Johannesburg — SAP Africa has extended its eAcademy Web-based training programme to Nigeria to cater to the growing number of consultants wishing to be SAP-certified. The appointment of the first eAcademy training providers in West Africa goes a long way to recognising the importance of this region and the wider adoption of SAP solutions.
“Through the years, we’ve had many Nigerians coming for training in South Africa, and one outstanding attribute had always been their commitment and dedication,” says Jaco van Zyl, Education Business Solutions Manager at SAP South Africa. “We are confident, therefore, that this will work well in Nigeria and believe there is a big need for SAP consultants in the region, due to the growth and focus of SAP in West Africa.”
The SAP eAcademy forms part of the business software vendor’s education programme, and aims to prepare consultants for their certification examinations.
“The three training providers – Computer Warehouse Group (ExpertEdge), New Horizons Nigeria, and TwinTech Services – were selected for their ability and capacity to offer the level of training required by SAP,” says Van Zyl.
Participants are able to work at their own pace, with the full scope of SAP training available via digital classrooms that link students to off-site trainers, a help desk, access to SAP training systems, and handbooks. Courses covering the various modules can be completed over three to five months.
Van Zyl says the training is structured in an asynchronous manner, meaning that while students can link to a central training facility in India via the Web, they are able to work through the modules at their own time and are not dependent on the e-trainer being online at the same time.
He adds that the training providers have fully-equipped training systems with decent Internet connectivity, which remains a significant hurdle in Nigeria.
This training is supplemented by on-site training provided by other certified trainers linked to the recently appointed providers.
“The one big benefit is that we have no constraints in terms of the number of people undergoing training,” says Van Zyl. “Also, students don’t need any prior experience with SAP, although a basic requirement is that they must have some business background related to the module they are undertaking.”
The combination of the Web-based training and resources, and the classrooms located in the country produce a direct saving of between 40% and 60% for students – largely due to the travel and accommodation components having been removed from the equation.
The SAP e-Academy offers courses that cover Management Accounting, Financial Accounting, Human Capital Management, Planning and Manufacturing, Procurement, and Order Fulfilment. Van Zyl says there are plans to expand the network of eAcadamies across the rest of Africa, as this is one of the strong growth regions for SAP, and aims to build on the facilities in South Africa.
SAP
SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software(*), offering applications and services that enable companies of all sizes and in more than 25 industries to become best-run businesses. With more than 82 000 customers in over 120 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE, under the symbol “SAP”. For more information, visit http://www.sap.com.
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