The first SAP-sponsored training in Africa for tertiary institution academics lecturing in enterprise resource planning (ERP) technologies will take place at the University of the Western Cape from 26 May to 6 June 2008.
The "TERP10" training course forms part of the SAP University Alliance Programme (UAP) launched in South Africa in January last year with the backing of the Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor.
The global SAP UAP is the only one of its kind sponsored by a major information and communications technology (ICT) company. Started in the mid-1990s in Germany, the programme now has over 500 universities worldwide as members. The latest countries to join are India, Russia and South Africa.
The objective of the programme is to nurture talented graduates so that they can add value to organisations - in all business disciplines, not just in IT - as soon as they enter the workforce.
In order to achieve this, SAP brings universities and other tertiary institutions, the private sector, and non-governmental organisations together to identify which skills are needed most by the economy and then develop relevant curricula that will turn out graduates able to step into the skills gaps. In South Africa, SAP Africa is working to help align curricula with government's Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative in South Africa (Asgisa).
The TERP10 course is the first outcome of local UAP initiatives - and will provide lecturers and heads of departments from universities and other tertiary institutions in South Africa and the rest of Africa with the theory and skills to be able to offer training in SAP ERP solutions to undergraduate and postgraduate students. The training is designed to help not only information and communications technology (ICT) students but also commerce and management students understand the role technology plays in enabling business. Training emphasizes business best practice and business processes.
"Worldwide, there is more demand than ever before for certified SAP skills," says Heino Schraeder, director for the SAP UAP Programme for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). "The UAP helps academic institutions address that skills shortage by enabling students to get SAP certification as part of their degrees or diplomas - and therefore be marketable as soon as they graduate."
Max Fuzani, UAP manager in Africa, says the programme signals SAP's unequivocal commitment to win today's race for tomorrow's talent. "The onus is on communities, institutions, and industries to take advantage of it."
At the launch of the UAP in Africa last year, the University of the Western Cape (UWC) was designated as a UAP "lighthouse" university for Africa and, initially, all training courses offered by the UAP will be run there.
Roderick Lim Banda of the UWC's Department of Information Systems says: "The partnership with SAP is strategic for us because it gives us the means to introduce students to enterprise and industry business processes. It also provides a way of demonstrating the application of concepts such as service-oriented architecture (SOA).
"Corporate IT environments are becoming increasingly complex and hybrid. IT professionals need to know how to integrate systems across different platforms. Also, the evolution of the Internet is blurring the boundaries of social and enterprise systems. The pace of change in both business and technology is therefore massively increasing expectations of IT professionals as strategic enablers and solution providers. Training programmes such as the TERP10 have never been more relevant."
UAP member universities on the African continent include the University of Cape Town, Walter Sisulu University, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the University of Namibia, and the University of Mauritius.
Delegates who attend UAP training will be equipped to train their own staff to run UAP courses as part of their own curriculum.
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