SAP brings e-certification to S'pore

SINGAPORE--Software giant SAP launched Wednesday the online version of its global certification program in the island-state, targeting working professionals who wish to pursue certification at their own pace.

The German vendor partnered the SIM University (UniSIM) to set up the UniSIM-SAP eAcademy, targeting to train and certify over 200 ERP (enterprise resource planning) consultants each year, Kowshik Sriman, SAP's vice president and Singapore country manager, said during the official launch. UniSIM is run by the Singapore Institute of Management Group.

Noting an increase in global demand for ERP consultants over the next few years, Sriman said around 6,000 SAP-certified consultants would be needed in Singapore by 2010, up from the current 4,000.

As conventional certification programs are held routinely and require working professionals to commit to a fixed schedule, the eAcademy provides a "real viable option", he said.

Besides providing flexibility in learning hours, he noted that the course fees, ranging from S$9,480 (US$6,958) to S$12, 360 (US$9,072) are significantly lower than conventional classroom-based learning.

"We're saying that the course fees are 40 percent cheaper, but we haven't factored in the opportunity cost [such as] salary, risk of [unemployment]…that makes the eAcademy's value proposition a lot higher," said Sriman.

The UniSIM-SAP eAcademy will offer six tracks, five of which--financials, human resources, order fulfillment, procurement and production planning--are ERP modules. Advanced business application programming (ABAP), a programming language developed by SAP, is also available to programmers.

To attain the certification, participants will be required to spend between 200 and 250 learning hours over four months at the eAcademy. They must also achieve a score of above 70 percent for a certification examination, which will be administered at the end of the course.

Although the lessons are conducted without an instructor, students can send queries through Web-based tools to SAP-certified professionals.

Sriman told ZDNet Asia that the UniSIM-SAP eAcademy is different from the University Alliances Program rolled out in April across the region, including Singapore. The earlier initiative does not include certification, he said, and SAP-related course components form only part of the curriculum.

According to Man Mohan Kapur, SAP's director of education services for Southeast Asia, Singapore is the third country in Asia--after India and Malaysia--to offer the online version of the SAP certification program.

Kapur added that SAP is also planning to roll out the initiative in several other Southeast Asian countries. The company is currently in talks with potential institutions in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia, and expects to set up eAcademy programs in these economies by end-August. There are also plans to seek a partner institution in Thailand, he said.


Source: ZDNetAsia

More Links:
Is a short course on SAP good enough?
Earning potential of SAP functional consultant
Philippine IT workers enjoy competitive salaries

SAP FICO / MM Training in UP Diliman

SAP (FI-CO) Financial Accounting
July 10-11, 2008 ( 2days )
Registration Fee: Php 24,000.00

SAP (FI-CO) Financial Accounting
July 17-18, 2008 ( 2days )
Registration Fee: Php 24,000

SAP (MM) Materials Management
July 24-25, 2008 ( 2days )
Registration Fee: Php 24,000


For Inquiries and reservation.
Look for Rhea Francisco
Tel: (02) 920-2080
Email: info@ittc.up.edu.ph


More Links:

PeopleSoft Consultant Moving on SAP
Is a short course on SAP good enough?
An ABAP-trained MBA holder eyes an SAP-based job

Think groups, not modules, when venturing into ERP

Q. I have five years of experience in marketing research, which includes B2B research (agency side), media research and IT research.

I am now working for an IT company in Dubai as a market research executive. My work profile in this company is not a technical one, it's pure marketing research.

I have been thinking of a career shift to ERP (functional module) for some time. But since my experience is in marketing research, I am unsure about the module I choose. Expert opinion says that relevant domain experience is essential to select the module in ERP.

I have been browsing over to match my work experience with certain functional modules but I couldn't find a related match.

I am an electronics engineer and have an MBA degree too.
I am not so keen on finance modules since I don’t have much interest or skill in it. Could you suggest the right module for me? Could project portfolio management or strategic enterprise management be the right choice?


Career advice from Richard Talbot, general manager of IT recruitment specialist,
Sapphire Technologies Singapore:


Most of the major ERP systems installed have the financials modules at their core. So although this area is not the one of most interest to you, it is where much of the demand for staff comes from.

More important than the module, in our opinion, would be the ERP product that you choose to move into. The major market products are SAP, Oracle and Peoplesoft.
Commercially, SAP is the product with the greatest skills shortage in the Asia-Pacific region. This would be the one we would suggest to you, as it's easiest to get an opportunity to work with (supply and demand).

In relation to the specific module you are interested in, you should be aware that organizations that implement these systems rarely have consultants with skills in just one module--more often the modules are generally requested in groups.

The primary groups that consultants have experience in are:
• Financials • Supply Chain • HR/Payroll • CRM • Manufacturing

Rather than choosing a specific module it's better to choose an "area" to work in, then attempt to get training/experience in the core modules that fall into that area. The consultants most in demand are capable of conducting functional analysis around the major core modules in these areas.

More Links:

• Is a short course on SAP good enough?
  Earning potential of SAP functional consultant
• Will a Java expert need to learn ABAP to get into SAP?

Source: ZDNetAsia

Philippine IT workers enjoy competitive salaries

IT professionals in the Philippines are receiving above-average salaries compared to their counterparts in other professions, but most of them lack the IT certification their peers in the region have acquired, according to a survey conducted by ZDNet Asia.

The ZDNet Asia IT Salary Benchmark Survey 2008 revealed that IT employees in the Philippines earned an average annual salary of US$12,425 (500,736 peso).
This wage level, high by national standards, put the country in sixth place after Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and India, which have annual salaries of between US$13,864 and US$76,851. The Philippines is just a notch higher over last placer Indonesia, which had a US$7,709 average annual salary.

According to the National Statistics Office, the average annual income of Filipino families in 2006 was estimated at 172,000 peso (US$3,939).
The Philippines, however, was ranked at the bottom in another category with just 24 percent of the respondents saying they had at least one IT certification from a technology vendor or institution. Hong Kong topped the list with 48.9 percent, while Indonesia was able to dodge the pit with 28.6 percent.

A total of 2,521 IT professionals from the Philippines participated in the survey. They came from various industry sectors, across a range of job types, and from different company sizes. Some 92.6 percent of the respondents were working full-time, while the rest were contractors and independent consultants.

The ZDNet Asia survey found a correlation between years of experience, a higher education level, and a good salary. Those who had more than 10 years of experience enjoyed an average annual salary of 95,113 peso (US$2,178). The average number of years of experience among the Filipinos IT workers surveyed was 6.3 years.

Similarly, the survey indicated that larger companies generally gave higher compensation, compared to businesses with fewer employees. Respondents working in large companies, with more than 1,000 employees, commanded the highest average annual salary at 556,529 peso (US$12,745), followed by those in midsize companies (with between 100 and 999 employees) at 516,882 peso (US$11,837) and small companies (with fewer than 100 employees) at 456,183 peso (US$10,447).

Among sectors, the study said respondents from the legal and finance sector commanded the highest average annual salaries with 667,519 peso (US$15,286), followed by those in IT, Web and telecom with 520,612 peso (US$11,922). Those in government, education and health had the lowest average annual salary of 290,300 peso (US$6,648).

The study found that more than half (52.1 percent) of Filipino IT professionals had application development skills, nearly half (46 percent) have desktop/software skills, and more than one-third (38.4 percent) had Web development skills.

The report also noted that respondents who were contract/independent consultants in IT management, project management, communications, and other IT professionals, had higher average annual salaries than those who worked full-time at a company, while those in systems development and support earned less.

More Links:

• SAP and Oracle's referral programs have different focus
• What is the future of a SAP technical/ABAP programmer?
• PeopleSoft Consultant Moving on SAP
• Philippines faces IT skills shortage

Source: ZDNETASIA