September 2008 Transferring Software AG Know-how to Universities By Jürgen Powik, Director University Relations, Software AG University Relations..................................................................................................... Projects Using the Software AG Product Portfolio................................................................. Software AG-Trained Students ........................................................................................ Recruiting ................................................................................................................ University Relations in Numbers ...................................................................................... Outlook ................................................................................................................... In a market where IT graduates are in high demand, it is of great strategic importance to any software company’s future success to establish long-term and trusting relationships with colleges and universities. Today’s graduates are the IT managers of the future and therefore our customers of tomorrow -- customers who will choose products based on criteria such as how well they know the products and how easy it is to recruit trained up-and-comers. 2 2 5 5 5 6 University Relations That is why Software AG founded the University Relations department in 2007. The department serves as a contact point for all internal and external inquiries and is behind an attractive University Relations Program. At the heart of the program is this: All Software AG products are offered free of charge to universities for teaching and research purposes. In addition, Software AG offers internships and jobs for students, as well as providing support for Master’s and Bachelor’s theses. During their course of study, interested students can gain practical, real-world experience in fully outfitted and well-defined projects — an offer that unleashed an overwhelming demand during its pilot phase in Germany and helped increase awareness of Software AG. Projects Using the Software AG Product Portfolio Software AG offers projects in the area of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Business Process Management (BPM), Application Modernization and Database Synchronization -- all of which fully prepare students for future careers as Database Administrators, Application Developers, SOAArchitects, Projects Leaders, Business Analysts and beyond. Each project addresses both mainframe and open systems technology. All project participants will receive a Software AG certificate, explaining the fulfilled task and the specific skills acquired during the project. Transferring Software AG Know-how to Universities Page 2 of 6 Project Details One of the offered projects, the SOA Integration Project, focuses on SOA and mainframe modernization, using a scenario from the tourism and travel sector. There are three players: 1.) SAG-Tours is an international travel company offering sailing trips from ports around the world. For the booking process, the travel company currently uses a robust and reliable mainframe application based on Adabas and Natural. SAG-Tours needs to modernize and enhance the system, transitioning to an SOA. The decision is made to use "webMethods," Software AG’s SOA Suite. SAG-Tours is a virtual company, represented by the university professor or tutor who defines the requirements and performs the acceptance test after the project. 2.) System Integrator is a virtual company which is assigned by SAG-Tours to integrate the legacy IT landscape with various systems using "webMethods" technology. System Integrator is represented by a group of 10-15 students who compose a real project team. Students are responsible for taking on all roles for an IT project, e.g., project leader, business analyst, software architect, GUI designer and quality engineer. The project team is tasked with implementing a solution for SAG-Tours within one semester. 3.) Software AG is the software vendor, supplying both the existing mainframe application based on Adabas and Natural and the webMethods Suite to create an SOA. Software AG offers all services typical for a software vendor, such as support, training and documentation. Transferring Software AG Know-how to Universities Page 3 of 6 The project idea is delivered as a complete package on two DVDs, containing everything the students need to begin: • All software is pre-installed and pre-configured in two virtual machines. Both must be copied to the institute’s PCs, virtualizing a mainframe and providing the opportunity to gain experience in mainframe technology even though the university has no real mainframe. • A Getting Started guide helps make complex technology understandable and comprehensible to the students. A step-by-step cook book guides the users to a sample proof of concept in the given environment. Students can use this as a basis for the project, which becomes intuitively feasible. • The scenario is defined in a realistic manner based on the experiences of application developers and project leaders in Software AG’s professional services. Fictionalized dialogs between customers and consultants mirror a realistic requirement specification meeting. • Useful hints are given for setting up and managing IT projects for teams with more than 8 participants. The package also includes suggestions on how to design activities, milestones and dependencies in a project plan as well as the roles that should be assumed during the different project stages. • The User Guide contains documentation, training material and e-learning for all Software AG products, useful links, FAQs and much more. Transferring Software AG Know-how to Universities Page 4 of 6 Software AG-Trained Students Many students have proven that they can achieve noteworthy results with our software, earning themselves the coveted Software AG certificates to show potential employers. Recruiting Software AG is very interested in maintaining contact with the students after they graduate. As a result, the company created a community called Software AG Alumni in late 2007. Although the University Relations Program is still very young, the community is growing constantly. During the German pilot phase alone, the community grew to more than 130 trained students. Recruiting via this platform is already showing some initial success for Software AG and its customers. University Relations in Numbers Since 2007, during the pilot phase in Germany, the University Relations department contacted 174 professors, bringing awareness to 72 universities. Currently Software AG’s software is in use at 51 universities. More than 1,500 students benefited from University Relations Program, with approximately 180 students actually trained on Software AG products. Transferring Software AG Know-how to Universities Page 5 of 6 Outlook After the successful start in Germany, Software AG’s University Relations Program will be rolled out to a greater extent. A variety of projects will be offered and the academic developer community will be promoted via the Software AG Alumni portal. The program will also start to go global in the beginning of 2009. The initial focus will be on Brazil, South Africa and Bulgaria, with further countries to follow in the second half of 2009. “If we are to ensure the success of the next generation workforce, corporations and higher-education institutions must collaborate to create and deliver businessrelevant curriculum. Software AG’s University Relations Program is a right step in the right direction, offering an elaborate and mature bundle of technology and accompanying material for the instantaneous adoption in university’s curriculum.” Prof. Dr. Krallmann, Technical University of Berlin For more information, please visit www.softwareag.com/university or write to [email protected]. Jürgen Powik will be happy to answer your questions. Transferring Software AG Know-how to Universities Page 6 of 6