Sunday, October 21, 2007

Plateau Systems Introduces Industry's First Solution to Streamline Complex Training Activity Scheduling

Plateau Schedule Builder Automates and Simplifies Training Schedules, Recommending Optimal Scenarios Based on Resource Availability, Learning Requirements and Organizational Goals

Arlington, Va. - 21 October, 2007 – Plateau Systems, a leading provider of talent management software, content and services, today announced Plateau Schedule Builder™, enabling customers for the first time to build efficient training schedules based on training demands and available resources. This innovative solution simplifies the allocation and scheduling of assets to support organizations’ complex talent management needs, saving time and money traditionally spent coordinating and managing various resources, such as instructors, simulators, classrooms, or equipment.

With today’s organizations more focused than ever before on aligning their training and development efforts with their company’s business strategy, employee training is becoming increasingly critical to an organization’s overall talent management strategy. In fact, according to Bersin and Associates, North American organizations spend more than $55 billion on training every year, with large organizations spending even more.

Complex, highly distributed organizations often face unique challenges around coordinating and managing the many assets, locations or personnel required to support their training activities. Until now, they have been forced to rely on static approaches like whiteboards and spreadsheets to manage training scheduling. These approaches are limited in their ability to model resource use and they lack the flexibility necessary for adapting to changes that arise after creation of the original schedule.

Using Plateau Schedule Builder, organizations can create, maintain, and ensure the accuracy of training scenarios. Taking into account various parameters and assumptions for demand and resource constraints, Plateau Schedule Builder dynamically generates multiple scenarios, which users can review and compare, ultimately selecting the one that best meets their training and organizational needs. Once the customer selects a scenario, Plateau Schedule Builder automatically adds the scheduled offering to Plateau’s Learning Management System (LMS), where it is made available to users. Users can then enroll in the offerings following standard business processes directly through their LMS.

Plateau Schedule Builder identifies scenarios that utilize the fewest resources (instructors, locations, etc.), over the shortest amount of time and with the least number of training hours. It then prioritizes training needs, so that critical training demands take importance over less essential items. This allows customers to identify organizational goals, such as cost, or utilization, and then allocate training demands accordingly. Organizations can also create multiple long-term schedules or scenarios that span any duration, from weeks to years, so that they balance the needs of different groups with the capacity and availability of training resources, increase scheduling efficiencies, and decrease the number of times users reactively adjust schedules.

With Plateau Schedule Builder, users can more effectively manage and allocate training resources across the entire organization. By increasing the efficiency of creating and managing training scenarios, Plateau Schedule Builder helps customers expedite goal achievement and increase the effectiveness of other components within their talent management strategy, including performance, compensation and career and succession planning.

“Large organizations are continually grappling with complex training schedules that span various groups and require numerous resources, and until now, no automated solution has been available to meet their demands,” said Paul Sparta, Chairman and CEO of Plateau. “Plateau is committed to simplifying these intricate processes, so that our customers can save time and money coordinating and managing all of the moving parts required to meet their training needs. With Plateau Schedule Builder, organizations can now proactively balance corporate constraints with training demands, prioritizing the most important items and create long-term plans that help them meet their overall corporate talent management objectives. This is the first time organizations have access to this level of coordination and management, as Plateau continues to lead the industry in customer support and innovation.”

Plateau Schedule Builder is immediately available for customers who have deployed Plateau’s Learning Management System, which is part of the Plateau Talent Management Suite. For more information, visit www.Plateau.com.

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About Plateau
Plateau is a leading provider of talent management software, content and services designed to increase workforce productivity and drive business success. Plateau's award-winning software is powering talent management initiatives across some of the world's most successful organizations, including the American Red Cross, Capital One, General Electric, the Internal Revenue Service, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Reuters. Industry analysts at Bersin & Associates, Forrester Research and other leading information and technology research and advisory firms continue to recognize Plateau's leadership in delivering best-in-class functionality, technology and customer satisfaction. Plateau is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, with offices across the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.Plateau.com.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Plateau Accelerates International Expansion, increasing presence in Australia and Asia

New Asia-Pacific Office Addresses Global Demand for Plateau’s Talent Management Offerings

Arlington, Va. - 17 October, 2007 – Plateau Systems, a leading provider of talent management software, content and services, today announced a new Asia-Pacific headquarters office located in Sydney, Australia to support the growing demand for talent management solutions throughout the region. As the company’s global customer base continues to grow, Plateau is increasing its sales and customer support resources for organizations requiring best-in-class talent management solutions to help train employees, retain essential staff and fill critical competency gaps.

According to a 2006 report from staffing services and employment provider Manpower Inc., 40 percent of companies worldwide are having difficulty filling jobs and 61 percent of employers in Australia find it difficult to identify qualified candidates. To address this worldwide shortage, a recent Business Week study: “Talent Management: The New Business Imperative,” states that each company must “estimate the gaps in its industry and determine the skills it needs to meet the business objectives,” so that it has “the right people in the right places at the right time and at the right price to execute is business strategy.” The study goes on to state that “Tight integration [between all talent management components] would produce a robust database of information about the competencies of individuals that is available to decision makers throughout the enterprise.”

With Plateau, companies in Asia-Pacific can address the growing shortage of qualified workers by taking a proactive approach to talent management, focusing on the skills and capabilities of their current team to fill internal gaps, and enabling employees to develop their own career paths. Plateau’s fully integrated talent management solution allows organizations to improve performance management and personnel development of its employees by tying performance reviews to development requirements. This helps these organizations to better prepare employees for achieving career goals and potentially fill upcoming competency gaps.

To support its expanded Asia-Pacific presence, Plateau is also working with leading partners to deliver product and customer support. These partners include Human Capital Solutions (HCS), which helps organizations to implement HR and Learning Strategies through a mixture of professional services, content provision and IT solutions; and SeerPharma, Asia-Pacific's leading and largest professional consultancy specializing in the delivery of technical compliance and validation, QA knowledge and training solutions to the pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology industries.

“The talent crisis is affecting companies worldwide, and these organizations are looking for proven solutions to help them better understand their current competencies, where there may be gaps and where they may be at risk,” said Paul Sparta, Chairman and CEO of Plateau. “By expanding our presence and resources in this region, Plateau is delivering an integrated talent management solution that allows companies to improve their overall workforce productivity through strategic training, evaluation, compensation, and retention activities.”

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About Plateau
Plateau is a leading provider of talent management software, content and services designed to increase workforce productivity and drive business success. Plateau's award-winning software is powering talent management initiatives across some of the world's most successful organizations, including the American Red Cross, Capital One, General Electric, the Internal Revenue Service, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Reuters. Industry analysts at Bersin & Associates, Forrester Research and other leading information and technology research and advisory firms continue to recognize Plateau's leadership in delivering best-in-class functionality, technology and customer satisfaction. Plateau is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, with offices across the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.Plateau.com.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Swiss Re Selects Plateau to Support Global Learning Management Initiatives

Company Deploys Plateau Learning to Align Employees with Corporate Objectives, Increasing Productivity and Efficiency of Global Workforce

Arlington, Va. - 16 October, 2007 – Plateau Systems, a leading provider of talent management software, content and services, today announced that Swiss Re, the world’s leading and most diversified global reinsurer, has deployed Plateau Learning to define and develop its training courses and assess job function competencies across its global operations. With integrated learning and competency assessment capabilities, Swiss Re can align employee training with corporate objectives and compliance initiatives.

According to the recent “Learning Management Systems 2008: Facts, Practical Analysis, Trends, and Vendor Profiles” report from Bersin & Associates, “Organizations with well-implemented learning management systems see 25 percent to 35 percent improvements in effectiveness and efficiency.” With operations in more than 25 countries, Swiss Re takes a proactive approach to aligning its expectations and interests with those of its stakeholders and continues to conduct benchmarking and implementation of best practice standards. Swiss Re is using Plateau Learning to manage the training and assessments its regionally dispersed employees so that they can meet these company standards.

“One of our greatest challenges is building an efficient and productive global organization with such a diversified and dispersed workforce,” said Hanspeter Brunner, Head Swiss Re Academy. “Plateau delivers a comprehensive and uniform solution for training and assessing the competency of all of our employees. We will have a centralized view of our entire worldwide employee base, so that we can assess the strength of our organization and address areas where we may need to improve the breadth and depth of our expertise.”

With Plateau Learning, Swiss Re will be able to customize system access and trainings to specific job families, so that managers have the flexibility to either designate attendees or allow open enrollment for certain training courses. To support Swiss Re’s global workforce and regional compliance efforts, including Sarbanes-Oxley and eCode, Plateau delivers specialized distance learning programs. These online programs can be either pushed directly to or proactively accessed by the employee, and for the most critical trainings users receive automatic reminders as the completion deadlines approach.

Providing a single, consolidated source for Swiss Re’s user information and data, Plateau Learning will manage all aspects of employee training from course enrollment, approval, and delivery to reporting. With Plateau’s intuitive user interface and graphical reporting capabilities, managers can monitor employees’ course progress from start through completion and assess employees’ skills against pre-defined competencies. It also delivers job family-specific views into Learning Curricula so that all users can view predefined required and recommended trainings for their specific job.

“Recognized worldwide as a leading provider of financial services products, Swiss Re must comply with strict governance regulations as well as handle volatile and ever-changing markets, and Plateau provides the platform for ensuring that all employees are trained and evaluated to support the company’s business and growth objectives,” said Paul Sparta, Chairman and CEO of Plateau. “As Plateau expands our presence in EMEA, Swiss Re joins the ranks of other global enterprises that turn to Plateau’s leading Talent Management solutions to address the needs of all its workers and regional offices throughout its European headquarters and 25 countries around the world.”

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About Swiss Re
Swiss Re is the world’s leading and most diversified global reinsurer. The company operates through offices in over 25 countries. Founded in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1863, Swiss Re offers financial services products that enable the risk-taking essential to enterprise and progress. The company’s traditional reinsurance products and related services for property and casualty, as well as the life and health business are complemented by insurance-based corporate finance solutions and supplementary services for comprehensive risk management. Swiss Re is rated “AA-” by Standard & Poor’s, “Aa2” by Moody’s and “A+” by A.M. Best.

About Plateau
Plateau is a leading provider of talent management software, content and services designed to increase workforce productivity and drive business success. Plateau's award-winning software is powering talent management initiatives across some of the world's most successful organizations, including the American Red Cross, Capital One, General Electric, the Internal Revenue Service, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Reuters. Industry analysts at Bersin & Associates, Forrester Research and other leading information and technology research and advisory firms continue to recognize Plateau's leadership in delivering best-in-class functionality, technology and customer satisfaction. Plateau is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, with offices across the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.Plateau.com.

Friday, October 12, 2007

iContent® named Top Training Product of 2007

Plateau’s Solution Selected for Demonstrating Excellence and Innovation to HR Community

Arlington, Va. - 12 October, 2007Plateau Systems, a leading provider of talent management software, content and services, today announced that Human Resource Executive® magazine named Plateau’s iContent® solution as a Top Training Product of 2007. The magazine's 19th annual awards competition recognized iContent, the industry’s only multi-vendor Internet solution for procuring, distributing, hosting, and managing custom content, for its innovation, ease of use, and the value it delivers to the human resources community. Award recipients were honored this week at the 10th Anniversary HR Technology Conference and Expo® in Chicago.

“Despite efforts to meld technology and content, most attempts have so far fallen short,” stated Human Resource Executive magazine. “But now, with the release of iContent, Plateau Systems has successfully solved many of the shortcomings that have been evident in previous offerings.”

Created in 1989, Human Resource Executive’s Top HR and Training Products award recognizes leading-edge products that provide value and innovation to the human resource industry. After briefings and product demonstrations, editors selected the Top Five Training and Top 10 Human Resource products from a record number of submissions. Products are selected according to their innovation, the value it brings to the human resource function of an organization, ease of use, and how well it delivers on its promises.

“Earning recognition as a top HR solution highlights the value iContent is providing customers and further validates Plateau’s leadership and success in delivering innovative, elegant, and easy-to-use talent management solutions,” said Paul Sparta, CEO of Plateau Systems. “By providing organizations with a flexible, cost-effective solution that solves complex content fulfillment, distribution and management issues, iContent is addressing and alleviating one of HR’s most expensive and time-consuming pain points.”

iContent is a next-generation solution for managing and delivering talent management content. Introduced less than a year ago, it provides a single place where customers can locate, store, and deliver thousands of third-party packaged content offerings as well as customer-specific content, increasing the value of their current talent management software solutions with minimal effort. iContent speeds the availability and delivery of content – regardless of the Learning Management System an organization uses - while decreasing the overhead costs and frustration associated with managing and storing learning and talent management content. View information about iContent at http://www.icontentportal.com.

"Since launching iContent at last year's conference, we have seen significant adoption across a wide range of customers and industries, from large enterprise customers like the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, to highly-regarded financial services institutions and organizations including Western Union and Commerce Bank," said Paul Sparta, Chairman and CEO, Plateau. "Recognized by HR Executive as one of the industry's top training solutions, iContent blends technological innovation with usability, simplicity, and proven customer service into the only-one-of-its kind solution that is addressing and resolving critical, costly, and time-consuming HR challenges. iContent represents a pivotal evolution for the industry and we will continue to enhance and extend this solution as it becomes more and more critical to organizational talent management initiatives."

The enhanced iContent solution will be available in November. Conference attendees can visit Plateau at booth # 1001 to learn more about these new capabilities, the iContent Flex Card, and how to become an iContent trial user.

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About Plateau
Plateau is a leading provider of talent management software, content and services designed to increase workforce productivity and drive business success. Plateau's award-winning software is powering talent management initiatives across some of the world's most successful organizations, including the American Red Cross, Capital One, General Electric, the Internal Revenue Service, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Reuters. Industry analysts at Bersin & Associates, Forrester Research and other leading information and technology research and advisory firms continue to recognize Plateau's leadership in delivering best-in-class functionality, technology and customer satisfaction. Plateau is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, with offices across the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.Plateau.com.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Plateau Systems Expands Award-Winning iContent® Functionality with Increased Content Management, Security and Usability

Company to Preview New iContent Features and Offer Free iContent Trial to HR Technology Conference Attendees

Chicago - 10 October, 2007 – Plateau Systems, a leading provider of talent management software, content and services, announced today at the HR Technology Conference and Exposition that it has significantly expanded the functionality, features, and footprint of its popular iContent solution. iContent is the industry's only web-based, one-stop shop solution for purchasing, distributing, hosting, and managing third-party packaged and custom-developed talent management content. In addition to increased content management and entitlement security capabilities, the company will announce three new iContent features, including Course Preview, which will allow users to view a snippet of course content before they purchase; the iContent Flex Card, which acts as a debit card for purchasing content via the iContent portal www.plateau.com/icontent; and the Custom Course Upload, which allows iContent users to upload custom content developed for their specific organization.

iContent's enhanced entitlement security will allow administrators to view and manage all usage information for their organization's custom and commercial content from a single centralized location. By restricting content access to authorized individuals, iContent entitlement protects an organization's proprietary, often competitive, content by preventing unauthorized users from viewing, accessing, copying, or sharing it without permission.

Plateau has also added Course Preview and Custom Course Upload features to iContent. Course Preview allows users to preview or "test-drive" course content before they purchase to ensure that it meets their learning, training, and development needs. The Custom Course Upload feature allows iContent users to host and manage their custom content in the iContent infrastructure. Once uploaded to iContent, these courses are tested and integrated into the customer's learning management system (LMS). Customers who do not have an LMS can select the iContent eLearning Delivery System during the check out process, which will allow them to access their courses from through a limited-use, hosted version of Plateau's learning management system (LMS). This provides a flexible, cost-effective way for smaller organizations and business units with limited budgets to purchase, access, track, and report on learning and training activities material on an as needed basis – without having to purchase or deploy a full-fledged LMS.

In addition to new functionality, Plateau announced the new iContent Flex Card, eliminating the hassle of individual payment transactions every time a content need is identified. Similar to a gift card, organizations load their iContent Flex Card with a set amount, and training administrators swipe the card to pay for content needs throughout the year. As the balance decreases, users can reload the iContent Flex Card. To preview this innovative "procure-as-you-go" model, Plateau is inviting HR Technology conference attendees to try iContent free from the comfort of their desktop. Those interested in experiencing the simplicity and value of iContent can stop by Plateau's booth to learn how they can obtain a free iContent Trial Card that will provide trial access to select iContent courses for a limited time.

Recognized as one of the Top Training Products of 2007 by HR Executive, iContent is currently supporting the training efforts of many of the world's leading organizations with more than 25,000 courses in areas such as business, leadership development, legal, healthcare, workplace and safety compliance from a constantly growing list of content providers. Current iContent partners include Brightline Compliance, CourseAvenue, Drug-Free Business Solutions, Element K, getAbstract, Medcom Trainex, MedSenses, Monitor Group, Ninth House, PureSafety, SkillSoft/Thomson NETg, and WeComply.

"Since launching iContent at last year's conference, we have seen significant adoption across a wide range of customers and industries, from large enterprise customers like the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, to highly-regarded financial services institutions and organizations including Western Union and Commerce Bank," said Paul Sparta, Chairman and CEO, Plateau. "Recognized by HR Executive as one of the industry's top training solutions, iContent blends technological innovation with usability, simplicity, and proven customer service into the only-one-of-its kind solution that is addressing and resolving critical, costly, and time-consuming HR challenges. iContent represents a pivotal evolution for the industry and we will continue to enhance and extend this solution as it becomes more and more critical to organizational talent management initiatives."

The enhanced iContent solution will be available in November. Conference attendees can visit Plateau at booth # 1001 to learn more about these new capabilities, the iContent Flex Card, and how to become an iContent trial user.

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About Plateau
Plateau is a leading provider of talent management software, content and services designed to increase workforce productivity and drive business success. Plateau's award-winning software is powering talent management initiatives across some of the world's most successful organizations, including the American Red Cross, Capital One, General Electric, the Internal Revenue Service, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Reuters. Industry analysts at Bersin & Associates, Forrester Research and other leading information and technology research and advisory firms continue to recognize Plateau's leadership in delivering best-in-class functionality, technology and customer satisfaction. Plateau is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, with offices across the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.Plateau.com.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Plateau Systems to present Holistic Talent Management Strategy and Insights at HR Technology Conference and Exposition

Plateau Systems and Western Union to Co-Present Session Discussing the Alignment of Employees and Corporate Goals with an Integrated Talent Management Solution

Arlington, Va. - 9 October, 2007 Plateau Systems, a leading provider of talent management software, content and services, will showcase its leading Talent Management solutions at this week’s 10th Anniversary HR Technology Conference and Exposition in Chicago, IL, from October 10-12, 2007. In a joint presentation highlighting the value of deploying an integrated talent management solution, Plateau’s CEO Paul Sparta and Dave Roberts, Vice President of Talent Management for Western Union, will discuss how Western Union’s holistic talent management strategy, powered by Plateau’s solutions, is supporting the company’s overall corporate goals and objectives.

Complementing this presentation, Plateau will also showcase and demo its comprehensive Talent Management and iContent solutions at the conference. Recognized as one of the Top Training Products of 2007 by HR Executive, iContent is the industry’s next-generation solution for purchasing, managing, and delivering talent management content.

WHO: Paul Sparta, Chairman and CEO of Plateau Systems, and Dave Roberts, Vice President of Talent Management at Western Union

WHAT: Learning & Performance Management: Western Union Calling for a Holistic Strategy

Despite the demise of its iconic yellow paper telegram and delivery boys, Western Union at more than 150 years old, still employs 5,600 people servicing 200 countries around the world as a leader in consumer and business money transfers, generating annual revenues of $4 billion. Western Union has adopted a holistic Talent strategy, starting with integrated Learning and Performance Management and with Succession planned for next year. Paul Sparta and Dave Roberts will discuss Western Union’s roll-out strategy using a phased approach, key methods used to gain user acceptance and adoption, and the benefits realized from aligning employees with corporate goals through an integrated solution.

Conference attendees are also invited to join Plateau at its Exhibitor Booth #1001 to meet company experts and learn more about the company's integrated talent management solutions.

WHEN: Wednesday, October 10, 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

WHERE: HR Technology Conference & Expo
Navy Pier Chicago
600 East Grand Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: (312) 595-PIER
http://www.NavyPier.com

INTERVIEWS: Media are invited to speak with Paul Sparta about Plateau's expertise in an integrated Talent Management program as well as learning, performance, compensation and succession management. Please contact Wendy Werve at wendy.werve@plateau.com to schedule an interview.

For registration information and to view the full event agenda, please visit: www.hrtechconference.com. Visit Plateau Systems at Booth # 1001.

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About Plateau
Plateau is a leading provider of talent management software, content and services designed to increase workforce productivity and drive business success. Plateau's award-winning software is powering talent management initiatives across some of the world's most successful organizations, including the American Red Cross, Capital One, General Electric, the Internal Revenue Service, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Reuters. Industry analysts at Bersin & Associates, Forrester Research and other leading information and technology research and advisory firms continue to recognize Plateau's leadership in delivering best-in-class functionality, technology and customer satisfaction. Plateau is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, with offices across the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.Plateau.com.

Monday, October 1, 2007

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Awards Plateau Systems Contracts Valued at over $10 Million

Agency will use Plateau’s Hosted Talent Management and iContent Solutions to Accelerate and Expand the Delivery of Critical Learning and Development


Arlington, Va. - 1 October, 2007 Plateau Systems, a leading provider of talent management software, content and services, today announced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded Plateau Systems contracts with a one year value of more than $10 million to support learning management, career development, competency management, and content delivery and administration across the Department. Under the contracts, VA will use Plateau’s hosted learning management solutions to deliver and track learning and training activities, for its 350,000 employees and other associated staff, and begin to align developmental activities with the skills and competencies required for a high performing VA workforce.

VA is implementing Plateau’s Learning Management System (LMS) and iContent service for storing, managing and deploying its custom and third party training and development content. VA will initially use iContent to manage, host and deliver 1,500 courses across the agency’s enterprise. Using Plateau’s LMS and iContent service to speed content deployment and updates will enable VA employees to maintain timely compliance with congressionally mandated training in critical areas such as cyber security, Privacy, No Fear, and Prevention of Sexual Harassment. By consolidating VA’s packaged and custom content currently housed in various legacy systems into a single, integrated system, Plateau and iContent will enable VA to facilitate the national roll-out of mandatory training.

The VA LMS is being implemented though an Interagency Agreement (IAA) between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). As an enterprise-level E-Training initiative, the VA LMS is part of the Government-wide E-Government initiatives supporting the President’s Management Agenda.

“Plateau was selected as VA’s strategic partner after consistently proving its enterprise-class scalability, functionality, and flexibility and technical depth through progressively rigorous proof of concepts and pilot programs,” said Paul Sparta, Chairman and CEO, Plateau. “We look forward to continuing our partnership and supporting VA as they extend and evolve their human capital management strategy to address broader initiatives such as career planning, performance management and succession planning.”

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About Plateau
Plateau is a leading provider of talent management software, content and services designed to increase workforce productivity and drive business success. Plateau’s award-winning software is powering talent management initiatives across some of the world’s most successful organizations, including the American Red Cross, Capital One, General Electric, the Internal Revenue Service, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Reuters. Industry analysts at Bersin & Associates, Forrester Research and other leading information and technology research and advisory firms continue to recognize Plateau’s leadership in delivering best-in-class functionality, technology and customer satisfaction. Plateau is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, with offices across the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.Plateau.com.