Cypress Integrated Systems Announces Partnership

For Immediate Release

Cypress Integrated Systems Announces Partnership
with Question Mark

STAMFORD, CT – August 22, 2001 – Strategic information technology consultants Cypress Integrated Systems, Inc. have finalized a partnership agreement with Question Mark, makers of Question Mark™ Perception™ testing and assessment software.

As a Consulting Partner, Cypress will provide consulting services to Question Mark customers, helping them convert content from proprietary formats to an open standard. The firm’s services will include providing data translation services for computer based training and educational content along with strategic planning, implementation, and management of Information Technology systems to professional service firms using a wide range of technologies.

"Having worked with Question Mark for many years, we recognize them as the leaders in online and computer-based assessment tools,” said Brian Donnelly, president of Cypress Integrated Systems. “Perception is both easy to use and powerful: this is exactly the combination that institutions and corporations need in a training application. We are pleased to cement our relationship with a firm that has been so supportive of QTI. QTI -- and its umbrella project, IMS -- frees up the content from proprietary formats and allows companies to use the assessment tool of their choice.  Businesses will be able to tap into and contribute to a growing pool of questions for the creation of new assessments. Furthermore, questions created by businesses can now become potential revenue sources."

Question Mark President Eric Shepherd commented: “Cypress has extensive experience in all aspects of information technology and assessments, which makes the company ideally suited to assist our customers.  We are pleased to formalize our relationship and value the company’s commitment to open standards.  As our customers deploy our systems, Cypress can help them with authoring assessments, sharing data with other applications, and analyzing the results.”

About Cypress
Cypress Integrated Systems, Inc. provides data translation services for computer based training and educational content. With strong experience in the educational software space, they have long focused on content interoperability, the evolution of QTI (Question and Test Interoperability specification) and QTI-compliant utilities. In addition to Question Mark Perception planning and deployment, Cypress Integrated Systems also offers strategic planning, implementation, and management of Information Technology systems to professional service firms using a wide range of technologies including XML, Java, EDI, and ASP. For more information contact info@cypressintegrated.com or www.cypressintegrated.com

About Question Mark and Perception:
Question Mark has been producing testing and assessment software since 1988, enabling educators and trainers to write, administer, and report on tests and surveys securely using individual PCs, local networks, the Internet, and intranets.

Question Mark™ Perception™ software allows people to create question files without programming experience or knowledge of HTML. Users can create multiple question banks from which to assemble tests and surveys, organizing questions into topics and sub-topics. They can shuffle questions and answers for each participant and preview sessions to see how they will appear post-deployment. They can present a wide variety of question types and styles, incorporating videos and graphics if desired.

Participants can use Windows machines or a browser to answer questions. For high stakes exams, where the content is valuable, Perception Secure Browser can be used to limit printing, navigation and save-to-disk functions. The participant receives the feedback that the test author has specified. Answers are then saved to a file for scoring and analysis with Enterprise Reporter, which offers a variety of report formats.

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