SkillSoft, the company that is currently facing at least three legal actions over improperly booked revenues at Irish e-learning firm SmartForce which it acquired, has secured a four-year purchase agreement that will give US Air Force military and civilian personnel worldwide access to over 1,200 IT courses online.
The SkillSoft e-learning offering will support the Air Force Computer-based Training Programme (AFCBT), which provides Air Force personnel with interactive, multimedia, self-paced e-learning IT courseware.
Under the agreement, all US Air Force personnel worldwide will have unlimited access to 1,200 courses and mentoring services covering technology areas such as software development, operating systems, server technologies, internet and network technologies, database systems and desktop computer skills.
“The selection process for this contract was one of the most rigorous we’ve ever experienced,” said Chuck Moran, president and CEO of SkillSoft.
The company has sub-contracted outsourcing giant EDS to provide ongoing project management system administration and quality assurance support throughout the lifetime of the contract.
The recent legal actions that SkillSoft became embroiled in have been taken by at least three US law firms that have filed class action law suits against SmartForce and two of its executives, Greg Priest and William McCabe, on behalf of investors who lost money on shares they acquired between 19 October 1999 and 22 November 2002.
The three firms allege that SmartForce’s failure to supply investors with correct financial details over the previous three-year period was fraudulent, insofar as they allege that untrue statements about the companies’ finances were made in order to induce the plaintiffs to buy SmartForce shares.
By John Kennedy
