Dear community members:
I would like to take this opportunity to address some serious issues raised in recent blogs posted on SCN which touch specifically SAP Education’s operations in India. Three main issues appear to be consistently arising in SCN, as well as in other social media channels and forums:
Eligibility for SAP Certification
There continues to be criticism around practices which are viewed as discriminatory due to the certification eligibility processes, which can make it difficult or impossible for freelancers to get certified in India.
We appreciate your concerns around such policies and understand fully that experienced professionals can perceive the policies this way. Our experience has shown, however, that we do have to take additional measures to protect the certification credentials of people who work hard to achieve their
certification status in India.
The IP protection legislation in India does not effectively hinder the distribution of training materials and exam questions, and our exams are therefore potentially exposed to being widely distributed. If we do not take additional measures to hinder this, we are giving an unfair advantage to individuals who are willing to pay for exam questions rather than study for exams. We would also be putting our customers at risk of being exposed to certified individuals who do not have sufficient skills to undertake the work required. By validating project experience in our eligibility process we are introducing a safety measure to
protect our customers from the consequences of hiring or engaging supposedly “certified” individuals who have not actually attained their certification by fair means.
We realise that this is an inconvenience for some people, and we do our best to keep this process as seamless as possible. We understand that this may seem like an affront to those who have worked hard to gain certification status, but it is in fact our way of protecting the credibility of your status; other certification programs are also forced to implement similar or other more stringent measures in India to tackle this issue. We hope that people will understand, and look forward to congratulating many more of you in India on passing your certifications.
Claims that SAP Training Partners are selling training on the basis of a job guarantee that does not materialise
This was detailed in a personal story shared by someone on SCN. SAP in no way or form endorses this practice. SAP Education India is committed to doing everything we can to take quick and corrective action whenever institutions engaging in fraudulent activities and unethical practices are brought to our attention. We do not condone such activities as promises of employment as a result attending courses offered by SAP Education, and we urge anyone who enrolled in a course where such a claim is made to notify us immediately.
It is also important that anyone who seeks our certification or other training courses only uses official, recognised SAP Training Centres. The link to authorized education partners in India is available at:http://www.sap.com/asia/services/education/centres/partners.epx
SAP Education partners only provide SAP trainings and support candidates with placements. They don’t guarantee any placements, but if they come across any job opportunities they can pass along the respective job profiles.
Claims that the quality of training at SAP Authorised Training Partners is not always good
Another member of the community shared experiences in a blog, wherein he details a disappointing experience. We appreciate that he notified us via his SCN post, in which he provided many useful details – from the quality of the instructor and training materials to the overall infrastructure. This is important and valuable feedback. Whenever we are notified about the specifics (location and date of training, name of instructor, etc.), we can take quick action to
investigate further. Again, we take these issues very seriously at SAP Education India. Our quality assurance processes include such steps as regular
audits of our training centres, evaluation of profiles during counselling sessions, and recommendations made based on the background of the candidate.
It is our mission to provide world-class training on SAP products and solutions, and that people who attend SAP Education courses come away with a good experience and the expertise they desired. We encourage this dialogue, and I extend my commitment and the commitment of my team in addressing these issues.
I will be attending SAP TechEd 2012 Bangalore in November, and encourage anyone who is attending to visit SAP Education’s booth on the Services campus so members of my team can meet face to face. We would also be pleased to tell you about the certification exams SAP Education will be offering on site during the event in Bangalore. In the meantime, please continue to engage here in SCN, and feel free to contact me. Either I or someone from my team would be pleased to discuss your learning needs with you directly.
Thank you and best regards,
Mageshwari Ramaiah (Maggie)
Head of SAP Education, SAP India Subcontinent
