SumTotal® Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUMT), a global provider of talent and learning management solutions, has opened an office in Beijing to help Chinese companies meet China's growing demand for highly talented employees.
"We are honored that SumTotal Systems has decided to open an office in Beijing," said Zang Chunxiang, director of training and development for the Republic of China's Ministry of Labor and Social Security. "Chinese companies realize the tremendous value they can gain by transforming their organizations and workforces to compete on a global scale. We feel SumTotal opening this office is going to play a key role in that development."
One effect of China's rapid economic transformation is that demand for highly talented employees, especially people with local and international managerial skills, now exceeds supply. This is driving up some of the compensation packages for top talent and managers to global levels as companies continue to set up branch offices, regional headquarters and factories in China.
"It's difficult for Chinese and foreign companies to find the number of talented managers they need in China," said Dave Crussell, chief operating officer for SumTotal Systems. "Younger workers often lack practical experience and leadership skills, while more experienced managers are in short supply and command higher salaries. For multinationals, it is now a challenge not only to recruit the best people, but also to develop and retain them."
SumTotal believes that a key to developing China's talent is the software maker's award-winning learning and talent management platform: the SumTotal Enterprise Suite?. The SumTotal suite gives employers the power to assess the potential of employees, develop the skills and know-how of a workforce and supercharge a staff's performance by aligning a workforce's goals with an employer's business aims. To date, more than 1,500 of the world's best-known companies and government agencies have tapped SumTotal's software to deliver learning, assess performance and manage talent.
According to Li Zebin, general manager for Great Wall Computer Software and Systems Inc., Ltd., as talent and performance management systems become an increasingly important point of discussion for Chinese businesses, systems such as SumTotal's are seen as a way to gain competitive advantage on a global scale.
"We believe there's an outstanding opportunity to market and sell SumTotal's software to our customers in China," said Li. "The opening of this new office will enable closer collaboration with SumTotal and will provide us with significant help to introduce the benefits companies can enjoy from implementing a learning management system."
SumTotal Systems, whose new office is located at Chaoyang District, already has a number of customers in China, including: Shanghai Telecom, Liaoning Mobile, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Mobile, Tencent and Shanghai Roche.
"With China unlocking its markets to international competition and Chinese ventures expanding to compete in overseas markets, we feel SumTotal Systems' state-of-the art talent management solutions are set to play a key role in making Chinese companies more competitive on both a global and local level," said Alex Raymond, SumTotal's vice president for Asia-Pacific.
About SumTotal Systems
SumTotal Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUMT) is a global provider of talent and learning management solutions. SumTotal deploys mission-critical solutions designed to align goals, develop skills, assess performance, plan for succession and set compensation. SumTotal's solutions aim to accelerate performance and profits for more than 1,500 companies and governments of all sizes, including six of the world's 10 biggest pharmaceutical makers, six of the 10 largest automotive companies in the world, four of the five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, three of the world's top five airlines, two of the five largest banks in the world and two of the world's top five specialty retailers. Mountain View, Calif.-based SumTotal has offices across Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. For more information about SumTotal's products and services, visit www.sumtotalsystems.com.
SumTotal and the SumTotal logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of SumTotal Systems Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Safe Harbour / Forward-Looking Statements
Information in this press release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the expected growth in Asia, including China, the expected benefits and performance of SumTotal's office in China, and the anticipated benefits of SumTotal's solutions. These statements represent SumTotal Systems' expectations or beliefs concerning future performance and events. These statements are not historical facts or guarantees of future performance or events and are based on current expectations, estimates, beliefs, assumptions, goals and objectives, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from the results expressed or implied by these statements. Readers of this press release are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to: (i) the ability to successfully manage and increase growth outside of the United States, including in China, significant current and expected additional competition, and the need to continue to expand product distribution and services offerings; (ii) the acceptance of SumTotal's software suite and future product offerings; (iii) unknown errors or bugs in SumTotal's software suite; (iv) the inability to fix in a timely fashion unanticipated bugs, errors or defects that materially impact the functionality or usability of SumTotal's software; (v) the ability to successfully implement SumTotal Systems' solutions; (vi) the ability to successfully address technological developments and standards; and (vii) other events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in SumTotal's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's annual report on Form 10-K filed on March 16, 2007, its quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed on May 9, 2007, its Form S-3/As filed on September 28, 2006, and October 2, 2006, and its Form 8-Ks. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are made as of the date of this release, and SumTotal does not assume any obligation to update such statements to reflect events or circ*mstances occurring after the date of this release.
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