rSmart’s Sakai CLE 2.6.2 Released - Includes New AJAX-BASED Interface and Expanded Reporting to Site Statistics Tool

Phoenix, AZ, November 11, 2009 – rSmart, the provider of enterprise support for open source application software in education, today announced the release of the second service pack for the rSmart Sakai CLE 2.6. Enhancements include a completely redesigned Site Statistics Tool version 2.0 with AJAX-based interface and expanded reporting, newly added features to the Discussion Forums tool, and numerous improvements to Portfolios, the Site Editor, Installer tool, LDAP, and SIS properties. This service pack also resolves 226 total issues, including 209 bug fixes and 17 enhancements. The rSmart Sakai CLE service pack 2.6.2 is based on the Sakai community version 2.6.1. Many fixes were resolved by the Sakai community and packaged into this release by rSmart. Others were issues rSmart discovered and resolved through the normal course of its ongoing support services with clients. Most of these fixes are pushed back into the community code base as part of rSmart's code management process.

If your institution is a hosted rSmart Sakai CLE client, rSmart will apply this service pack to your instance. If rSmart does not host your instance, you may download the release from RSN at your convenience. For more information on the rSmart Sakai CLE release 2.6.2, visit: here. The next 2.6 service pack is scheduled for early February 2010.

About rSmart’s Support Service & Quarterly Service Pack Releases

Part of rSmart's Sakai support and maintenance subscription service includes regular service pack releases for all clients as well as automatic system upgrades for hosted clients. As part of this maintenance service, rSmart tests each fix and regression tests the entire system to ensure that it is ready for immediate deployment. The regular process of service pack and update software releases ensures that rSmart-supported clients are using the latest, most up-to-date Sakai code and provides them with ongoing security, stability, and peak performance for their installations.

Two New “Stealthed” Tools in 2.6.2

The rSmart Sakai CLE 2.6.2 includes a new “stealthed” tool, Gradebook 2, developed by UC Davis, Georgia Tech, and others. It offers an easy-to-use, spreadsheet-style interface and numerous useful features. For more information, visit: http://confluence.sakaiproject.org/display/SG2X/Gradebook2. Additionally, this release provides an update to an existing "stealthed" tool, Profile 2, a Facebook-style profile tool developed by Lancaster University (UK) that is integrated with Twitter and has many social networking features. Note: As "stealthed" tools, Gradebook 2 and Profile 2 are still under evaluation and are not surfaced in the out-of-the-box CLE. Your institution may want to activate these tools for experimental use. Because they are still of pre-production quality, they are not supported by rSmart.

About the rSmart Sakai CLE & Support Solution

The rSmart Sakai CLE is the company's fully packaged, tested and supported distribution of the Sakai software, similar to the way RedHat distributes and supports the Linux operating system. The rSmart Sakai CLE is available immediately for hosted or on-site deployments with dedicated Sakai support engineers, full-time documentation writers, Java developers, release engineers, quality assurance personnel and other support staff that allow institutions to use and consume Sakai as a commercial product. The company also provides professional services including Sakai evaluation and assessment, configuration planning, training, installation, customization, integration and data migration to compliment its support offerings. Anyone can experience the rSmart Sakai CLE for free at: mysakai.rsmart.com.

About Sakai

The Sakai Project is a landmark venture to create a comprehensive open-source course management, collaboration, ePortfolio, and online research environment for the education community. Started in 2004 by a collaboration of the University of Michigan, Indiana University, Stanford and MIT, the project is now run by the Sakai Foundation and includes over 100 members representing universities, colleges and institutions of learning around the world. For more information, visit www.sakaiproject.org.

About rSmart

rSmart is the provider of enterprise support for open source application software in education. The company develops, certifies, tests, deploys and supports a suite of enterprise financial and collaboration and learning applications for colleges, universities, and institutions serving grades K-12. As an active member, contributor, and commercial affiliate of open source projects like Kuali and Sakai, rSmart is able to provide its clients with software applications and commercial support specifically designed to meet the unique needs of educational institutions. This collaborative approach allows rSmart to offer open source applications that break the dependence educational institutions have on traditional proprietary software vendors. For more information, visit www.rsmart.com.

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Media Contact: Joe Waldygo Ph: (480) 632-5050 Email: jwaldygo@rsmart.com