Knowledge Network Solutions, Inc.                                            

Strategic Consulting & Integration of Learning Solutions

Press Release:

Former New Brunswick Businessman Partners With Successful North Carolina Business Leaders to Make Tough E-Learning Decisions Easier

Raleigh, January 10, 2003 – Knowledge Network Solutions, Inc., (KNS) a new and unique entry into the e-Learning service market, announced the creation of its strategic consulting and integrated solutions business.  Drawing on proven methodologies and experience in assessment, planning, and implementation, the Company assists organizations throughout the Americas in the corporate, education, and non-profit sectors to more effectively achieve their training and knowledge management requirements.

“Over the past seven years I have had the privilege to work with many of the excellent   e-learning companies in New Brunswick and throughout the rest of Atlantic Canada. I believe that the business acumen of the leaders and the skills and dedication of these employees are second to none. While drawing market opportunities from throughout the Americas, it is one of the key strategies of Knowledge Network Solutions to find ways to partner with leading Atlantic Canadian companies and to bring some of our customers to be served from this abundant table”, says Brent Sansom, President and co-founder of Knowledge Network Solutions. “For example, as we consult with client organizations regarding their transition to e-learning solutions, it becomes obvious their staff needs an effective way to become informed about the e-Learning market – trends, issues, technologies and methodologies. KNS has created a relationship with Shift Central of Moncton, NB to resell their world class Business Intelligence service to support access to just such information, delivered daily to their desktops.” As Mario Thériault, CEO of Shift Central says, “We see our channel relationship with Knowledge Network Solutions as an excellent way to position our service offerings with potential markets which we may never be able to reach or influence as effectively as through the Knowledge Network Solutions team. It’s a real win-win-win relationship for all three of us! – Shift Central, KNS and KNS clients”

Meeting Critical Organization Needs

“Today’s economy along with the increasing reluctance of employees to travel has dictated that many companies must reduce costs while providing employees training alternatives,” said Jon Beard, CEO and co-founder. “And yet, the biggest benefit for many organizations may be a competitive advantage for ramping up their knowledge capture and delivery processes to meet tight new product release cycles on a just-in-time basis with significant savings in dollars and time.” 

Problems that have faced the e-Learning industry have prevented or delayed many organizations from successfully making the transition to blended e-learning solutions. In a quickly evolving market with new instructional technology and learning methodologies and a rush of e-Learning service, content, and technology companies springing up, it is difficult for an organization to piece it all together. “There are too many technological factors and typically not enough of the right internal experience for companies to arrive effectively at the right decisions the first time. This is where KNS’s experience is really being leveraged by our clients. We define, plan and support the implementation of the components that are required for a total, integrated learning solution tailored to their learners’ specific needs, regardless of whether the learner is an employee, customer or business partner.” said Brent Sansom, President and co-founder. 

Services Focused on Corporate and Education Targets

KNS targets organizations that see the need for blended e-learning solutions and are ready to make the transition with the “Right Team.”  Using proven methodologies to insure that critical factors are taken into account, KNS provides resources to assess strategic opportunities, measures return on investment, assists in creating Strategic e-Learning Plans that support strategic organizational goals, and supplements clients’ implementation resources as needed for an effective roll-out.  KNS is unique in that it does not own and sell its own solutions, but aggregates and integrates solutions based on industry knowledge and relationships to meet client requirements and strategic needs.

In addition to corporate clientele, KNS focuses on PreK-12 educational institutions. Years of educator training, both instructor-led and e-learning based, coupled with extensive experience with large scale implementations have prepared the KNS team to meet the needs of school districts, states and countries. The KNS leadership has worked directly and indirectly through corporations serving these markets. These corporations include Teacher Universe, Riverdeep, Knowledge Universe, IBM, and Microsoft.  “Sometimes e-Learning can’t be the only answer,” said Lloyd Spruill, VP for PreK-12 Initiatives. “Often a blend of instructor-led and e-Learning is required to best meet the needs of the organization, along with the appropriate amount of support and technical infrastructure.  A cohesive implementation plan based on an Instructional Technology Plan is a critical success factor.” KNS provides excellent “live” training to parallel the online training educators receive. KNS also provides on-going mentor support to insure the effectiveness of the online training – no matter the curriculum-based software that a school or district chooses.

Company Principals Create a Strong Team

KNS leverages its leadership’s experience in business and education to bring efficient and effective learning solutions to support the business goals of customers.

As the President and CEO of Raleigh, NC based Computer Decisions, Inc. for thirteen years, Jon Beard successfully developed and sold the technology training business to Productivity Point International, a subsidiary of Knowledge Universe, in 1997. Jon also stayed on with Knowledge Universe and was instrumental in creating Teacher Universe, an education oriented e-learning subsidiary, which was subsequently sold to Riverdeep.

Brent Sansom, with over twenty years of management and consulting experience in the telecommunications industry and seven specifically in the e-learning market, was one of the founders of Innovatia Inc, an e-learning subsidiary of Aliant, that in 2000 negotiated and signed the largest e-learning industry contract in the world, to that date ($175m over five years).

Lloyd Spruill, with a Masters in Education Supervision and Curriculum Development, has twenty-six years of teaching and instructional technology experience in public schools as well as eight years of working with education from a corporate perspective. She has a wealth of experience in creating, implementing, managing, and supporting both print and e-learning training for teachers and administrators for large education oriented clients.

For additional information about this press release contact either:

Jon Beard at 919-848-8972 (email: jbeard@knowledgenetworksolutions.com) or

Brent Sansom, at 919-387-1459 (email: bsansom@knowledgenetworksolutions.com)

Also for further information about Knowledge Network Solutions or its services please visit our web site at www.knowledgenetworksolutions.com