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OutStart Acquires Participate Systems

OutStart, a provider of software products for learning, has acquired Participate Systems, a provider of online customer and sales support solutions. Under the OutStart name, the company will provide solutions designed to create a blended approach to learning and knowledge sharing that ultimately results in higher proficiency and productivity across an organization.

Designed to drive the broad market adoption of learning and knowledge sharing solutions, the acquisition enables OutStart to develop industry-defining offerings that leverage and blend the best of both structured training and knowledge-sharing approaches. The resulting solution, which will be released in the first half of 2005, will allow companies to more effectively train, educate and inform their employees, customers, and partners.

Participate Enterprise combines self help, expertise, and community management systems in one comprehensive collaboration platform. It’s designed to:

• Deliver all of the critical functionality required to build and grow both customer-facing and internal sales and marketing self-help communities and knowledge sharing networks

• Automate and streamline daily management tasks by providing comprehensive administration and reporting capabilities

• Control, manage and safely distribute content through enterprise grade security

• Integrate seamlessly with leading CRM applications

OutStart's products and applications improve an organization’s performance by accelerating sales readiness, enhancing service proficiency, facilitating knowledge sharing, and improving responsiveness.

For more info, www.outstart.com.