SumTotal Recognized as Market Leader in Performance Management by Bersin & Associates

Chicago, IL – October 15, 2008 – SumTotal® Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUMT), the market leader and global provider of talent development solutions, today announced from the HR Tech Conference Booth #929 that the company has been recognized as a market leader in the new study released by Bersin & Associates titled, The Essential Guide to Performance Management Systems.  The study highlights SumTotal as one of the top vendors in the employee performance management market based on the strength of its TotalPerformance 8.0 offering, which provides industry leading support for goal management, performance appraisals, 360-degree feedback and career succession planning.

“SumTotal is the clear market share leader in learning management,” said Leighanne Levensaler, director of talent management research for Bersin & Associates.  “The company’s TotalPerformance 8.0 is a robust, flexible product that is capable of meeting the complex configuration needs of the most sophisticated organizations.”

According to the Bersin & Associates study, the performance management systems market is experiencing explosive growth, which can be attributed, in part, to the trend of solution providers offering and organizations pursuing an integrated talent management solution. The market is growing more than twice as fast as the more mature talent management segments of recruitment (12 percent) and learning management (15 percent) and has the potential to be largest talent management segment overall by 2011, if not by 2010.

The Bersin & Associates study features SumTotal’s flexible workflows and frameworks for modeling training and performance processes; unified dashboard for learning and performance tasks; and comparative appraisals and simultaneous ratings as the key factors helping to position the company at competitive advantage over other vendors within the industry.

The report indicates that TotalPerformance 8.0 encompasses one of the most unique and powerful sets of product features on the market, particularly its patented visual rating system called Visual Profiler. This drag-and-drop ratings interface, which gives users the ability to move throughout a two-dimensional plane and place them anywhere, provides a dynamic experience while conducting performance management tasks such as competency and performance assessments and performance versus potential grids.

“This most recent recognition by Bersin & Associates underscores SumTotal’s leadership in the performance management market,” said Don Fowler, chief executive office of SumTotal. “The company continues to work with leading brands around the world to improve employee performance and talent development programs in order to impact their business with significant, measurable results.”

About SumTotal Systems, Inc.
SumTotal Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUMT) is the market leader and global provider of talent development solutions. SumTotal deploys mission-critical solutions designed to drive learning, align goals, develop skills, assess performance, plan for succession and set compensation. SumTotal’s solutions aim to accelerate performance and profits for more than 1,500 companies and governments of all sizes, including six of the world’s 10 biggest pharmaceutical makers, six of the 10 largest automotive companies in the world, four of the five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, three of the world’s top five airlines, five of the six largest U.S. commercial banks and two of the world’s top five specialty retailers. Mountain View, Calif.-based SumTotal has offices across Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. For more information about SumTotal's products and services, visit www.sumtotalsystems.com.

SumTotal, the SumTotal logo, ResultsOnDemand and Visual Profiler are registered trademarks or trademarks of SumTotal Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Safe Harbor Statement/ Forward-Looking Statements
Information in this press release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the size and growth of the workforce performance management market and the anticipated benefits, results and performance of SumTotal's products and solutions, such as ResultsOnDemand-Performance. These statements represent SumTotal's expectations or beliefs concerning future events. These statements are not historical facts or guarantees of future performance or events and are based on current expectations, estimates, beliefs, assumptions, goals and objectives, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from the results expressed or implied by these statements. Readers of this press release are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to: (i) unknown errors or bugs in SumTotal's software solutions, including ResultsOnDemand-Performance; (ii) the acceptance of SumTotal's software suite and future product offerings, including ResultsOnDemand-Performance; (iii) the ability to successfully manage and increase growth, both within and outside of the United States, significant current and expected additional competition, and the need to continue to expand product distribution and services offerings; (iv) the actual demand and growth of the market for performance management products and services; (v) the inability to fix in a timely fashion unanticipated bugs, errors or defects that materially impact the functionality or usability of ResultsOnDemand-Performance or SumTotal's software; (vi) the ability to successfully implement SumTotal's solutions in the future; (vii) the ability to successfully address technological developments and standards; and (viii) other events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in SumTotal's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including SumTotal’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, and its Form 8-Ks. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are made as the date of this release, and SumTotal does not assume any obligation to update such statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this release.