Centra Software Inc., an application service provider and E-learning software vendor that's struggling to produce a profit, is counting on its recently launched CentraOne 6.0 collaboration software to boost sales and expand its focus beyond online training.

The collaboration software was released in June and the company plans to make additional investments in collaboration products, Centra chairman and CEO Leon Navickas says. Centra also wants to partner with other software vendors to bundle the collaboration product into other enterprise applications. For example, Navickas says it could be bundled with enterprise CRM applications to allow call-center agents to collaborate with customers.

Despite the growing interest in new markets, Centra isn't "leaving the training people behind," Navickas says. When there are more jobs than available candidates, companies tend to emphasize training to enhance worker skills and retain employees, he says. But in a recession, businesses are more focused on improving business processes than on training their staff.

Centra recorded a net loss of $4.2 million, or 17 cents a share, for the second quarter ended June 30, on revenue $8.5 million from software licenses and related services. That compares with a net loss of $6.3 million, or 26 cents per share, on revenue of $9.8 million for the same quarter a year ago.

For the six months ended June 30, Centra posted a net loss of $10 million, or 40 cents per share, on revenue of $16 million. The numbers are almost the same as those from a year ago, when Centra recorded a net loss of $10 million, or 42 cents per share, on revenue of $18.8 million.

Although Centra's collaboration software sales haven't passed that of its online training products, Navickas says "It could happen some time this year."