SAP Board lays emphasis on role of India in global set-up

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The Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Board of SAP AG , Henning Kagermann, reaffirmed the company's acknowledgement of the contribution being made by SAP Labs India. He also announced multiple initiatives to deepen the company's involvement in India on the engineering and product development front. Kagermann today inaugurated the latest facility to the company's already extensive SAP Labs campus in Bangalore. The new facility, Phase III, at the company's existing campus in Whitefield, Bangalore will have a capacity to seat over 2,000 employees. In addition, SAP also announced the SAP Scholar Program - a pioneering industry academia initiative to encourage engineering talent to opt for advanced degrees combined with professional training.

The announcement was made during the first ever visit by the SAP Executive Board to India, reflecting the rising importance of the country to SAP both as a vibrant market as well as technology development & services-support delivery center.

Newest SAP Labs Bangalore facility can house over 2,000 employees

The newest facility at SAP Labs Bangalore covers over 350,000 sq. feet with a seating capacity of over 2,000 employees. In keeping with the company's environment-friendly initiatives, the new facility is a completely eco-friendly structure powered by energy efficient systems and renewable resources, such as recycled water. With an eye to conserve energy and improve efficiency, all the meeting rooms and training rooms have been centrally located and are wireless-communication enabled.

Commenting on the reasons behind the company expanding its facilities in Bangalore, Henning Kagermann, CEO, SAP AG, said, "This new facility is both a sign of SAP's acknowledgement of the breadth and quality of work being delivered by our colleagues in India, and our commitment to deepen our engagement with Indian engineering talent even further. SAP Labs India is today a critical link in our global strategies and we expect it to continue to play a definitive role in our future strategy as well."

SAP Scholar Program with IIIT-B and BITS-Pilani

SAP also announced a pioneering initiative in partnership with IIIT-B and BITS-Pilani, two of India's foremost engineering institutes, to encourage students to go in for advanced engineering degrees while getting professional training in parallel. Under the program, promising students are selected though a rigorous technical entrance test and an interview on soft skills and behavioral analysis. Once selected, the students enroll in a post-graduate program with either IIIT-B or BITS-Pilani while spending a portion of their time working on a part time basis with SAP Labs. On successful completion of the program, students will get an offer to join SAP and are treated at par with experienced candidates.

"Today, India has a vast engineering talent pool but there are two areas where there exists a gap between what colleges offer and what the industry wants - a practical knowledge of industry realities among students, and lack of people with advanced and specialized degrees. The SAP Scholar Program allows promising students the opportunity to go in for higher degrees without losing out on gaining a first-hand perspective on cutting-edge global product development," said Peter Zencke, Member of the Executive Board of SAP AG.

 "The SAP Scholar program is a commendable initiative by SAP to enhance the professional skills of the students and act as a mentor to them. Competitive engineering talent is the keystone for the IT industry in India. We need to capitalize on our existing talent pool and work towards placing them at par with international standards. We are confident that our association with SAP Labs will elevate the standards of IT education in the country," Said Professor Sadagopan, Director, IIIT Bangalore. 

Sourced From: Genesis Burson-Marsteller