Seven More IHLs Join MyUniAlliance-SAP Programme

350 students have already completed SAP training through MyUniAlliance-SAP, and a further 500 students are expected to complete the programme by the end of 2012

KUALA LUMPUR – May 17, 2012 – SAP, the world market and technology leader in business management software, today announced that seven more Malaysian institutes of higher learning (IHLs) have signed on to participate in the MyUniAlliance-SAP programme. The new IHLs are Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL), Nilai University College (NUC), Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TARC) and Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP). Together with the six pioneer IHLs that have been part of the MyUniAlliance-SAP programme since it began in October 2011, and including Monash University Sunway Malaysia and Swinburne University Sarawak that have taught SAP skills since before the introduction of MyUniAlliance-SAP, there are now fifteen Malaysian IHLs that offer SAP training as part of their academic curriculum.

MyUniAlliance is a Human Capital Development Strategic Reform Initiative under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and New Economic Policy (NEP) launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak last year. The programme aims to upskill ICT undergraduates in Malaysia by adding industry relevant training to their syllabus. This has the twin benefits of increasing the student’s employability upon graduation and accelerating Malaysia’s transformation into a knowledge driven, high income economy. The Robert Walters Global Salary Survey 2012 found that there is on-going high demand in Malaysia for IT professionals with SAP training. The survey also stated that SAP consultants were among the highest paid IT professionals in Malaysia.

SAP Malaysia Managing Director Serene Sia said, “SAP was the first global technology partner to answer the Prime Minister’s call to join the MyUniAlliance programme and to integrate SAP training into the curricula at Malaysian IHLs. Since October last year, 350 tertiary students have completed SAP training through MyUniAlliance-SAP, and we look forward to a further 500 students completing the programme by the end of this year. ”

“SAP plays a vital role in helping over 176,000 companies around the world achieve effective enterprise management and more than 700 Malaysian organisations use SAP solutions to be best run businesses. This makes SAP certifications among the most valuable credentials in the business world and fresh graduates with SAP training have a distinct advantage in today’s competitive job market,” added Sia.

IHLs that participate in MyUniAlliance-SAP program pay an affordable annual hosting fee to access SAP training systems without the need to invest in hardware or IT personnel. This makes SAP training more accessible by keeping costs low. Under this hosted model, the IHLs receive three pillars of support from SAP. First, they receive free licenses for SAP software to be used for teaching purposes. Second, SAP provides curriculum support through extensive educational materials developed by professors around the world through the SAP University Alliance Program. This allows the IHLs to quickly develop and introduce courses for their students’ benefit. And third, SAP provides training for the IHL’s faculty to equip them with the latest SAP knowledge to pass on to their students. Almost 100 faculty members will have been trained by end of May 2012.

Prof Dr. Nor Azizi Ismail, Dean, Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia said, “The MyUniAlliance-SAP programme is a valued industry partnership that is helping UUM create graduates with the right skills and knowledge that Malaysia needs to achieve our national ambitions. Our faculty has worked closely with SAP to develop the best methodology and put in place the right technologies to train our students in SAP skills. This raises the employability of our graduates and allows them to earn higher salaries when they join the workforce.”

The Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) is the key implementing agency for the MyUniAlliance-SAP programme where it awards a financial grant to IHLs to cover the hosting fees in the first year of their participation in the programme. Ng Wan Peng, COO, MDeC, said, “We are very pleased to see more IHLs participating in the MSC Malaysia MyUniAlliance-SAP programme. This is in line with MDeC’s on-going efforts to enhance the quality of Malaysian graduates to meet the skilled manpower demands of our high-value knowledge-based industries. Through our partnerships with industry and academia MDeC aims to upscale at least 10,000 undergraduates by 2015 and contribute to helping Malaysia meet 33% of total demand for skilled manpower through our domestic workforce.”

SAP Dashboard Design Competition

In collaboration with MDeC, SAP is inviting undergraduate students in all Malaysian IHLs to participate in the SAP Dashboard Design Competition with over RM6,000 in cash prizes to be won.

The competition is open to teams of students to use the SAP Dashboard Design Tool to develop an interactive dashboard that analyses the Olympics Games from 1992 to 2012. Each team is free to decide what information to present on their dashboard and may choose to showcase data by country, region, sport or about any other interesting aspects of the Games.

The SAP Dashboard Design Tool is available for free download and includes e-tutorials and online guides to help students build their dashboards with minimal classroom teaching. The tool is widely used by companies to build interactive dashboards that provide management with analytic insights into their business performance in the form of charts, graphs, and what-if scenarios.

“The SAP Dashboard Design Competition is an effort on our part to instil a passion for self-motivated learning amongst students and to expose them to the newest technologies used in the corporate world in a fun and entertaining way,” said Sia.

The SAP Dashboard Design Competition is open to all tertiary students in Malaysia and starts on 1st June, 2012, and ends on 1st November, 2012. Each team’s dashboard will be judged on its usefulness, usability, data and supporting documentation. The top three winning teams will receive cash prizes and trophies. The champions will proceed to compete against winners from other countries in the Southeast Asia round.