Self Test Owner Buys Transcender for $10 Million
1/7/2004 -- Kaplan Education, owner of practice-exam provider Self Test Software, recently announced it has acquired the assets rival exam provider, Nashville, Tenn.-based Transcender.
Kaplan paid $10 million to Stamford, Conn.-based Information Holdings for the assets.
Self Test and Transcender, both founded in 1992, are widely viewed as the number two and number one providers of IT certification practice exams, respectively. Self Test was acquired by Kaplan in 1999.
Self Test President Chip Schuneman told CertCities.com the intent at this point is for both product lines to remain intact. "Both companies have established really strong brands, whether it's vendor-endorsed products with Self Test or just the high quality Transcender exams," he explained. "We're going through a period of discovering what's made Transcender such a great brand in order retain its strong value in the future."
One issue still being worked out is how Transcender's independently produced practice exams can coexist with Self Test's official exam provider status. Schuneman said that the company is talking to partners like Microsoft and Oracle on how this might work. 'The response [to the acquisition] has been warm," he stated. "They have questions just like you have, and we just have to work those out."
Schuneman also said he didn't know at this time whether the acquisition would result in layoffs, but he did say, " There's some incredibly talented people here. When buying assets, [people are] the most valuable asset you're purchasing."
"As a leader in educational services...Kaplan is just a natural and perfect home for Transcender," he continued."We didn't pay 10 million to disable the company, we did it to enable the company, and the combination of the number one and two providers...can only benefit IT professionals going forward."
Schuneman stressed that it is "business as usual" for customers of both products line, stating that both continue to be available and all guarantees are and will continue to be honored.
Kaplan Education is a division of Kaplan Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Company.
For more on Kaplan Education, go to www.kaplan.com. For more on Self Test, go to www.selftestsoftware.com. For more on Transcender, go to www.transcender.com.  -Becky Nagel
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There are 25  user Comments for “Self Test Owner Buys Transcender for $10 Million”
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| 1/8/04: Anonymous says: |
Well, to those who don't do or who hate P2P software, Kazaa is just one that happens to be the most popular. I still use it to download porns sometimes and that's all as other stuff are getting rare in Kazaa. But there are still other better "Kazaas" out there that share about ANYthing you need, especially for software and stuff, not counting foreign FTP or messenger software (mIRC channels, rings a bell?) or even better, order any software (you name it) from Indonesia, Malaysia, etc for just $5 each (compare it to the $300 for each license) and they can work just fine for unlimited amount of licenses. By the way, keygens for Transcender and the like have been always available, just wait for a few days or weeks after a latest release is launched and the crack will be posted, if you know where to find it. The software is clearly overpriced, why pay that much if you can get it for free, and it normally can be used only 1-2 times before I move to Boson, ExamEssentials, etc and also those awesome CBTs. All for free, so financing certs isn't as expensive as I thought it was. Anyway, how much difference is the materials from Transcender and those from TestKing, just not to be called a dump, while essentially they're both the same thing but "different"? One is dump with exact words and the other is with slightly changed. And TestKing is EVERYWHERE without having to use password or whatever hassle. Cheers... |
| 1/9/04: Leroy Joseph, Jr - MCNEx5, MCSE MASEx2, CCDA, a+ a from Houston, TX says: |
Gentlemen, the debate over "to Use or not to use" Transcender, Self-Test or any of company software whether it's been endorsed by the vendor or not. Will continue for those that "would like to take the paved shortcut path" to certification and earn the “detest and contempt” of those that took the "long hard dirt road" to certification. Hence, the term and moniker: "Paper Cert" and "Devaluation" for the individual and the certification that was achieved. I took the long road. Books were purchased base on the objectives of the exams, home labs/test environment setup with old discarded PC's to practice with and long hours of study to fully understand the concepts and principles. A problem with either real world or exam based questions would not be an issue. Please review the following link. It is a profile on me done by Certification Magazine in August 2003. http://www.certmag.com/articles/anmviewer.asp?a=324 |
| 1/9/04: Anonymous says: |
Is using free downloaded ebooks to prepare for an exam considered being a "paper cert" now? What's the difference between reading the hardcopy and the digital copy besides the latter can be gotten for free? And because I can download them for free, I now can read 3-5 ebooks or more of the subject before taking the exam, do hands-on practice using the necessary hardware or software, and I can top it up with using the practice software that I got for free too, whatever it takes to get me prepared at best. Am I considered going for "paper cert" with such preparation I do, even though at times I finalize my preparation with TestKing, which I found similar to the Transcender, etc? How can you judge that anyone who uses TestKing or any self test preparation is "unknowledgeable paper cert" without looking back at how he or she prepared for the exam at the first place? |
| 1/12/04: Jahlingo from USA says: |
Let the debate begin,by the way only a small percetage of all the 600 plus pages of those IT books are actually useful on the job and the Certication CD's are indeed good for at most two times.So whose sides to take realy, realy, I mean realy depends on who you are!!!!!!!. |
| 1/12/04: Chang says: |
PURCHASE or CRACK: I've always believed in the first option than crack. It ensures that my mind is in peace both technically and morally ; ). When I am spending so much on exam fees and other education then why not on Exam Simulators which are highly precious. For all(ie. 6 of my certifications), ive bougt products either from transcender or whizlabs. |
| 1/13/04: Doh! says: |
My sentiments exactly. Come on Leroy Joseph, Jr.--you're honest trying to get us to believe that you're not a "paper cert" guy? I look at the amount of certs you have, in different vendor environments, and laugh. You have two girls and a wife that obviously have had to suffer since you started your "quest" to become certified in a bunch of meaningless crap. Two to three years from now all those certs are completely useless! Get a life my man, get a life. |
| 1/13/04: Anonymous says: |
Exam fees alone are enough to kill me, do I want to spend another hundred bucks or two on ONE subject of transcender, to use it only a couple of times (and go useless after the exam, what so precious about it? It isn't a Rolex), and when in front of me there's a free one and more? No. And most of all, being financially on the line, these freewares really help me achieve my certifications without having to come up with such tremendous amount of money. |
| 1/14/04: Anonymous says: |
I found the certification prep materials useful not just for the exam but also after the exam. The preparation process gives a BIG boost to my knowledge and confidence which is generally hidden behind the scenes. |
| 1/14/04: Anonymous says: |
Books maybe good for on the job reference but such self test software are good only during preparation, right before taking the exam, once you pass, it goes useless. Books are better reference. |
| 1/15/04: Get real people says: |
I want the study material that allows me to pass these stupid cert tests as quickly as possible. The money only goes to those that are certified and college educated and I don't feel like waiting 20 years snoozing through test prep books just to pass a test. I want material like Transcender and I want to get these test behind me quickly so I can enjoy my life. |
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