New alliance gives boost to ICT industry

SAP, a leading provider of business software solutions, has announced a vertical strategic agreement with the government.

SAP is committing itself to offer modern first-class software solutions and high-level customer support and services "in line with the Maltese government's objective of increasing technological awareness and encouraging the local ICT industry in organising itself into specialised areas aimed at providing a comprehensive suite of services," the Ministry for Information Technology and Investment said.

Augusto Abbarchi, SAP Italy managing director, said that since operations started in Malta last February "our commitment was that of consolidating Malta's community IT system thanks to our specific know-how and technology in the key vertical markets".

As a result of the agreement, SAP certifications will be made available here for the first time. Students and employees will be able to obtain internationally recognised certifications demanded by the industry, especially those companies that use SAP products. Holders of such certification will become experts in two of SAP main products - the SAP Business One and the mySAP.

Austin Gatt, Minister for Information Technology and Investment, said that in today's knowledge-based economy, there is a need for ICT specialists capable of extracting, assembling and organising the vast amount of data.

He said Malta has to face the reality of a shift in the skills requirements, from those of "doing" on the shop floor to the intelligence skills required to monitor and control automated processes.

Dr Gatt listed other benefits resulting from the agreement:

¤ The software of SAP Business One and mySAP will be installed free of charge by SAP at the university and MCAST. Any maintenance and upgrades needed will be done by SAP free of charge as part of their academy programme

¤ A "train the trainers" programme will be provided. Trainers from the university and MCAST will be provided with training on SAP certifications to be able to deliver the same training to students. This training will be free of charge as will be any re-fresh courses the same trainers will need as new versions of SAP products come out in the market.

¤ Financial support towards an education and awareness campaign on the need for further graduates in ICT programmes will also be granted by SAP.

¤ Ten student placements a year will be made available by SAP. These will be selected from among those following the SAP certification and will be placed with local SAP partners. SAP will fully sponsor the pay of such students.

¤ SAP has made available to the Maltese industry a special discount fund (SDF) of €100,000. Through this fund, Maltese companies interested in applying SAP solutions will benefit from an unprecedented discount granted by SAP. SAP solutions can be purchased at the cheapest rates in EU countries.

¤ SAP will grant preferential discount to the most innovative start-up company per year for the duration of the agreement (three years).

The SAP customer services network is spread over 50 countries. SAP has 77 training centres and 8,000 software developers.

SAP solutions are used by big companies such as Airbus, BMW, Air France, Audi, Bosch, Nokia, Sony, Siemens, Rolls Royce, Bayer, Heineken, Burger King, Texaco Worldwide, UBS, Deutsche Bank and Exxon.