning Applications For e-Business; New e-Learning Applications Help Companies Retool for Success in the Internet Economy.

Business Editors, Technology and Education Writers

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 11, 2000

SmartForce (NASDAQ: SMTF) today announced a comprehensive set of e-Learning applications to help enterprises build the expertise within their organizations to succeed in e-Business. Included within the new e-Learning offerings are e-Learning applications to help companies retool their entire range of business processes for the Internet, from marketing, to finance, to sales, to IT and to development. Using the advantages of SmartForce e-Learning, SmartForce's new e-Learning applications are designed to help companies understand the e-Business revolution, how to build an e-Business business model, and how to generate strong competitive advantages using the Internet across their businesses.

SmartForce e-Learning employs a wide variety of tools and technologies that allow the creation of e-Learning applications that help businesses train their workforce at Internet speed. e-Learning events such as Web-based seminars, simulations, live 24x7 online mentoring by certified professionals, expert-led chats and more combine to create a cohesive, fast-paced learning environment that can be targeted to the specific needs of both employees and companies.

"In the new e-Business world, the old rules no longer apply," said Greg Priest, SmartForce President and Chief Executive Officer. "SmartForce's new e-Learning applications for e-Business have been designed to meet the critical needs of companies who are ready to turn their enterprises into true e-businesses and are trying to generate within their workforces the skills and capabilities that will get them there."

Developed in partnership with industry leading e-Business application vendors, SmartForce's new e-Learning applications for e-Business deal with such subjects as setting Internet strategy, understanding network design, creating Web-based products, instituting online supply chain management, network security, and much more. SmartForce works with each customer to assess the particular business processes that they wish to Internet-enable, and assembles for each customer a program targeted to the specific requirements that business has in reinventing itself as an e-business.

e-Learning Applications for Wide Range of Business Processes

The Internet is allowing, and requiring, companies to reinvent themselves across the board. As such, SmartForce's new e-Learning applications for e-Business is focused on professionals in virtually every business function. For businesspeople with little or no direct knowledge of e-Business issues, SmartForce's new program concentrates on creating a working understanding of e-Business vocabulary, infrastructure and concepts. In addition to this foundational material, the program allows learners to quickly move to particular applications of the Internet to a wide range of business functions, from creating one-to-one marketing strategies and programs to using the Internet to reengineer the supply chain. In each of these areas, learners begin by learning the strategies and concepts, and quickly progress to particular tools and applications that can be used in these areas.

SmartForce's e-Business applications also extend to professionals focused on web development and IT infrastructure. The offering will thus also enable enterprises to build the technical expertise to develop and implement Internet applications. SmartForce will be supporting key industry certifications for development and IT professionals, such as the INet+ certification and the CIW (Certified Internet Webmaster) certification. These e-Learning applications will prepare professionals for job roles such as Site Designer, Application Developer, Internetworking Professional or Security Professional.

In all, the Company believes that the e-Learning applications for e-Business announced today represent by a significant margin the most comprehensive e-Learning offering around e-Business in the industry--covering eight independent industry certifications, over 400 hours of formal instruction, and several thousand e-Learning objects. The e-Learning applications will begin to be released later this quarter.

e-Business Applications Leverage SmartForce e-Learning Object Framework

The SmartForce e-business applications will be the first complete e-Learning offerings from SmartForce to fully leverage SmartForce's e-Learning object framework, announced separately today (see separate release). By defining each discrete element of its e-Learning offerings as a unique e-Learning object and by creating the capability for customers to create their own objects in a variety of industry-standard formats, SmartForce's e-Learning object framework will allow for the creation of an entirely unique e-Learning application for each customer, precisely targeted to its particular business requirements.

The e-Learning object framework allows for the creation of a personalized path through the e-Business application based on a student's prior experience and knowledge. This provides each student with a rich set of learning experiences that are targeted to their own goals and learning styles.

For more information about SmartForce's e-Business and other e-Learning applications, visit www.smartforce.com.

About SmartForce:

SmartForce, the e-Learning company, formerly CBT Systems, provides integrated enterprise e-Learning solutions. SmartForce e-Learning is available as a fully hosted Internet environment through an Internet rental model. With more than 2,500 major corporate customers, SmartForce e-Learning solutions bring the power of the Internet to the critical training business process. The SmartForce e-Learning environment is also used by leading Internet, software and other companies to provide the infrastructure to support their e-Learning initiatives. SmartForce is quoted on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol "SMTF." The company, which has more than 1,300 employees worldwide, has corporate headquarters at 900 Chesapeake Drive, Redwood City, Calif., 94063. Phone: [phone]. Fax: [phone]. Web site: www.smartforce.com.

SmartForce, SmartForce e-Learning and the SmartForce logo are trademarks of SmartForce. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.