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O'Reilly Announces Significant Growth as Businesses Invest in Learning in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Press release: January 12, 2021

O'Reilly Online Learning Experiencing Across-the-Board Growth in Platform Sales, Live Online Training Registration, and its Customer Roster

BOSTON—January 12, 2021O'Reilly, the premier source for insight-driven learning on technology and business, today announced that the company has experienced 24% year-over-year sales growth across its enterprise learning solution in 2020. The company has experienced an uptick in live online training, acquired several new and notable customers, and created initiatives to make its solution more accessible to government workers. This indicates, despite a downturn in IT spending this year, that enterprise organizations are making greater investments in learning.

One of the big contributors to O'Reilly's continued success during the COVID-19 pandemic was its live virtual training. First introduced in 2016, O'Reilly's live training is delivered virtually through its online learning platform by experts, allowing participants to ask questions along the way. In 2020, more than 1 million registered for live events through O'Reilly online learning. This functionality also allowed O'Reilly to introduce its Superstream Series, a new lineup of virtual conferences featuring expert speakers delivering talks and training sessions on the most important topics and emerging trends in technology. Access for all O'Reilly subscribers is available through a single registration process.

O'Reilly's platform growth and registration numbers come on the heels of a lineup of significant customer wins. In just the last quarter, the company has added Nasdaq, CyberArk, and others to its expansive client roster. In September, the company also announced the availability of its services on the G-Cloud 12 framework. Acceptance onto the framework enables UK government organizations to subscribe to O'Reilly online learning and gain access to advanced technical material.

In addition to access for UK government organizations, O'Reilly provided free access to its platform to all US government agencies to help overburdened civil offices navigate infrastructure and systems challenges in the wake of the pandemic. Historically, government infrastructure and services haven't kept pace with the speed of technology, a situation only exacerbated by the coronavirus crisis. During this time, O'Reilly online learning empowered 10,000 civil workers by providing them with the knowledge and tools they needed to solve immediate and urgent technical problems quickly and effectively.

O'Reilly also experienced 76% growth in its media sales to technical marketers who sponsor O'Reilly's premium content to generate new leads for their businesses. With the decline in trade shows and in-person events in 2020, many marketers sought new ways to engage technical audiences for their services, and O'Reilly's content and virtual events were compelling solutions to drive brand awareness and lead generation. Cockroach Labs and Databricks all sponsored O'Reilly content this year to help them attract new customers.

"As COVID-19 has shifted the way we work, O'Reilly has met the demand for organizations who recognize that we're on the cusp of disruptive technological change. The pandemic is likely to accelerate adoption of technology, and we're helping practitioners enable their businesses to succeed in doing so," said Laura Baldwin, president of O'Reilly. "We're humbled by O'Reilly's growth at such an uncertain time and are honored to give back to our community of learners."

To learn more about O'Reilly and its learning solutions, visit: www.oreilly.com.

About O’Reilly

For 40 years, O’Reilly has provided technology and business training, knowledge, and insight to help companies succeed. Our unique network of experts and innovators share their knowledge and expertise through the company’s SaaS-based training and learning solution, O’Reilly online learning. O’Reilly delivers highly topical and comprehensive technology and business learning solutions to millions of users across enterprise, consumer, and university channels. For more information, visit www.oreilly.com.

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