Simba Study: Corporate Training and Development Market Will Grow 8% to $10.72 Billion in 2005; Shift to E-Learning and Outsourcing Will Drive Growth Over Next 24 Months

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 10, 2005--An overall move toward e-learning and a sharp increase in training outsourcing deals are the driving forces behind current growth in the U.S. corporate training and development industry, according to new research from media industry forecast and analysis firm Simba Information.

Simba's latest strategic market report, Corporate Training Market 2005: Forecast & Analysis, projects global corporate training sales of U.S. based firms will grow 8% to $10.72 billion in 2005.

Fueling that growth is e-learning, including virtual classrooms, Web meetings and conferences, which is forecast to grow by 30%.

"Corporate training used to be structured much like a grad school `field trip,' where employees and managers were uprooted from their desks and daily work scenarios and placed into a classroom or some other kind of structured learning environment either on or off premises," said Stephanie Fagnani, editor of Simba's Lifelong Learning Market Report newsletter and lead author of Corporate Training Market 2005. "But technology is making training much more seamless. Computer programs can prompt an employee to take a quick tutorial right at a workstation if the system perceives that a task could have been executed more efficiently," Fagnani said.

Simba Information's Corporate Training Market 2005: Forecast & Analysis is a comprehensive analysis of the current landscape of the U.S. corporate training and development industry. The report draws on interviews with corporate training directors, business analysts and industry associations, surveys, and in-depth strategic research annual to identify findings on attitudes toward corporate training and development and forecast market growth through 2008. Key findings include:

-- Outsourcing continues to increase. "Companies historically have begun by farming out a few specific tasks," said Fagnani. "Once trust and competency have been tested and proven, they begin outsourcing more cumbersome projects -- even entire training initiatives." The most popular topics that companies hand off are health and safety training, executive coaching and program management.

-- The Institute for International Research (IIR) is the leading player in the corporate training and development industry, with projected 2005 revenues of $750 million and a 7% market share according to Simba's exclusive revenue and market share rankings.

In addition to a full, detailed breakdown of market size and growth, the report profiles 30 leading players in the U.S. corporate training and development industry, including companies from the IT training, soft skills training, learning management system (LMS)/infrastructure and e-learning segments, with analysis of revenue growth and perspective on future business strategies for each company.

Additional information can be found at www.simbanet.com.

About Simba Information

Simba Information, a Bowker company, is widely recognized as the leading authority for market intelligence in the media and publishing industry. Simba's extensive information network delivers top quality, independent perspective on the people, events and alliances shaping the media and information industry. Simba publishes newsletters and research reports that provide key decision-makers at more than 15,000 client companies around the globe with timely news, analysis, exclusive statistics and proprietary industry forecasts. For more information, please visit www.simbanet.com, call 1-888-BOWKER2 (1-888-269-5372), or e-mail marketing@bowker.com.