Anheuser-Busch expanding online training effort

From...

By Jennifer Disabatino

(IDG) -- Anheuser-Busch Cos. is expanding an online training initiative from its sales department to the entire company and independent wholesalers.

The St. Louis-based brewer said last week that it's using training software from Interwise Inc. in Santa Clara, Calif. to train remote salespeople about everything from pricing to product placement in retail outlets.

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Anheuser-Busch is organized by colleges, with the entire company called a university. Right now, the college of sales and marketing is using the Interwise software. "It's working so well [Anheuser-Busch] is looking at it for the entire university," said Sue Carpenter, the distance learning consultant for Anheuser-Busch. "Different groups are asking to use it. I think in one session a group said it saved $45,000. "[They] estimated that once it's implemented throughout the university, it will save billions of dollars."

Carpenter said the company is also using Interwise to train IT staff on a companywide SAP implementation.

The version of Interwise now in use is a basic electronic-learning tool, she said. Salespeople can link to stored tutorials via Anheuser-Busch's large-area network at their convenience.

The new release of Interwise's Enterprise Communications Platform allows for live and recorded one-on-one, group and broadcast sessions. Carpenter said she is in the middle of rolling out the latest Enterprise Communications Platform throughout Anheuser-Busch as well as having Interwise host an online version that wholesalers can access without compromising sensitive company information.

Carpenter is also building a link to the corporate messaging system, Microsoft Corp.'s Exchange and Outlook, so users can set up meetings in their messaging systems. Once meetings are set, the system will initiate an Interwise session and invite attendees.

Interwise president and CEO Frank Zvi said his company is working on interoperability with Notes and Domino from IBM subsidiary Lotus Software Group.