SAP Announces New Development Training for New SAP HANA Platform as "Massive Open Online Course"

SAP News Release:

SAP Announces New Development Training for New SAP HANA Platform as "Massive Open Online Course"

April 30, 2013 | SAP - In-Memory Computing

SAP NEWSBYTE - SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced a new online course aimed at software developers seeking introductory knowledge of the SAP HANA platform. The course, entitled "Introduction to Software Development on SAP HANA," is now open for registration and was designed specifically for programmers seeking an overview of the native programming capabilities of SAP HANA. The course complements the comprehensive training and certification courses for SAP HANA already available from the SAP Education organization that are delivered online and in training centers worldwide.

"Introduction to Software Development on SAP HANA" will be offered in the "massive open online course," or MOOC, format, which has grown increasingly popular in academia. In a mix of online lectures, self-tests, weekly assignments and online discussion forums, the new course aims to provide an experience similar to traditional classroom training, yet with a greater flexibility for the learner and virtually unlimited scalability for SAP as the course provider. The course is also planned to be rolled out to more than 1,300 universities worldwide via the SAP University Alliances program.

"The MOOC format provides a great opportunity for developers to get an introduction to SAP HANA and benefit from the flexibility to consume lectures and conduct exercises at their convenience," said Bernd Welz, senior vice president and head of Solution and Knowledge Packaging, SAP. "Participants can appreciate the flexibility to consume the lectures and do the exercises when and where it is most convenient. And to give learners the maximum flexibility, the course lectures can also be viewed on a mobile device or offline."

"The growing demand for SAP HANA knowledge coincides with learning trends that increasingly favor self-study methods," said Markus Schwarz, senior vice president and global head of SAP Education. "Our efforts to enhance our portfolio and provide greater flexibility to learners have gained validation by industry analysts. This new offering provides an ideal stepping stone to the comprehensive and in-depth online learnings offered by SAP Education around SAP HANA and other strategic solutions."

Registration is open to all audiences on the openSAP platform. The six-week course is scheduled to begin May 27, 2013, requiring four hours of study time per week. Course participants who successfully complete their assignments and the final exam will receive a record of achievement confirming that they have taken successful first steps toward becoming an SAP HANA developer.

For more information, visit the SAP Newsroom. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews, @SAP_UA and@SAPEDU.

SAP Unveils First-of-a-Kind IT Training and Development Institute in Dubai

Press release:

SAP Unveils First-of-a-Kind IT Training and Development Institute in Dubai

SAP NEWSBYTE - August 01, 2012 | SAP - Corporate

As part of the company's strategic investment plan for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced it will open a training and development institute at the Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO) to up-skill local talent and drive sustainable innovation and growth in the region. The institute aims to certify 2,000 new consultants in the market within the next four years, tripling SAP's existing consulting capabilities in the region.

The project is the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) first IT-specific training and development entity. It was announced today at a ceremony in Dubai attended by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA); Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, DSOA vice chairman and chief executive officer; Dr. Werner Brandt, SAP chief financial officer and executive board member; and Sam Alkharrat, SAP MENA managing director.

"The UAE's Vision 2021 continues to serve as the fundamental framework for all Dubai-based entities," said His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum. "Dubai's strategy is underpinned by technology, which is supported by innovation, research and science as key pillars for the development of a knowledge-based economy. Today, the signing of this agreement further enhances Dubai's 2021 Vision of moving to an economy that is based on the development and creation of the UAE's local Emiratis' skills."

Featuring cutting-edge IT infrastructure and wholly owned by the government of Dubai, the DSO is easily accessible globally and throughout MENA. The complex lies just 15 minutes from the Dubai International Airport, spans 7.2 square kilometers and includes state-of-the-art office towers, research and development and industrial zones, educational institutions, luxury apartments, villas and hotels, healthcare offices and a full range of lifestyle facilities.

Plans for the training and development institute were initially discussed in March 2012 as part of a four-year additional investment plan to drive growth in the region. SAP expects the institute to provide skilled talent that will help the company accelerate and extend the localization of its solutions to meet fast-growing regional needs. Furthermore, there will be strong links with the SAP University Alliances program, which currently provides hands-on experience with key SAP technologies at 27 institutions across MENA – a figure set to double in the next four years. The SAP University Alliances program also allows students to collaborate throughout a network of global universities and research communities.

"The institute is the direct result of addressing our market, customer and ecosystem needs, and will serve as a powerful engine to yield vital jobs, knowledge, innovation and infrastructure capable of progressively shaping MENA’s business future," said Brandt.

SAP chose the DSO location for its combination of technological resources, geographic convenience and educationally conducive environment, making it the perfect setting to also support co-innovation with partners, customers and independent software vendors in areas such as mobile, the SAP HANAplatform, cloud, urban management, smart city functionalities and Islamic banking. The institute is also explicitly structured to support countries across the MENA region, with the potential to establish dedicated satellite operations in key SAP markets such as Saudi Arabia.

Press release:

Red Hat Training Supporting JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6 Release With Multiple New Offerings

July 19, 2012

The Red Hat Training Team

Red Hat Training is pleased to announce the availability of a pair of new courses that have been substantially updated for JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6. JBoss Application Administration I (JB248) and JBoss Enterprise Application Development (JB225) demonstrate best practices in the administration and development of applications on JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6.

JBoss Application Administration I teaches system administrators essential, real-world skills for effectively deploying and managing applications on JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6. This course is ideal for those either new to JBoss or transitioning to JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6 from previous versions. This course is a replacement for the popular JBoss Enterprise Application Development (JB336) course. Key topics include:

• Configuration with the new Command Line Interface (CLI)
• Management with the new Admin Console
• Software deployment using a variety of available methods
• Provisioning and configuring Hosts and Servers using the new Domain model
• Clustering in both Standalone and Domain mode
• Details on the new configuration process, using a single XML file
• Migrating applications previously designed for JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 5 to JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6
• Securing applications and defining security domains

In addition to a comprehensive JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6 overview, JBoss Application Administration I helps prepare students for the JBoss Certified Application Administrator (JBCAA) exam (EX248). By passing the exam, an IT professional earns JBCAA certification for demonstrating the skills and knowledge to install, configure, monitor, manage and deploy applications to JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6.

JBoss Enterprise Application Development (JB225) uses lectures and extensive use-case, hands-on labs to teach mid-level Java™ developers to create, test and maintain Java EE-compliant applications the JBoss way. Students will learn multiple related technologies for designing, coding and testing secure multi-tier enterprise applications, including CDI, Arquillian, JBoss Hibernate®, RESTEasy and HornetQ. This course also teaches developers essential administration tasks, interfaces and deployment models. Some of the new and updated topics include:

• Developer administration tasks for JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6
• Introduction to JBoss Developer Studio 5
• Contexts and dependency injection (CDI)
• Unit and integration testing with JUnit, Arquillian, and Selenium
• Developing session beans with EJB 3.1
• Developing entity beans with JPA 2.0 and Hibernate
• Developing RESTful and SOAP web services with JAX-WS and RESTEasy
• Developing asynchronous messaging applications with message driven beans using HornetQ
• Creating standard and rich web applications using JSF 2 and RichFaces
• Securing applications using the models provided by JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6

Learn more about JBoss Application Administration I, JBoss Certified Application Administrator and JBoss Enterprise Application Development.

Accenture Expands Its Salesforce.com Global Delivery Capabilities and Skills to Capitalize on Demand for Cloud Solutions

Press release:

May 22, 2012

Accenture Expands Its Salesforce.com Global Delivery Capabilities and Skills to Capitalize on Demand for Cloud Solutions

Establishes Accenture Innovation Center for Salesforce.com in London 

LONDON; May 22, 2012 -- Accenture (NYSE: ACN) is expanding its alliance relationship with salesforce.com and accelerating its market-leading position by ramping up its global workforce, enhancing its skills training and certification program, and launching new Cloud Centers of Excellence in the United States and Canada, and in the UK and France later this year.  These locations will build on the already substantial capabilities of Accenture’s global network of delivery centers in China, India and the Philippines. 

Accenture also announced the opening of the Accenture Innovation Center for salesforce.com in London.  The new center will serve as a showcase location for Accenture and salesforce.com to bring to life new solutions and prototypes based on innovative implementation approaches and to demonstrate the tremendous client value the two companies can jointly deliver.  These announcements were made at Cloudforce London 2012.

“Accenture and salesforce.com are taking our alliance to a new level as we continue to see significant new opportunities,” said Paul Daugherty, chief technology architect at Accenture.  “Over the past two years we have seen tremendous growth in our software as a service (SaaS) business.  Salesforce.com represents the largest share of our SaaS business and we’re seeing more cloud-enabled transformation programs in the pipeline than ever, increasingly connected to the social enterprise.  As a result, we are expanding our delivery capabilities to bring innovative solutions at scale to our enterprise clients who are increasingly demanding salesforce.com apps and platforms.”

Salesforce.com has recognized Accenture as having the largest dedicated practice of any global service provider and today’s announcements are an important step for Accenture to drive even greater growth.  To facilitate the planned expansion in capabilities and headcount, Accenture and salesforce.com are working together to develop a proprietary, accelerated workforce training and certification program.  This new program builds on the in-house salesforce.com training capability first established by Accenture in 2009.

“As the shift to the social enterprise continues to accelerate, our strategic partnership with Accenture is increasingly important to help customers transform themselves to thrive in this social revolution,” said George Hu, chief operating officer, salesforce.com. “Since launching our vision for the social enterprise, Accenture has become the leading provider in our largest transformational projects. In this next phase of our relationship, Accenture will rapidly scale its delivery capacity to address global demand from companies who want to become social enterprises.”

As part of this strategic relationship, the two companies will also invest in joint activities to accelerate the delivery of Salesforce solutions in the enterprise market, including:

·         Closer R&D cooperation in rapidly developing areas including social collaboration, digital marketing and analytics, with direct links between salesforce.com product development teams and Accenture Technology Labs.

·         Development of architecture frameworks, delivery methods and implementation tools to support increased efficiencies in the delivery of enterprise-level projects.

·         Co-development of social enterprise™ vision and roadmap development capabilities, including continued support of the Accenture Enterprise Social Media Innovation Center in San Jose.  At its core, Accenture is creating an experimental environment to identify, develop and test ideas and approaches that further enhance the value of the social enterprise and social collaboration technologies including Salesforce Chatter.

As evidence of its leadership, Accenture was named a leader by Forrester Research in their report: “The Forrester Wave™: Salesforce.com Implementation, Q2 2011,” having rated Accenture against 46 levels of capability across three categories – current offering, strategy and market presence.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 246,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture. Salesforce, Cloudforce, Social Enterprise, Chatter, and salesforce.com are trademarks of salesforce.com, inc. Any third-party names, trademarks or copyrights contained in this document are the property of their respective owners.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

F5’s New Technical Certification Program Helps Define and Measure the Skills Required for Today’s IT Complexities

F5 to partner with educational institutions to deliver specialized training for Application Delivery Networking

INTEROP, LAS VEGAS, May 08, 2012

F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV), the global leader in Application Delivery Networking (ADN), today announced a new F5 Technical Certification Program designed to address the growing complexity and the resulting knowledge gap in today’s IT organizations.

Additional Resources

• F5 Technical Certification Program Overview
• F5 Technical Certification Program FAQ
• F5 Application Delivery Fundamentals Exam Blueprint

As IT organizations deploy mobile and cloud-based solutions, their application environments are becoming more complex than ever, and users are becoming dissatisfied with slow and unreachable applications. This IT trend is driving the need—and raising the bar—for skilled technologists who have expertise in networking and applications and, more importantly, an in depth understanding of the interaction between the two.

In a recent report¹, Gartner, Inc. noted, “Application delivery and optimization solutions are underutilized and poorly understood in many IT organizations. The skills required to fully utilize these solutions are broad and touch on multiple IT disciplines.” The report further states, “One of the challenges is to find individuals with the appropriate skill set and, more importantly, retaining the people with these difficult-to-find skills, as there is a recognized shortage and many with this skill will gravitate to the vendor community. The role played by the application delivery architect demands strong people skills and broad technical skills.”

Launching in third quarter of calendar year 2012, the new F5 Technical Certification Program is unique in that it focuses not only on F5 products and technology, but also emphasizes the underlying application delivery expertise required to design, deploy, and manage solutions in complex Application Delivery Networking environments, which often include multiple vendors’ solutions.

“F5’s new Technical Certification Program completely reevaluates the skills and knowledge that are necessary to meet the demands of application delivery, without regard for where those skills traditionally have been taught or used—in the network, application, or some other area of IT,” said Ken Salchow, Program Manager for Technical Certification at F5. “We are committing more than 12,000 hours of subject matter experts’ time to create the skills assessments, learning tools and a rigorous examination process for individuals who want to deepen their understanding of application delivery, elevate their professional standing, and expand their ability to deploy world-class solutions.”

Training + Certification = Success

F5, customers, and partners recognize the benefits and business value of hiring exceptionally qualified individuals to manage sophisticated application environments. To date, the challenge has been how best to identify whether someone has the necessary knowledge and skills. F5’s new multi-dimensional certifications will help identify individuals who already possess these exceptional qualifications.

F5 is actively working with targeted educational institutions to develop and deliver the first application delivery-focused curriculum. These new curricula will provide prospective students a career development path that more accurately reflects the demands of modern IT organizations.

“We have found that many of the skills necessary for application delivery are vendor neutral and are already being taught,” said Joe Taylor, Director, Service Operations and Training at F5. “The problem is that these distinct skills haven’t been taught in a single program or combined into an ADN-type experience. We will use the skills assessments we develop during the certification exam process to help guide the colleges and universities we’re working with in developing training courses and associated labs that blend application, network, and security knowledge into a dedicated ADN learning experience. We hope to provide both web-based training (WBT) and instructor-led training (ILT) courses to support learners who want to kick-start their application delivery careers.”

Supporting Quotes

“Application delivery knowledge is complicated as it goes well beyond a single vendor’s product,” said Patrick McFadin, Chief Architect at Hobsons. “No one has really addressed that—until now. The new F5 Technical Certification Program satisfies a long overdue need in the market and it makes sense that it would come from F5 given the strength they already have in developing knowledgeable technologists with user groups, industry events, and their DevCentral™ community. Their technology is market leading and now, so is their certification program.”

“In many organizations, application network delivery products are often underutilized, so customers look to us to provide the level of expertise required to support their increasingly complex network environments,” said Al Hagaman, Director of Sales and General Manager at Sirius Computer Solutions. “F5’s new certification program will make it easier for F5 partners to find individuals with the depth of industry expertise to ensure customers are getting the most out of their investment in F5 technology. By integrating traditional networking knowledge with advanced understanding of application layer (L4-7) protocols, F5 is defining a new level of professional and technical expertise that’s needed industry wide today and supports our and F5’s commitment to project success and customer satisfaction.”

“Application delivery has become a core discipline for many of our customers,” said Christian Grusemann, Director Business Line Information Security at Computacenter AG & Co. oHG. “As such, it’s positive news that F5 is launching this certification program, which will formalize the skills needed to execute projects that require highly specialized knowledge in this area. It is a move that is beneficial to both partner and customer communities and supports our joint aim of delivering great customer service.”

Availability

Candidates can begin registering for the F5 Technical Certification Program beginning third quarter of calendar year 2012 through the Pearson Credential Manager. The Credential Management System will notify registered individuals of exam availability. Testing will be available through Pearson VUE testing centers worldwide.

About F5 Networks

F5 Networks, Inc., the global leader in Application Delivery Networking (ADN), helps the world’s largest enterprises and service providers realize the full value of virtualization, cloud computing, and on-demand IT. F5® solutions help integrate disparate technologies to provide greater control of the infrastructure, improve application delivery and data management, and give users seamless, secure, and accelerated access to applications from their corporate desktops and smart devices. An open architectural framework enables F5 customers to apply business policies at “strategic points of control” across the IT infrastructure and into the public cloud. F5 products give customers the agility they need to align IT with changing business conditions, deploy scalable solutions on demand, and manage mobile access to data and services. Enterprises, service and cloud providers, and leading online companies worldwide rely on F5 to optimize their IT investments and drive business forward. For more information, go to www.f5.com.

You can also follow @f5networks on Twitter or visit us on Facebook for more information about F5, its partners, and technology. For a complete listing of F5 community sites, please visit www.f5.com/news-press-events/web-media/community.html.

F5 and DevCentral are trademarks or service marks of F5 Networks, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

¹Three Phases to Improve Application Delivery Teams; Gartner, Inc.; Mark Fabbi, Joe Skorupa; 22 November 2011

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PRESS RELEASE

Bermudan Ministry of Government Estates and Information Services and Cisco launch Networking Academy program

Networking Academy program to provide certification training for Bermudians and prepare them for employment opportunities in information and communications technology

Hamilton, Bermuda, May 7, 2012 - Cisco announced today that it has joined forces with the Ministry of Government Estates and Information Services in Bermuda to launch the Cisco Networking Academy™ in the island. The Networking Academy® program will provide Bermudians with the opportunity to receive information and communications technology (ICT) education through effective in-classroom learning combined with innovative cloud-based curricula and tools to prepare students for careers in the 21st-century global economy.

The first academy in Bermuda will be located at Bermuda College, the only tertiary-level institution in Bermuda. The college is committed to setting Bermuda's students on the path to success through the provision of comprehensive academic and technical education, along with professional training, personal and academic support services, quality facilities, and interactive partnerships with local and international entities.

The first course for the CCNA® certification will begin in July 2012 at the Bermuda College. The academy expects to train 36-40 students and nine instructors during 2012, and hopes to  significantly increase this number in 2013.

The Networking Academy began in 1997 with 64 schools and has grown to become one of the world's largest classrooms, with 10,000 academies in 165 countries, and nearly 4 million students having participated in the program to date.

A pioneering example of cloud-based education delivery, the Networking Academy teaches students how to design, build, troubleshoot and secure computer networks for increased access to career and economic opportunities in communities around the world. Students who complete the program often go on to secure entry-level career opportunities, participate in continuing education and achieve globally recognized career certifications.

Networking Academy courses are delivered in multiple languages through a cloud-based learning system. Courses are supported by classroom instruction, hands-on learning activities, and interactive online assessments that provide personalized feedback. Networking Academy instructors receive extensive training and support to help ensure a consistently enriching learning experience for students around the world.

Supporting Quotes

Hon. Michael J. Scott, JP, MP, Minister of Government Estates and Information Services

"The Cisco local academy initiative dovetails with the Government's overall commitment to develop the Island's human potential by means of enhanced training opportunities in various areas, in particular, training that will meet the emerging needs of the next few decades. IT stands at the forefront in this regard."

Evelyn James-Barnett, director of communications, Bermuda College

"Bermuda College welcomes the opportunities that this new partnership brings to both Bermuda and to the Bermuda College as its host venue. We have long recognized the need for this type of training to be available on the Island. While Bermuda College's associate degree programs deliver a quality academic track to the IT industry, Cisco Networking Academy equips students with networking skills by providing practical experience on a wide range of Cisco equipment, and through virtual learning, makes practical industry readiness immediately available."

Gustavo Sorgente, operations director, general manager Cisco Cansac

"Countries throughout the world have a great chance to benefit from the digital era. Cisco is committed to providing the infrastructure as well as the knowledge and tools required to assist countries such as Bermuda take full advantage of the innovations in today's global economy."  

Cristina McGlew, regional manager, Corporate Affairs, Latin America and the Caribbean, Cisco

"The launch of the Cisco Networking Academy at Bermuda College marks a major milestone for the program. Through this valued partnership, together, we are supporting the next generation of ICT leaders by preparing students for 21st-century opportunities – building ICT, business, and critical-thinking skills."

Navid Ghandeharioun, senior territory business manager, Cisco

"Creating ICT talent in today's competitive global marketplace is a key concern of many governments and organizations alike.  The Cisco Networking Academy in Bermuda could become a catalyst in development of an educated ICT workforce on the island and ultimately help propel Bermuda's economic standing to the next level of prominence globally."   

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, visithttp://newsroom.cisco.com.

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