In a significant move to bolster the study and research of business transformation management, SAP and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have announced a strengthening of their partnership aimed at enhancing industry collaboration and academic excellence. This alliance is set to pave the way for innovative educational and research opportunities, with a focus on equipping students and researchers with the skills needed to navigate disruption and build business transformation as a capability.
The decision to further strengthen this long-standing partnership was unveiled during a guest lecture at QUT’s Gardens Point campus, where Julian Lebherz, SAP Strategic Advisor, addressed Master’s students enrolled in the QUT Business Process Analytics course. The lecture emphasized the importance of integrating business transformation into standard operations, highlighting real-world applications as well as why some companies are more successful than others at realizing tangible and sustainable value when it comes to deploying business process intelligence solutions.
A key highlight of this collaboration is the nomination of Lebherz as QUT Industry Fellow, underscoring the ambition and momentum of the connection between SAP and QUT. With over a decade of highly specialized experience deploying process intelligence solutions and establishing associated delivery organizations in various industries, he is globally recognized as one of the leading experts in the field. Having served in the steering committee of the IEEE Task Force on Process Mining and co-organizing several international conferences on the subject, Lebherz will contribute significantly to the university’s academic and research endeavors, fostering a deeper integration of industry insights into the curriculum.
“SAP is committed to equipping QUT and its students with the expertise and technology required to turn business disruption into competitive advantage,” Lebherz said. “Business transformation must become a ubiquitous capability, and hence we [SAP] are doubling down by strengthening partnerships with leading organizations.”
The partnership aims to explore various avenues for collaboration, including internship and research project opportunities, executive education programs, and hackathons. These initiatives are designed to provide students and researchers with hands-on experience and exposure to real-world challenges, aligning academic pursuits with industry needs.
Professor Alistair Barros, head of the School for Information Systems at QUT, expressed enthusiasm for the partnership, stating, “QUT’s School of Information Systems is intensifying both research and education of holistic business transformation and enterprise computing, encompassing the continuous flywheel of process execution, intelligence, improvement, and change deployment.”
Professor Moe Thandar Wynn, leader of QUT’s process science group and co-director of QUT’s Centre for Data Science, highlighted the benefits of strong industry ties, noting, “Our researchers and students benefit tremendously from strong industry collaboration. Partnerships like this one enable us to align curricula and research projects closely with real industry needs.”
The announcement marks a significant step forward in QUT’s position as a global leader in business process management and process intelligence. By integrating end-to-end business transformation into the academic curriculum across multiple courses, as well as deepening the connection to real-world outcomes, QUT and SAP are set to redefine the landscape of business transformation education, preparing students to thrive in an era of constant disruption.
Lucas de Boer, Global Marketing Program Lead, SAP Signavio
