Region's oil and gas organizations to benefit from exposure to SAP's value management platform

Delegates will include representatives from the region's leading oil and gas organizations who will be granted exclusive access to SAP's own value management framework and tools.

During the two day course attendees will learn how to identify, quantify and execute performance improvement strategies for their business, and use the academy as an opportunity to connect with other companies to share best practices.

Sergio Maccotta, Managing Director, SAP Middle East and Africa, said:

"We recognize that for many organizations realizing the true value of their IT investments is easier said than done. The SAP Value Academy is designed to transfer SAP methodologies, best practices and tools to our customers and prospects, helping them to focus on the projects that will deliver the greatest value in the shortest time."

Available to SAP customers and prospects globally, the first academies were launched in EMEA at the beginning of 2009 in London, Rome and Den Bosch in the Netherlands. The success of these events has led to an additional 15 cross-industry academies in cities throughout the EMEA region in the coming months and the next stop in Dubai is part of the overall SAP plan to increase its support to the Middle East Region.

Aimed at C-level executives, attendees are given the opportunity to learn and use SAP methodologies, resources, and tools to create a robust value delivery framework capable of supporting the larger goals of their businesses.

"The current economic climate means that funding for major investments is under heightened scrutiny. It is no longer enough for projects to be delivered on time and on budget - they must also have an iron-clad business case with the risks clearly defined and mitigated before budgets are secured. The expected value to the business must be clear and demonstrated on an ongoing basis. With the Value Academy, SAP is opening up its value platform to customers to allow them to benefit directly from its expertise and best practices in value management," said Jeff Hess, Senior Vice President, Value Engineering, SAP EMEA.

The Value Academy courses focus on the following areas:

- Understanding Value Management, as a fundamental corporate discipline
- Performance Improvement and High Yield Investment Strategies
- Using SAP contents, tools, resources, and knowledge base to develop business cases that provide a solid basis for decision-making in investment planning
- Defining a methodology that supports measuring and optimizing organizations' business processes
- Using the value of user communities as a collaboration tool to drive robust business network among companies

To date, SAP has hosted approximately 60 academies worldwide, delivering sessions to over 1150 participants in 20 different countries. As a result, more than 600 organizations are now certified, and well in excess of 500 Value Lifecycle Management projects have been created. Globally, SAP plans to host at least 35 new academies during the remainder of the year.