HP opens first SAP Competency Centre in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The facility is one of only 16 HP SAP Competency Centres worldwide and will operate three streams, HP SAP Training Programmes, an HP Solutions Centre and an HP Solutions Lab. The whole centre will be running at full capacity by March 2004.

The centre will provide training opportunities for Saudi graduate nationals to certify as SAP Consultants creating a local pool of SAP competent experts specifically for the Kingdom. Currently students are offered ABAP programming skills at the HP SAP Training Centre, the initial technical training standard for all SAP consultants. And by January 2004, students will be able to engage in a series of training courses varying from Workflow Management, Finance, Materials Management and Industry Specific SAP Solutions. When working at full capacity, the Centre will run 2 courses simultaneously for a maximum of 15 people each at any one time. And depending on the training skill set, these courses will last from between 25 days to 2 months, with local HP and worldwide trainers.

"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a very important region to HP. We see great potential for technological growth and realise the need for local support from local consultants," said Mike Smith, General Manager HP Services Middle East. "We have been looking at ways to help with the development of SAP skill sets for IT consultants, and this Centre provides the specifics. This joint initiative with ITM, an HP delivery partner, means that we will see the local SAP consultant market burgeon and move from strength to strength."

The SAP Competency Centre will not only provide a training facility for Saudi nationals, as both a Solutions Centre and a Solutions Lab are on the same site. The Solutions Lab affords customers an opportunity to see first hand, SAP's latest solutions for several industry verticals, and also the latest SAP 'bolt-on' technology inventions created by HP for specific industries. Some of the more popular developments are mobility solutions for field operatives using PDA's and printing solutions for mobile administrators. For this region many of the SAP 'bolt-on's' are predicted to be highly successful for both Aviation and Oil & Gas, quickly becoming industry standards. The Solutions Centre demonstrates the demand and the breadth of solutions provided by HP's Services Division from Business Critical solutions to Consulting and Integration.

"HP is at the driving edge for the development of new applications, pushing the boundaries of with evolving technologies. The SAP Competency Centre enables us to transfer these key developments to a market place eager for growth. HPs Solutions Lab will bring a fresh approach to the SAP market in Saudi Arabia," Mohammad El Shanti, HP Business Development Manager. Middle East.