SkillSoft brings e-learning to Deutsche Post


27 Mar 2003

E-learning firm SkillSoft has begun the first stage of a multi-phase e-learning initiative at Deutsche Post World Net that will encompass over 320,000 employees of Deutsche Post.

The training initiative focuses on project management and IT skills and is part of a two-year multimillion dollar agreement aimed at delivering web-based courseware to Deutsche Post employees via Skillport, SkillSoft’s e-learning platform, as well as project and consulting support.

SkillSoft acquired Irish e-learning company Smartforce last year, but inherited an ongoing legal dispute over misreported revenues.

Based in Bonn, Germany, Deutsche Post World Net (DPWN) is the parent company of DHL, Deutsche Post, Danzas and Postbank. The company offers worldwide global mail, express delivery and logistics services, as well as comprehensive e-business solutions and financial services across more than 220 countries.

One of the business drivers for the e-learning initiative was the need to provide more than 1,000 DPWN project managers with training required to achieve project management professional (PMP) certification, awarded through the Project Management Institute. SkillSoft’s courses are aligned with the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Body of Knowledge, called PMBOK.

This training, along with courses covering a wide variety of IT skills, was launched in February.
“We view e-learning as a corporate imperative and value driver of our business,” said Joerg Staff, director of human resources management for DPWN. “It is the most efficient way to offer high-quality, consistent training to employees throughout the world – a necessary factor for consistent business processes. Because SkillSoft courseware is available in multiple languages, our employees in Germany or France will get the same training as those in the US. And we can increase the amount of training made available while decreasing overall costs.”

By John Kennedy