Human Resources: With SumTotal ''ResultsOnDemand,'' VA's Palo Alto Health Care System Studies Learning

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 2, 2007--SumTotal(R)
Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUMT), the largest provider of talent and
learning solutions
(http://www.sumtotalsystems.com/lp/pr/Talent-Management-Solutions.
html), announced that researchers at the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System have purchased
ResultsOnDemand(TM) to underpin a study designed to evaluate the best
way to deliver learning to hundreds of substance abuse counselors.
ResultsOnDemand (http://www.sumtotalsystems.com/products/results.html)
is SumTotal's subscription model for analyzing employee performance
(http://www.sumtotalsystems.com/lp/pr/epm.html) and delivering
learning over the Internet. (Due to its length, the first URL in this
paragraph may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's
address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

    SumTotal's software will give the Palo Alto, Calif.-based
researchers the framework and technology to control how counselors in
the study learn about new treatment approaches. Their study, funded by
the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), evaluates how best to use
technology-based training to help practicing substance abuse
counselors learn about cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT is an
evidence-based treatment that is known to be effective, but is not
currently in widespread use in the community.

    "We're not trying to prove -- with our study -- that online
training has merits over classroom training," said Steven W.
Villafranca, research health science specialist at the Palo Alto
Health Care System and Stanford University School of Medicine. "We
already know that online training can be as effective as face-to-face
workshops. Instead, we want to know what is the best possible way to
deliver online training to counselors so that they achieve the most
beneficial outcomes for their clients. For example: do counselors
learn and retain more when they have the ability to select the
training content that they feel is most relevant to their clinical
practice, or do they learn best by following a traditional
step-by-step process of instruction?"

    The Palo Alto research team will use the SumTotal platform to
launch two different versions of an online CBT course. The researchers
will monitor two groups as they progress through the experiment. One
set of participants will have the freedom to choose the online
instruction they want, in the order they want. The other group will
follow a rigidly prescribed order of online learning. Technology from
WebEx, which integrates with SumTotal's platform, will allow the
research team to provide all participants with supervision in small
groups. At the end of the study, the researchers will rely on
SumTotal's software to analyze not only what counselors learned but
also how they learned.

    "The SumTotal system will show us important ways to combine
learning technologies to achieve the best outcomes for counselors and
their clients," said Kenneth R. Weingardt, associate director of the
Palo Alto Health Care System's Program Evaluation and Resource Center
and the study's Principal Investigator. "This may be the first time a
learning management system has been used to empirically compare
different pedagogical approaches."

    "We liked the price of ResultsOnDemand," added Villafranca. "We
wanted a top-rated solution in place quickly for several hundred
users, and it was important to have integration with WebEx. So we
chose SumTotal."

    About SumTotal Systems, Inc.

    SumTotal Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUMT) is the largest provider of
talent and learning solutions. SumTotal deploys mission-critical
solutions that align talent and knowledge with organizational
processes and business goals to generate significant bottom-line
results. With more than 17 million users worldwide, SumTotal has
helped accelerate performance and profits for more than 1,500 of the
world's best-known companies and government agencies, including
Accenture, Aetna, Cendant, DaimlerChrysler, Delta Air Lines,
Harley-Davidson, Microsoft, Novartis, PNC Bank, U.S. Army, U.S. Air
Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Bancorp, United Airlines,
Vodafone, Wachovia and Wyeth. SumTotal has offices in the United
States, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong
and Hyderabad. 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 Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements

    Information in this press release contains forward-looking
statements. These statements represent SumTotal Systems' expectations
or beliefs concerning future 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) unknown errors
or bugs in SumTotal's solutions (which includes ResultsOnDemand(TM));
(ii) the inability to fix in a timely fashion unanticipated bugs,
errors or defects that materially impact the functionality or
usability of SumTotal's software; (iii) the ability to successfully
implement SumTotal Systems' solutions; (iv) the ability to
successfully integrate SumTotal's solutions with WebEx; (v) the
ability to successfully manage and increase growth, significant
current and expected additional competition, and the need to continue
to expand product distribution and services offerings; (vi) the
acceptance of SumTotal's software suite and future product offerings;
(vii) the ability to successfully address technological developments
and standards; and (viii) other events and other important factors
disclosed previously and from time to time in SumTotal Systems'
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the
company's annual report on Form 10-K filed on March 28, 2006, its
quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed on November 9, 2006, 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 March 2, 2007, and SumTotal does not assume any obligation
to update such statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring
after the date of this release.

CONTACT: SumTotal Systems
Bill Perry, 614-975-7538
bperry[at]sumtotalsystems.com