Oracle Buys Global Knowledge Software
Redwood Shores, CA (USA), August 2008 - Oracle Corp. has bought Global Knowledge Software LLC, a developer of enterprise software training automation tools. GKS develops tools for building self-service training courses for enterprise software vendors, including Oracle, Microsoft, and SAP. Its former parent, Global Knowledge Training LLC, sells IT and business training services.
Such training tools for enterprise employees are increasingly necessary as more and more business functions are automated and turned into self-service applications.
Oracle, a long-standing GKS customer, used the company's tools to build its Oracle User Productivity Kit as a complement to its Oracle Tutor software. It plans to provide training content modules for all its application products using GKS tools, it said.
GKS also supplies development tools to some of Oracle's competitors, including SAP and Microsoft.
Oracle said that it will continue to support customers that use GKS tools to train on non-Oracle applications and that it hopes to expand this part of the business. Customers building their databases of training materials on database engines other than Oracle's, such as MySQL, will also continue to receive support.
The companies hope to close the deal in the third quarter. They did not disclose financial details. About 130 GKS employees will join Oracle as a result of the deal.
