Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Plateau and Accenture Deliver Flexible Learning Management Solutions to 14,000 Employees Across Caja Madrid's 2,000 Branches

Spain’s Fourth Largest Retail Bank to Deploy Plateau Learning Management System for enterprise-wide compliance training and online learning

Arlington, Va. - 15 July, 2008 – Plateau Systems, a leading provider of talent management software, content and services, today announced that Spain’s oldest financial entity and fourth-largest financial group, Caja Madrid, has selected Plateau Learning Management System (LMS) to deliver compliance training and online courses to the bank’s entire employee population. During a competitive evaluation process, Accenture, which will host the solution, recommended Plateau as the best technical fit for Caja Madrid’s needs.

As Spain’s fourth largest banking institution, Caja Madrid provides a full range of retail, corporate and private banking products and services, serving 6.7 million customers in all segments from families and SMEs, through to major corporations and public and private institutions. With more than 75 regional offices and an extensive network of branch offices, ensuring high levels of employee productivity and efficiency is critical to Caja Madrid’s continued success and growth. Understanding the critical role talent management plays in its ability to meet customer needs and maintain business growth, Caja Madrid decided to transform its current learning management system. After significant evaluation, Caja Madrid chose Plateau and Accenture to update the bank’s learning management systems.

“Caja Madrid’s growth and expanding business have determined the need to evolve from a highly customized solution to a new learning management system that enables faster and more flexible accommodation to the new challenges,” said Diego Sánchez de Leon, Accenture EALA Talent & Organization Performance Lead Partner. “At this point, Caja Madrid has engaged Accenture to help them select a state-of-the-art, SCORM 2004-compliant platform that is aligned with the capabilities required for their growth strategy and that supports the high standards of service they provide. After evaluating several vendors against detailed technical criteria, Plateau was determined to be the best platform for Caja Madrid, largely due to its scalability, extensibility, and ease of use – all of which will be critical as Caja Madrid continues its growth and expansion.”

Hosted by Accenture in Spain, Plateau LMS provides a centralized application that will allow Caja Madrid to deliver and manage on-demand workforce training across all of its 14,000 employees. They will be able identify training requirements, deploy learning across all 2,000 branches and track course completion. Plateau LMS maintains records of training delivered for compliance purposes, enabling Caja Madrid to measure and track learning and certification-related activities. Using Accenture to host the solution will provide Caja Madrid with high levels of reliability and security, access to experienced system administrators and performance assurance.

“Caja Madrid’s modernization efforts reflect what we’re hearing from customers around the world regarding their talent management initiatives,” said Paul Sparta, Chairman and CEO, Plateau Systems. “In order to stay competitive and deliver the level of customer service expected of one of Spain’s largest retail banks, they must have an enterprise learning strategy that enables them to develop their talent to its fullest potential. In addition to giving Caja Madrid the competitive edge they need to develop their workforce, deploying Plateau LMS provides the flexibility that allows them to keep key custom processes and functionality developed on their previous platform intact."

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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, General Electric, the Internal Revenue Service, Capital One Services and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 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 and has offices across the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.plateau.com.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With 178,000 people in 49 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$19.70 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2007. Its home page is www.accenture.com.