Ford Education, Training & Development Increases Solstra License Tenfold
18 January 2000
Ford Education, Training & Development Increases Solstra License Tenfold
On-line Training Made Available to 5000 of the Ford Workforce
ARUNDEL, England, Jan. 18 -- The Ford Motor Company is to
increase its license for Solstra, the integrated learning solution developed
jointly by BT and Futuremedia , from 500 to 5000 users.
Branded internally within Ford as Training Management Administrator
(TMA on-line), Solstra has been used by Ford Education, Training & Development
to provide details and schedules of all training courses and on-line learning
programmes to the desktops for all Ford staff.
By increasing the Solstra user license, Ford Education, Training &
Development will make TMA on-line available to employees at all levels within
Ford UK.
Paul Pestell, Ford's Manager of Technical and Commercial Services for
Training and Development, Northern Europe, said: "By extending TMA on-line to
all levels of staff, we are giving employees the opportunity to take a
proactive role in their on-going training and development. They will be able
to review course content, check dates and availability, and get their
manager's approval to attend -- all on-line, within minutes."
Paul Pestell continued: "Solstra has already proved to be a cost-effective
way to deliver and manage training and an excellent addition to our training
portfolio. By removing the extra layer of administration and taking TMA
on-line directly to the workforce we anticipate even greater cost and time
savings."
Stephen Bennett, Head of Sales and Marketing at Futuremedia, said: "The
increase in the Solstra license within Ford Education, Training and
Development is a natural and planned progression of the company's commitment
to making on-line training and administration available to every part of the
company throughout Europe. The 5,000 new seats will allow Ford workers to
self administer their training requirements from the workplace."
About Solstra 2000(R)
Solstra 2000(R) offers organisations a solution for convenient,
cost-effective and flexible delivery of learning to dispersed audiences via
the Internet or an intranet, together with an effective method of knowledge
management. Its open architecture means it can be quickly installed to
operate across a range of heterogeneous IT platforms.
Its 'Administrator' function automatically monitors and records learning
activity of all users, providing management with an overview and creating a
'bank' of information. Using Solstra 2000, personnel can update learning
content centrally and distribute it instantly and inexpensively over the net
to the appropriate audience.
It protects and maximises investment in existing learning material by
accommodating net-based products, regardless of who produced them. It also
directs users towards other relevant learning or knowledge available within an
organisation -- whether in the form of expertise or other learning materials.
As an efficient system for delivering and sharing knowledge, it can be used by
organisations to demonstrate enterprise-wide compliance to government
regulations and standards or best practice. For more information, visit
http://www.solstra.com.
About Futuremedia
Futuremedia PLC provides Internet and intranet learning and communications
solutions to businesses worldwide. Futuremedia iLearning provides learning
and knowledge management solutions and Futuremedia iComs supplies marketing
and communications solutions. The company has a strong strategic relationship
with British Telecommunications plc, who jointly own and market Solstra.
Futuremedia also produces high quality learning and communications
materials on other media, such as CDROM. Within its industry, Futuremedia has
completed some of the most successful and innovative learning and
communications projects to date, for customers such as 3M, BT, Ericsson, Ford
Motor Company, Hewlett Packard, Lever Brothers, Shell and Unilever. For more
information about Futuremedia, please visit the company's web site:
http://www.futuremedia.co.uk.
This press release contains forward-looking information that involves
risks and uncertainties, including statements about Futuremedia's plans,
objectives, expectations and intentions. The forward-looking statements are
also subject to risks set forth in Futuremedia's reports filed from time to
time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking
statements contained herein speak only as of the date of this release.