SAP opens up certain online courses to locked-down tech learners

Enterprise software outfit SAP has made certain previously paid-for courses free for 90 days as governments enforce mass home working.

Some 35 courses are now available at no charge to help students prepare for SAP Global Certifications, while the first attempt at the certification exam is also gratis.

The freebies are available for students studying at one of the 3,800+ member universities in the SAP University Alliances programme, and lead to qualifications in the scope and business processes specific to SAP S/4HANA, the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Finance solution, the SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central solution and modelling in SAP HANA.

The German-headquartered ERP company is also offering 90 days' free SAP Live Access, which cost $450 for 20 hours previously.

At the same time, SAP is introducing a range of courses addressing topics around its technology which will remain free indefinitely. For instance, SAP YoungThinkers targets younger audiences and are available from 1 April. Topics include Coding with Snap!, SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation in a Nutshell, and Introduction to Statistics for Data Science.

Meanwhile, there are free openSAP programmes available for everyone.

SAP said it was unsure how many people would take up the educational opportunities, but the openSAP platform has attracted more than 3.9 million course enrolments since its start in 2013.

Christian Klein, co-CEO at SAP, said: "The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are impacting everyone around the world. We want to make sure education does not take a back seat during this time.

"Students and subject-matter experts need access to safe and healthy learning environments to continue their education virtually. SAP is expanding its commitment to support the next generation of professionals and users by broadening access to some of our best digital learning offerings to facilitate the continuity of innovation and enablement."

The SAP Young Thinkers Program is aimed at school-aged children. It has a focus on computer science, economics, and creative solution and learning methodologies targeting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly.

The move comes as the UK goes into near lockdown, a growing number of US states issue "shelter in place" orders and Italy – the hardest-hit region at the moment – remains under national quarantine.

Now there is no excuse for students to do nothing but watch endless boxsets and consume vast mountains of snack foods while they wait for their universities to reopen. ®