March 3, 2008, Moscow. IBS, the leader in the IT and consulting market, announces the purchase of 51 per cent of Learnware Company Limited, one of Russia’s leading developers of systems for distance learning and the vendor of HyperMethod brand software products and services.
This deal is a logical step forward based on the relationship between the two companies in a number of projects of building distance learning systems for Russian higher education institutions. The new acquisition complements the IBS product portfolio by adding state-of-the-art e-learning systems.
HyperMethod brand products are highly valued in the learning systems market and regarded as being high quality, in line with the current IT trends, user-friendly and feature-rich. eLearning Server and eAuthor CBT, the company’s core products, have been recognized by experts of eLearning World magazine as the best in Russia.
The HyperMethod line of distance learning products includes:
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eLearning Server – a distance learning system providing the capability for remote training, retraining and further professional training for a broad range of users over the Internet. Distance learning reduces the cost of training and boosts availability of quality education services to students regardless of their location.
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eAuthor CBT – a set of tools that enable teachers, trainers, training center staff, developers and authors of training materials to produce distance courses, tests and exercises.
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Assessment Tools – a module that provides automation of core processes of staff management, planning and holding appraisals, and reviewing results.
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eLearning CMS – a structured warehouse used for managing processes of developing, searching for and using various training materials.
According to expert assessments, the Russian market for e-learning (distance learning) systems is growing at an annual pace of 40-50 per cent. The target segments of that market are higher and secondary professional education institutions and corporate customers (big companies and holding structures). Both segments have good prospects as a large number of innovation-oriented education institutions now plan to build distance learning systems as part of efforts to develop their training processes. Big companies and holding structures, the other segment, show a growing interest in setting up corporate distance training. This segment is poised to benefit from the Corporate University HyperMethod brand solutions package offering. This most recent unrivalled training and appraisal management system will also be included in the IBS product portfolio.
According to the terms of the deal, Learnware Company Limited will continue to have independent operations under the HyperMethod IBS brand.
According to Sergey Matsotsky, General Director of IBS, “This deal is in line with the IBS development strategy of further growth and strategic acquisitions of niche companies that are focused on new technology practices. IBS already has a good deal of experience of IT implementation in education, including implementation of distance learning systems. This deal will enable us to expand the integrated package of offerings for higher education institutions and corporate customers by adding one of the most demanded solutions; it will also enable us to be more efficient in rolling out the experience we already have and make distance learning programs more popular and wide spread in Russia, which is particularly important”.
Profiles of the companies
Learnware Company Limited is Russia’s leading vendor of software and solutions for distance learning and e-learning, staff development and appraisal, authoring e-learning courses, e-tests and e-training events.
Customers of Learnware Company Limited are over 300 entities within and beyond Russia including universities, corporate training centers, retail chains, banks, defense enterprises and government entities.
For more information on the company please visit http://www.learnware.ru/
IBS is Russia’s leading player in the IT and consulting market. It was formed through the merger of IBS and Borlas Consulting Group. It is part of IBS Group Holding Limited, along with Luxoft and Depo Computers. Its core lines of business are management consulting, business applications implementation, IT outsourcing and IT infrastructure. IBS headcount exceeds 3400 employees including over 1500 certified consultants. 84 of Russia’s top 100 companies are customers of IBS. For more information on IBS please visit www.ibs.ru.
For further information on IBS please contact Lada Scherbakova, PR Director, telephone: +7 495 967-8080, e-mail: lada@ibs.ru.
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