Vuepoint Solution Will Immediately Save Black & Decker $100,000 In First U.S. Initiative & Will Be Rolled Out in Europe, Latin America & Asia Over Next Two Years

LONG ISLAND, N.Y., Oct. 24, 2001 - Vuepoint, an eLearning software and services company that matches speed to knowledge with speed to market, today announces that Black & Decker Corporation (NYSE: BDK) has selected Vuepoint in a 10-month evaluation process of 100 competitors for its global eLearning solution. Black & Decker will immediately save an estimated $100,000 in training rooms alone during the initial U.S. rollout of the solution, and the company has plans to replicate similar savings and added benefits in its European, Latin American and Asian markets over the next two years.

Aided by University of Maryland MBA students, who acted as consultants in crafting a strategy for choosing the best eLearning system, Black & Decker selected Vuepoint after 10-months, four competitive rounds and nearly 30 hours of presentations. Vuepoint was not only selected as the global eLearning provider for Black & Decker, but also for its divisions, including DEWALT, Kwikset and Price Pfister.

"We chose Vuepoint because it offers a comprehensive solution as well as a simple way to create proprietary courses quickly. Its content creation tool is just as easy to use as PowerPoint or Word," said Matthew DeFeo, Vice President of Training, Recruiting and Sales and Services for Black & Decker/DEWALT. "Beyond its great product, Vuepoint is a responsive, solutions-oriented company that also helped us blend eLearning with classroom sessions for maximum benefit."

Vuepoint Learning System (VLS) 3.0, a complete e-learning package with both a learning content management system (LCMS) and a learning management system (LMS) as well as eCollaboration technology, will be used to deploy courses to thousands of global employees on such topics as products, manufacturing and a variety of soft skills.

Easy to use and quickly deployed, VLS's single platform gives Black & Decker the ability to rapidly create proprietary content, deploy the courses around the globe, manage the system, and assess how well users are learning in real time. Black & Decker expects the introduction of VLS to double the knowledge retention rates of users as well as enhance morale. VLS gives Black & Decker the ability to take a blended approach that combines online and classroom training.