Tomoye introduces knowledge sharing platform for Communities of Practice

Simplify already in use at World Bank, United Nations and other leading international organizations

Gatineau, July 11, 2001 -- Tomoye, the leading developer of collaborative platforms for knowledge networks and communities of practice (CoP), today announced the official release of its first commercial product, Simplify 2.1, and initial key customer wins.

Simplify combines aspects of content management, groupware, knowledge management and personalization into an online application that allows managers at the hub of knowledge networks and CoPs to rapidly deploy a comprehensive knowledge-sharing environment for their members. Since its availability in March of this year, Simplify has already been implemented at the United Nations, the World Bank, Conservation International and others.

"Tomoye's knowledge sharing software, Simplify, is a powerful web application," said Nalan Yuksel at the World Bank's Global Knowledge Partnership and one of the early users of Simplify. "Its ease of use, flexibility, and full feature set have allowed us to build a rich interactive on-line community, learning to work together through contributing and sharing knowledge with our members from all over the world."

Although the term is not yet broadly used, communities of practice are almost everywhere. They are groups of people bound together by shared expertise and commitment to a joint cause who engage in a process of collective learning. CoPs are emerging in organizations that thrive on knowledge. Their unique nature - they are decentralized, transcend organizational boundaries, are often informal and grow organically - creates unique challenges for organizations and supporting technologies.

While effective sharing of information, experiences and knowledge are key to the productivity of these groups, they are generally not well supported by MIS and often face resource constraints. At the same time, point solutions and enterprise knowledge-management tools have proven insufficient. With its turnkey architecture, low MIS footprint and broad feature set, XML-based Simplify offers an unmatched solution to these challenges.

"Simplify 2.1 is the first software application designed specifically to address the needs of communities of practice and knowledge networks", commented John Mertl, Tomoye's President and CEO. "Knowledge intensive organizations looking to optimize their productivity now have a compelling alternative to expensive and time-consuming custom solutions."

About Simplify

Simplify lets managers at the hub of knowledge networks and Communities of Practice rapidly create collaborative environments that connect and engage. Information sharing, meaningful knowledge accumulation and distribution are radically simplified

Architected for Communities of Practice and Knowledge Networks
Simplify was first developed for one of the world's largest international NGOs (non-governmental organization) to address the specific needs of 15,000 researchers and policy makers from around the world. It unifies previously disjoint communication and collaboration efforts in an integrated, engaging knowledge management environment that is easy to use and manage

Affordable, instant web architecture with powerful customization
In contrast to costly and time consuming custom solutions, Simplify is inexpensive and can be deployed rapidly. The World Bank's Global Knowledge Partnership, for example, installed and built a content-rich Simplify portal for its membership in less than two weeks, without requiring MIS skills. The layout of a Simplify environment is managed with a powerful browser-based templating engine, allowing webmasters or content administrators to easily customize their knowledge management application.

Broad, secure functionality
Simplify combines the most compelling features of 4 product categories - knowledge management, web groupware, personalized portals and content management. Access to every level of the system is controlled by roles-based permissions, which can be applied to individuals or groups.

Managed by (non-technical) subject matter experts
Unlike many other KM systems, Simplify enables the experts who create an organization's knowledge (but have little understanding of HTML) to easily publish their documents and materials on the web, and to build and manage online communities focused on their area of expertise. These Editors are chosen for their knowledge of a specific subject area and do not require technical or programming expertise. They perform point-and-click administration of the portal environment, organizing content into searchable Topics and customizing the look and feel of each new Topic they create. This decentralized approach to web publishing puts content quality assurance into the most capable hands.

High speed, organic growth
Simplify's dynamic community of editors allows for unparalleled flexibility and scalability; it also creates an unprecedented level of stakeholder involveme

Sophisticated turnkey architecture
An XML-based content management system is at the heart of the Simplify platform. Content contributions by network participants are automatically enhanced with metatags to enable powerful search capabilities.

Increase Participation
Simplify's context-rich environment allows users to participate and many different levels, ranging from broad discussions to focused content contributions or comments. Through instant messenger, email or streaming information channels, the software can also keep subscribed users abreast of changes in their specific area of interest.

About Tomoye

Tomoye is the leading developer of online knowledge management and collaboration software for communities of practice and knowledge networks. Its flagship product - Simplify - is the first platform designed specifically for communities of practice. It allows knowledge-driven organizations to rapidly and easily deploy full-featured online environments that help drive organizational performance. With its broad feature set and a design that helps maximize cross-functional participation, Simplify is the platform of choice for some of the world's most recognizable multinational organizations. Tomoye is a privately held company located in Gatineau, Quebec.

Contact:
Chris Biber
VP Marketing
(819) 246 9007, ext.112