ProCert Labs and Brainbench Announce a New Quality Assurance Initiative for Courseware

Publishers invited to participate in courseware program supporting popular Brainbench online certifications.

Salt Lake City æ (Sept 26, 2002) ProCert Labs, the quality assurance standard for professional certification courseware, today announced an agreement with Brainbench, the leader in online skills measurement, to provide quality assurance testing of publisher’s courseware. Courseware that meets the stringent quality standards of the program will carry the Brainbench Approved Courseware logo.

The Brainbench Approved Courseware program was established to meet demand from publishers that wish to develop courseware and training products that will be used by test-takers to close skills gaps identified by Brainbench assessments. With over five millions assessments taken by a corporate and individual subscriber community of over four million members there is a growing market requirement for high quality content – courseware, publications, and training programs. By leveraging ProCert Labs’ Quality Assurance Standard, Brainbench can now reach a broader audience of content providers, and ensure that the content they develop supports Brainbench’s exam objectives.

“Brainbench test takers have been able to increase their test scores significantly when they have had access to quality courseware to fill skill gaps,” says Mike Russiello, President and CEO at Brainbench. “In turn publishers have requested to be included in the catalog of facilities available in the SkillsBench Learning Center. To meet these two demands we are expanding the Brainbench Approved Courseware program and we are delighted to partner with ProCert Labs who will certify the quality of the content.”

ProCert Labs will initially support Brainbench’s office skills tests where interest is high and demand for training is strong. Brainbench has the largest library of assessments available today including office and administrative assessments that identify individuals who are adept at using software solutions to solve common business problems. “The initial launch of the courseware program will focus on materials that teach common office technologies and business skills including writing a letter, creating a presentation and building a spreadsheet within popular applications programs such as Microsoft Office.”

Paul Hoffmann, VP of operations at ProCert Labs acknowledged the potential popularity of the program, stating, “Among the publishers working with ProCert Labs, many have already expressed interest in submitting existing content that can qualify for Brainbench recognition. Brainbench’s close association with the corporate job market makes the program a viable proposition for publishers who already support this skill set with great products.”

ProCert Labs is authorized to provide quality assurance testing for print, CBT, Web-based, instructor-led, video and even PDA-based courseware for Brainbench. ProCert Labs can conduct reviews in multiple languages including English, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Korean, Spanish and Japanese. Courseware publishers wishing to participate in the Brainbench program can submit courseware directly to ProCert Labs for testing effective immediately. Visit www.procertlabs.com for more information.

About ProCert Labs
ProCert Labs is the quality assurance standard for professional certification courseware. Testing evaluations conducted by ProCert Labs are non-biased, vendor-independent assessments of quality based on modern instructional design theory and sound testing methodology. ProCert Labs’ Web-based testing technology incorporates tools and utilities that optimize consistency, reliability and accuracy while providing flexibility in language, modality and customer reporting. The ProCert Labs testing team is comprised of qualified instructional design experts with extensive experience in designing IT-related courseware. ProCert Labs does not publish courseware or compete with courseware vendors. ProCert Labs reviews are based on a standardized testing process that is applied in a consistent methodology to ensure fair and accurate results. For more information about ProCert Labs, visit www.procertlabs.com .

About Brainbench
With more than 3.8 million registered users, and nearly 400 different skill tests, Brainbench pioneered online skills testing to measure the skills of employees and resellers that are crucial to a company’s bottom line success. Utilizing the largest ISO 9001 library of tests, companies rely on Brainbench to help them measure, track, and improve their employee’s vital professional skills, with online skills measurement solutions that improve retention, training success, customer satisfaction, and profitability. Corporate customers include Booz Allen & Hamilton, Cable & Wireless, Dresdener Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW), EDS, HR Block, IBM, Interwoven, Manpower, Qwest, TAC Worldwide, US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and Verizon. Major investors include Manpower, Thomson Learning, Terra Lycos and Primus Venture Partners.

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