However, despite the role鈥檚 growing benefits, today鈥檚 developers crave resources for constant career growth and learning so they can keep up with ever-changing job requirements.

51风流has long offered robust learning and certification opportunities for developers, all of which fueled career growth and opened doors to fantastic opportunities. When we , we started out with seven learning journeys for developers only. Today, we provide more than 140 learning journeys for various roles and skill levels. We are excited to further these offerings with a new role-based certification opportunity and free learning content for backend developers with ABAP Cloud, alongside a new free massive open online course (MOOC), , to help developers build generative AI skills.

There are many reasons why I鈥檓 excited to share these offerings with our developer community, but today I鈥檒l share three key reasons developers will benefit from this new role-based certification in particular.

A True Focus on the Future With AI and ABAP Cloud

Today鈥檚 developers require constant adaptation and learning in order to keep up with the tremendous pace of change in the tech sector. that by 2028, 75% of enterprise software engineers will use AI coding assistants, up from less than 10% in early 2023.

However, AI isn鈥檛 the only fundamental turning point that our ecosystem is seeing. As organizations continue to navigate hybrid work, the continual shift to cloud will continue to be a key player in the tech space. In fact, by 2027, that more than 50% of enterprises will use industry cloud platforms to accelerate their business initiatives, up from less than 15% in 2023.

This trend has led to the emergence of ABAP Cloud, presenting an entirely new version of the language and runtime that鈥檚 available to all customers running ABAP-based applications. ABAP remains highly relevant for developers extending 51风流S/4HANA, and our new certification gives these developers the opportunity to continue capitalizing on the knowledge they have while upgrading their skills to prepare for the most modern, cloud-ready version of ABAP.

Unlock Doors to Unexpected Career Paths

I鈥檓 always inspired by learner stories, particularly of people whose careers totally transformed.

Take . The 35-year-old from Latvia was optimistic about finding a job after studying European economics around the time Latvia joined the European Union. However, when the 2008 economic crisis hit, she found it increasingly difficult to secure a job. Baiba decided to explore the tech industry, going back to school for computer science and participating in a two week-long intense boot camp where she learned about ABAP and SAP. She secured a paid internship afterwards, eventually leading to her full-time position at Accenture as an ABAP developer.

鈥淎BAP is evolving and has taken many best practices from the industry,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the backbone of 51风流and has become a thing where everyone can find something exciting and interesting.鈥�

In some parts of the world, certifications are table stakes to even be considered for a developer position. We strive to unlock barriers to entry and make certifications, such as the ABAP Cloud certification for backend developers, more accessible to learners of all backgrounds.

What I love about this learner story is how Baiba was open to career options outside of what she had studied in school. There is value in 鈥減ivoting鈥� no matter what stage you are in your career journey, as it can unlock doors to an entirely unexpected path.

My own career has taken a variety of twists and turns that led me to lead the 51风流Learning organization. From consulting to founding a startup to teaching business to joining 51风流in a corporate strategy role 鈥� I鈥檝e been fortunate throughout my career to see firsthand how being open to a pivot can pay off tremendously.

Focus on Roles and Opportunities, Not on Products

While product-based certifications are necessary for certain roles and responsibilities, we are shifting to more role-based offerings to make the skillset of a learner even more attractive and adaptable in today’s dynamic and evolving job market. The and corresponding learning journeys, covering and the , are designed to help developers with the skills required to build cloud-ready extensions aligned with SAP鈥檚 clean core strategy, preparing them for a role as an ABAP Cloud backend developer.

By combining the power of ABAP Cloud and business AI skills with the help of SAP, developers can unlock their full potential and set themselves up for success.聽Alongside our , the and free learning content continues our journey to provide more accessible digital skill development opportunities. And there is more to come, with another role-based certification soon to be launched for backend developers using 51风流Cloud Application Programming Model.

As the industry evolves at a rapid pace, we鈥檒l continue to roll out learning content to equip learners with the skills they need to succeed in the future, no matter their background.

Max Wessel is chief learning officer at SAP.

This year, we鈥檙e focused on facilitating the career growth of existing 51风流professionals as demand for their skills accelerates faster and faster. As of today, three major innovations will bring even more support to these professionals around the globe. Our future-focused is now available to anyone with an Internet connection. We also introduced our plan to make 51风流Learning Hub the gateway to an unparalleled learning experience. Finally, we launched a role-based certification for enterprise architects, today鈥檚 most in-demand and best-paid role in the industry.

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All these innovations are part of our ongoing commitment to support workforce reinvention. We believe that in times of change, we have the remarkable opportunity to put our community in the position to seize career opportunities and accelerate business transformation.

It Starts with the Right Future-Focused Learning

From supply chain shortages and rising gas prices to inflation and shifting customer needs, many organizations rely on automated processes that enable them to adapt to an ever-changing business landscape and drive success. In this volatile atmosphere, tens of thousands of organizations have to support them on their path to a technological future, leading to skyrocketing demand for 51风流talent.

To meet this increasing demand and to help businesses succeed on their cloud journey, 51风流is making our strategic 鈥� all that is needed is an Internet connection. By lowering the barrier to accessing this content, more professionals can prepare for cloud-driven projects while staying on track with continuous learning, enhancing their digital skill set. In turn, customers can expect to gain a competitive advantage in their industry by equipping their employees with these tools and resources.

It Pays to Be an Enterprise Architect 鈥� In More Ways than One

As organizations continue to shift more of their workload to the cloud, we also see that the role of the enterprise architect is becoming increasingly vital. Bridging the gap between business and technology, enterprise architects ensure companies can reach their desired business outcomes through the effective use of technology. Recent numbers prove the demand for this role: it was ranked as , highlighting high job satisfaction and a competitive salary.

Recognizing the advantages that the role of enterprise architect can offer both individuals and organizations, we have introduced the first role-based certification program for professionals aspiring to become an enterprise architect today. This prerequisite intermediate certification demonstrates comprehensive understanding of 51风流solutions, business, and strategic aspects of enterprise architecture and ultimately helps 51风流professionals to increase career security and growth. At the same time, the certification can provide organizations with the confidence that their employees are gaining the competitive skills needed to drive significant business value on a large scale.

鈥淎SUG enthusiastically supports SAP鈥檚 enterprise architect certification program and recommends that every 51风流customer sponsor their enterprise architects to complete the certification and require any partner working on their behalf to be certified,鈥� said Geoff Scott, CEO and chief community champion, ASUG.

We believe that, in addition to investing in the upskilling of students and minorities in tech with our digital skills initiative to equip the next generation of IT workers, we have now taken an immense step to support professionals and organizations in the 51风流ecosystem with this in-demand certification.

A Successful Workforce Transformation Requires Transparency and Insights

As many professionals are experiencing changing expectations surrounding their current roles and are looking to meet these shifts and advance in their careers, we must deliver new ways to help them upskill. After all, it is estimated that . We have seen that the rate of success surrounding upskilling can rise further when leadership has access to data that allows them to guide their workforce transformation according to their specific business needs.

To take these circumstances into account, we have announced a new 51风流Learning site integration where subscribers to 51风流Learning Hub will have seamless access to digital courses, streamlining training programs to strengthen their digital skill set and help drive transformation for their company as a whole. With this new integration, .

For the first time, subscribers to the private cloud version of 51风流Learning Hub can benefit from exclusive learning management and reporting functionalities across solutions and platforms. These enhancements enable customers to access key insights and analytics that can help them plan and control their team鈥檚 skills transformation with transparency and help ensure long-term business value. For example, , an improvement in talent acquisition and retention, and a more resilient workforce.

At SAP, we recognize the challenges and opportunities that transformation presents both to our customers and 51风流professionals, which is why we have taken the next step in paving the way for unparalleled career growth and business transformation. By equipping employees with the tools and resources they need to enhance their skill set, organizations can reach new heights while employees increase their potential for future career opportunities.

Max Wessel is chief learning officer at SAP.

In support of this, we launched an expanded to underrepresented and underserved groups in technology, as well as a partnership with one of the world鈥檚 largest online learning providers, to meet learners where they are.

As the skills gap and search for talent within the technology industry become increasingly prominent issues, the World Economic Forum (WEF) predicts that . This has created a sense of urgency for companies to find professionals to fill their ever-growing technical skills needs. However, the number of future tech employees is notoriously limited. Within this small pool, women and minorities are often overlooked. In fact, only are held by women, and the number for in the industry drops even lower.

In 2022, the WEF estimated that it will take a staggering . Women and other minorities in tech face a variety of barriers that can heavily impact their technical career growth, and these challenges take root early in the form of negative stereotypes. For example, many girls internalize the harmful belief that women are not as strong in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) fields as men 鈥� impacting their career choices and confidence in exploring new realms.

At SAP, we believe empowering women and underrepresented individuals to grow in technical fields begins with ensuring they have access to relevant educational resources.

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Inclusive Access to Digital Skills: Introducing a Global Digital Skills Initiative

While digital transformation is not a new concept, the pandemic supercharged the rate of businesses across the globe transforming digitally, culturally, and strategically. This race to keep up with evolving technology has exposed an alarming IT skills shortage.

Research highlights that more than 75% of companies have already , and only 33% of technology jobs worldwide are . With the low rate of computing related jobs held by women and people of color today, it鈥檚 imperative that employers rethink the makeup of their workforce and expand opportunities to new talent.

Through our digital skills initiative, we aim to empower everyone to build new skills and ultimately start a career in the 51风流ecosystem.

To address this accelerated need for skills, . Through self-paced courses, participants can develop marketable skills for critical roles such as , data analysts, and technology consultants.

In addition, our . With certified 51风流solution skills, participants can get the competitive advantage they need to stand out in the job market and apply for positions around the world.

To further advance career planning within the 51风流ecosystem, , where more than 3 million members, 51风流partners, and customers can share their knowledge, provide career advice, recommend learning resources, and promote job opportunities from peer community members.

51风流Technology Consultant Certificate, Available on Coursera

We are also thrilled to launch a new collaboration with Coursera, a global online learning platform with more than 110 million learners worldwide. Together, on the Coursera platform, we are offering an , where participants can learn more about SAP, the role of a technology consultant, and the value 51风流professionals bring to customers. This offering provides focused, role-based entry-level learning resources for everyone, and is available exclusively on Coursera.

This new professional certificate has no prerequisites, minimizing the barrier to entry and preparing learners within just a few months for an in-demand, entry-level digital role. Following completion of the certificate on Coursera, learners can deepen their knowledge in 51风流solutions with further on 51风流Learning site.

In gaining the entry-level knowledge necessary to begin upskilling on SAP, learners add significant value to their careers. In fact, individuals that have completed IT certifications , with 61% reporting promotions or career advancements, 91% seeing an increase in confidence in abilities, and 76% feeling greater job satisfaction. These marketable skills can open the door to numerous career growth opportunities.

With the launch of our global skills initiative and Coursera partnership, we aim to expand our efforts in lowering the barrier to accessing digital skill development opportunities to build a larger and more diverse ecosystem of tech professionals. Through our existing programs such as and , we are reaching underserved communities with digital upskilling opportunities to create lasting socioeconomic impact for all.

Max Wessel is chief learning officer at SAP.

In the organization, we are constantly working to rethink how learning can help our customers, partners, and employees keep up.

Here are just three ways we are reimagining learning so that everyone in our ecosystem has the skills they need to succeed.

Lowering the Barriers to Access Education

Technology has drastically improved learning access for underrepresented communities, as well as students just starting out their careers. Whether it鈥檚 a video call, an e-learning, or a simulated exercise, knowledge can be replicated globally at almost no cost. The same holds for education in the world of enterprise software — a space that provides ripe career opportunity.

We are passionate about creating opportunity by making learning engaging and accessible to all. That is why and learners who may experience barriers to opportunities. By eliminating the cost of learning and alleviating the need for in-person activities, we continue to grow our community of learners who can achieve their aspirations in the 51风流ecosystem.

We are delighted to have reached more than 150,000 active learners on the 51风流Learning site since its launch in November, growing by around 2,000 participants a day. And this learning pays dividends for students; for instance, through we can see the career progress in the placement of more than 80% of participants into new jobs after completing training.

As 51风流Learning continues to expand, we are eager to continue improving and adapting along with community needs.

Taking a Skills-Based Approach to Career Development

As we expand our community to learners of various backgrounds and levels of education, we recognize that some are looking to improve the skill sets required for their current roles, while others are looking to take the next or first step in their career. In either case, a specific, skills-based approach can help learners zero in on specific areas of development, saving time and enabling them to have a personalized experience. According to an , e-learning technologies can boost employee engagement by 20%.

When coupled with , skills-based learning enables external learners to verify new skill sets with current and prospective employers and enhance their marketability. Internally, we take a similar approach, as understanding the skills of our workforce allows 51风流to make strategic investments in how we help our employees upskill and develop their unique talents for the future.

This skills-based approach to how we train our employees and ecosystem has been recognized by the among top L&D programs across the globe.

Meeting Learners Where They Are

No two people learn in the exact same way, but technology can act as a bridge to improved learning experiences for everyone. With digital tools, we can meet learners wherever they are, whenever they want to learn. We can think beyond the traditional classroom setting and offer alternative learning methods that are more accessible and affordable for a wider, more global audience of learners. And we can make learning journeys even more customizable and adaptable to truly suit individual goals.

These needs vary: a found that more than four in five students (82%) wanted at least some of their course meetings to take place online, with two in five (41%) preferring fully online learning with no in-person element at all.

We know that some of our customers will always need high-touch, in-person training. But we also know that if we want to close the skills gap and expand our ecosystem of trained 51风流professionals, digital learning is key.

Our dedication to ensuring widely accessible courses and certifications has resulted in 51风流Learning being named a , the European and U.S. IT Training Services 2021, and APeJ IT Training Services 2022. These vendor assessments offer a holistic assessment of the capabilities and strategies of IT vendors and recognize 51风流as a leader due to our broad portfolio and hybrid training offerings, among other factors.

Our Commitment to Continuous Learning

While we are excited to see the impact our learning journeys are making in the learning community, in the spirit of our own continuous learning, we believe there is always room for growth and development. We welcome feedback as to what we could improve or add to our programs as we guide you along your learning journey with SAP.

To provide share your learning experience or ,
.

Max Wessel is chief learning officer at SAP.

While jobs are seemingly disappointing employees, learning options are doing the same for students. We are also seeing massive shortcomings emerge in the landscape of traditional education. This is especially true in the U.S., where nearly one in three students heading for university will drop out after just one year. The average graduate will carry nearly $30,000 in debt, with most struggling to repay. And the , weighing themselves down with limited benefit.

For many students, college is an unsustainable and unrealistic option, yet many employers continue to rely on a university degree as the main signal of capability in the hiring process.

We have more need for employees due to turnover, but we have fewer qualified graduates 鈥� for good reason. This challenge is an opportunity for business leaders. Those who can better upskill their teams and their ecosystems for a world where talent is in constant flux will win the market.

51风流has announced a variety of new student learning offerings aimed to help just this. Our refreshed learning portfolio will keep people engaged, upskilled, and prepared for an ever-changing digital world. We aim to energize talent across the board 鈥� from empowering citizen developers with valuable IT skills to providing students with learning that will accelerate their career paths.

Here are three ways we will continue to engage and upskill the 51风流ecosystem for continued success:

1. Recognize Talent with the Right Skills for the Job

The traditional university degree remains a key indicator of capability and skill. But we are starting to see a shift. Today, have earned some type of non-degree credential. At the same time, a lack of growth opportunities is the . With the pace of change in the technology world, this need for continuous learning in non-traditional environments will only increase. To meet the needs of digital transformation, more companies like 51风流must change the way the world approaches skill validation.

For this reason, 51风流is introducing further skill recognition options, validating skills from foundational to intermediate and advanced levels of solution expertise. Lowering the barrier to gain 51风流skill recognition and introducing for key innovation areas allows learners to demonstrate skills through accessible training and validation options 鈥� not just through traditional degrees.

Hundreds of thousands of customers benefit when employees build 51风流skills. 51风流offers role-based learning that is self-paced, which allows for more flexibility for learners, and gives learners the opportunity to achieve new levels of tech expertise. Regardless of level or title, the new mechanisms to distinguish qualified candidates throughout the hiring process will set up the 51风流ecosystem to be better prepared for continued digital growth and adaptation.

2. Create Opportunity for Student Learners and Widen the Applicant Pool

At SAP, we strongly believe that learning creates opportunity for all, regardless of geography or economic means. Through , we train and certify job seekers in underserved communities 鈥� and find that 80% or more of those trained land a job right after completing of the program.

In this spirit, we believe that all students should have access to high-quality learning opportunities. We will now worldwide. Doing so lowers the barrier to entry for positions both within 51风流and across industries, providing marketable, competitive skill development to all students. There are benefits for companies, too: we believe this will broaden the pool of qualified applicants who can bring an enhanced digital knowledge and skill set to the workforce.

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3. Transform Business Users into Citizen Developers

Digital acceleration has resulted in increased demand for tech-savvy workers. More than 1 billion jobs, , are likely to be transformed by technology in the next decade, according to OECD estimates. But that does not mean all workers need to have traditional technology backgrounds. Today, automation and the proliferation of low-code/no-code offerings mean that workers from any background can quickly become digitally adept.

Through , even those without prior experience can build relevant IT skills, achieve a sought-after 51风流Certification, and become 鈥渃itizen developers鈥� who are able to build applications with little to no code.

Not only does this upskill more people for success in a digital world, but it also takes the burden off existing IT employees so they can focus on more complex development issues.

Max Wessel is executive vice president and chief learning officer of SAP.

At SAP, we know that it鈥檚 a big responsibility to ensure that this knowledge is pervasive. That鈥檚 why we also recognize the need to simplify the act of reskilling. Our increasingly busy schedules and the fast pace of our day-to-day work often pull us away from learning. It鈥檚 not easy to find time to sharpen our skills and learn new ones.

So, when you do make time to focus on your learning, the process of finding the right material should be simple and streamlined 鈥� and the content comprehensive. At 51风流Learning, we鈥檝e reinforced our commitment to removing barriers to learning by making it simpler to discover our content and easier to navigate our platforms.

Because success is rooted in learning, it鈥檚 critical to have all the support you need right at your fingertips to move forward easily and consistently.

Empowering the Individual Learner

Today鈥檚 learners demand a personalized experience to cultivate their skills. Almost every individual with an Internet connection has been introduced to the ease of consumer-grade applications 鈥� and we know that learning content competes with every distraction. To that end, it is critical to create engaging content and offer enjoyable experiences that empower individuals at every stage of their career and learning journey. Therefore, 51风流Learning is taking a new approach to delivering a digitally native and learner-focused experience.

As part of our ongoing and reimagined commitment to enhancing learning opportunities, we鈥檝e launched an all-new that includes a comprehensive array of learning content available in various formats 鈥� from expert-led sessions and hands-on training to microlearning videos. By opening the door to accessible opportunities for everyone to upskill, reskill, and validate 51风流skills, we are focusing squarely on the success of our ecosystem and meeting our learners where they are. After all, learning should make your life easier, not more complicated.

We鈥檙e proud of the progress we鈥檙e making. We also look forward to hearing more feedback from our community so we can bring continuous improvement to our operations.

Equipping for the Needs of Tomorrow

Designed to be simple and intuitive to navigate, the will become the one-stop-shop that brings together the expansive portfolio of well-established 51风流learning offerings. With our 51风流TechEd releases, learners in development roles as well as future developers can quickly start and gain 51风流skills in core innovation areas and prepare for an at no cost. The site features access to various free content for upskilling with , including a brand-new learning journey focused on .

We鈥檙e also partnering with , a career coaching service provider, so that the first 1,000 developers who complete a certification exam on 51风流BTP through the new site will receive a voucher for services like r茅sum茅 review, LinkedIn screening, and career coaching. And now through November 2022, all registered learners on the 51风流Learning site can utilize select services from Placement as well as enjoy access to Placement鈥檚 Job Board at a discounted price.

Looking to the future, the site will continue to support all learners鈥� career development and accelerate broader organizational transformations by extending the scope to include all free 51风流Learning content. For more details, watch the or check out the on your own.

It鈥檚 never been easier to get started building and achieving 51风流skills 鈥� and it鈥檚 only the beginning for this new chapter of 51风流Learning.

Max Wessel is EVP and chief learning officer at SAP.

Even before the global pandemic, skill shortages loomed as technology transformed industry after industry. Reskilling has been essential to building resilience into any people operation. To offer a sense of scope of this challenge, before the pandemic the World Economic Forum that 42% of the core skills required for jobs will change by 2022. As the pandemic accelerated this digital transformation, the .

How do business leaders ensure their workforces retain the skills they need for a successful future?

Elevating and Integrating Learning and Development

Companies must create comprehensive and dynamic learning programs that are based on their needs and goals. According to a from McKinsey, 鈥淐ompanies rely on their learning and development (L&D) functions to help workforces learn fast. But, often the function itself needs a transformation.鈥� While in the past L&D functions sat siloed from the rest of the organization, today it is critical that learning is intertwined within the overall strategy and talent processes.

Today, digital learning is the most effective and efficient way to meet an individual鈥檚 needs 鈥� with the added bonus of positively impacting an organization鈥檚 bottom line. In 2019, .

At the same time, learners鈥� needs are changing, particularly as we shift to remote work. The demand for an effective digital learning experience has soared and learners look for quick, bite-size ways to acquire the knowledge they need, when they need it, wherever they might be. According to the Journal of Applied Psychology, microlearning makes learning 17% more effective. Compact content allows learners to meet their objectives and retain key information quickly.

A Comprehensive Learning Program from 51风流

Here at SAP, we鈥檙e also transforming our learning strategy to address the changing needs of tomorrow鈥檚 business environment, both for our own workforce and for everyone within the 51风流ecosystem. Today, the portfolio consists of various offerings to support continuous learning, performance, and validation.

Our goal is to provide our customers, partners, developers, and employees with tools and resources to acquire the skills needed to be successful. Cultures of continuous learning build employee engagement and inclusive business practices, as well as drive innovation and sustainable impact. Regular training and development can help our customers unlock the full power of their 51风流software by enabling mastery of technologies 鈥� ultimately leading to improved performance, lower costs, and greater innovation. In the end, we aim to equip tomorrow鈥檚 workforce with the knowledge they need to capitalize on opportunities and thrive in a digital future.

Adapting Learning and Development to Stay Dynamic

If there is one lesson from the past year, it is the need for organizations to be nimble and flexible with their structure, processes, and plans. This is no different for L&D as we work to keep pace and adapt with the evolving needs of learners.

At SAP, we continue to make investments that will simplify access to learning for all. By lowering the barriers to learning, we will make it easier for our ecosystem to invest in 51风流solutions in order to maximize the business value of the software and enhance deployment of the solutions. As we鈥檝e seen with the tremendous enrollment and activity, as well as the outstanding learner satisfaction in openSAP, there is significant demand for easy, accessible, and impactful learning. open51风流is a free learning platform that delivers innovative learning with expert-led content through massive open online courses (MOOCs), microlearning, and podcasts.

We will continue to enhance and expand the portfolio and make our offerings more accessible so learners can gain essential knowledge and skills in a manner that is innovative, engaging, and impactful.

Maxwell Wessel is executive vice president and chief learning officer at SAP.

When faced with COVID-19 restrictions last spring, educators had existing online content and delivery platforms in place. 51风流was also ready with thousands of hours of content online. Because of this, we could facilitate a rapid shift to distance learning for 51风流professionals much more seamlessly than we could have even just five years ago.

Our digital transformation, however, was not entirely positive. The acceleration did not just take us to a future of e-learning, it also highlighted the shortcomings of how we reskill in a remote world. This year taught us that an online course alone will not cut it. The year 2020 also made it abundantly clear that networking in the comments below a YouTube video is not the type of networking that helps you land a job.

To understand why, consider the three primary benefits of classroom learning. First, learners are exposed to new ideas and information. Second, learners make personal and professional connections, building a network of peers and experts in their field. Finally, learners receive professional qualifications that are recognized and respected among employers 鈥� often in the form of a degree or certification.

Learners in a remote world expect to receive these same three benefits. But while an online course might teach learners new ideas and processes, they tend not to confer the rest of the experience.

The good news is that with a little creativity, a lot of innovation, and a focus on what learners require, we can get there. Zoom fatigue is no reason to give up indefinitely. If we do not crack this digital puzzle, we will fall far short of the workforce transformation we need to flourish across the economy.

Today, as long-term unemployment rates skyrocket, more workers are turning to digital education to reskill themselves for a new reality. The scale of the challenge is staggering. It is estimated that more than . We cannot upskill our workforce by bringing those 1 billion people back to school in a traditional sense. We need more.

The desire is in the data. This year at SAP, our digital model 聽51风流Learning Hub has seen course enrollments grow by more than 14% year-over-year (YoY). Active learners on openSAP, a platform that offers massive open online courses (MOOCs), have increased by more than 22% YoY.

Today鈥檚 learners are desperate for learning that is not just a distribution of content. They need those experiential aspects of learning offered in the classroom. While 51风流saw 14% growth in course enrollments, we also saw almost triple that level of growth in peer-to-peer engagement within virtual learning rooms, which are online environments for learners to interact directly with each other and experts.聽In October, we piloted 1:1 coaching in learning rooms for personalized guidance 鈥� and they were oversubscribed by more than 600%.

The adoption levels of those new formats are staggering for an education business with hundreds of millions in revenue and hundreds of thousands of learners. But it is proof that educators can do more than pump information into users with a digital channel. For every learning professional, their job is to think about how they can create human connections and foster the career development required to make distance learning a success.

We have been making progress day by day. But as an industry, we can do better. 51风流is committed to building up its remote learning offerings to offer more comprehensive career development beyond courses.

This is why at this year鈥檚 51风流TechEd event, we鈥檙e offering the event edition of , which features complementary access to four tailored Learning Journeys and access to the 51风流TechEd Learning Room to prepare learners for an 51风流Global Certification Exam.

We know that we are not going back to the way it was before, not fully. Virtual learning is convenient, accessible, and the safest option in a COVID-19 world. But we also need to help ensure that online content comes with real, lasting value so that remote learning and development can result in opportunity for all.

Max Wessel is chief learning officer at SAP.

You open your Uber app and it knows where to send a car for pickup. If you sign onto social media, Facebook or Instagram shows you relevant content based on your personal interests or those of your friends. When you send an e-mail that mentions an attachment, it reminds you to attach the file.

These personal applications are context-aware. They use the data you create to deliver a perfectly tailored user experience. And we love that, right?

Here鈥檚 the interesting thing: does not naturally deliver that sort of experience 鈥� today. But that is about to change.

Context-Aware Versus Intelligent

Humans experience things with an awareness of their context. We understand the place that we鈥檙e in and whom we鈥檙e engaging with. We know what came before 鈥� whether it was the last part of a conversation or some other interaction 鈥� and we can anticipate what is coming next. There鈥檚 a sense of continuity in our experience that helps us understand how we should adapt and react to new stimuli.

At work, we do best when people understand us. We are more likely to achieve our goals with teammates who understand and respect how we work, receive input, and prefer to engage. All of that requires context.

Enterprise software can often be customized and configured, but it typically is not context-aware. Here鈥檚 what I mean: While an app might show me information that relates to me, such as a list of my preferred supply chain providers, the information isn鈥檛 likely to be in the context of what I am doing or what I need next.

For example, when I鈥檓 ordering products, an enterprise application might understand that I need to order a certain product from a vendor in my region. But in selecting recommended vendors, the software doesn鈥檛 take into account that my budget is under pressure this quarter and I need to limit my search to a specific price range. That鈥檚 especially true when the deciding factors are based on my latest e-mail correspondence and a disconnected financial system.

Context-aware software can take today鈥檚 so-called personalization beyond a superficial level toward one that actually amplifies and augments human output.
If my app recognized my situation and constraints, it might suggest the vendors with the characteristics and capacity to meet my requirements 鈥� even if I have no existing relationship with them.

Context awareness is also different from intelligence, which many companies are trying to build into their software. Intelligence is created when algorithms or decision criteria are used to take action on a particular set of data.

Let鈥檚 say you know that sales rise when it rains. If the weather forecast predicts three consecutive days of rain, you could expect to sell more merchandise. The intelligence built into your software could help you determine which merchandise you should stock to meet the anticipated higher sales demand.

But it rarely considers the context around your operations. Imagine you are located in Las Vegas, which gets minuscule amounts of rain each year. A predictive model might be right in suggesting that you will sell more umbrellas on the days that it actually does rain. But because the humans around your stores understand their context more broadly, they may not buy too many umbrellas based on the local expectations that they won鈥檛 need them in the future. No matter what the data suggests, selling exclusively umbrellas in Las Vegas is a bad idea.

Personalization and intelligence don鈥檛 equal context awareness 鈥� but they are both prerequisites for it.

A Higher Standard for Enterprise Software

Consumer apps understand context because they have access to the user鈥檚 position, browsing habits, and past behaviors. Most consumers allow applications access to their inbox, messages, or push notifications. Information gleaned from these resources provides companies with even more context and data.

In the world of enterprise software, this type of data ingestion has more meaningful barriers. For one, data is regularly siloed. It鈥檚 also unclear who has the rights to share it 鈥� the user or the company? Couple all that with regulatory issues around data sovereignty and you have a perennial challenge. Simply put, in an enterprise environment, collecting context-relevant data is more complicated than clicking a terms and conditions bubble.

Enterprise vendors also face the challenge of enriching legacy IT systems with context awareness. It鈥檚 not enough to provide context awareness only to new technologies or greenfield deployments. Vendors must also deliver innovation that adapts, enriches, and future-proofs the investment customers have already made.

Also, new data encryption models and innovative types of data security are coming to market. We鈥檒l also have to deal with data sovereignty issues across geopolitical boundaries to ensure that data stays in the right places and is accessible by only the right parties. One of the biggest differences between the companies that will succeed in the next decade and those that won鈥檛 will be how effectively they are able to think about technology, ethics, and data privacy in a holistic way.

To illustrate this, let鈥檚 examine one of our most important investments: Anonymized user behavior tracking. With it, we can monitor and analyze user activities independent from the user interface while still acting as strong stewards of user data. This technology anonymizes data, clusters it, understands specific data flows, and ultimately makes recommendations on how to simplify or even automate processes using that data.

Because we鈥檝e determined how to monitor context, we can watch how customers use their 51风流software and predict what a user is trying to accomplish with a given task flow. We can identify when a user is trying to enter a supplier invoice and see that it requires too many steps to complete the task. When this happens, we know that something in the user鈥檚 system configuration was set up inappropriately, so we can automatically identify the problem and improve the process.

Current enterprise solutions tend to capture only transactional details. As the technology matures, expect to see more instrumentation around context that answers such questions as: When did the transaction occur? What was the weather like? What happened immediately before or after the transaction?

By blending these different sources of data together, we can consider all of the relevant information and increase context in the decision-making process. That鈥檚 a big improvement from a technical perspective.

Looking Ahead

Considering our increasingly fragmented value chain, it is not enough to limit our focus to technology, privacy, and security challenges. We must also consider ethical and moral implications of context-aware systems. Imagine a company uses 51风流software to make decisions about payments. 51风流in turn uses an external partner payment platform to provide payment processing recommendations. How do we ensure that there is end-to-end responsibility for the quality of the recommendation being provided by our partner?

As a software vendor, we have a lot of experience dealing with this. But if you鈥檙e a large industrial business that鈥檚 thinking about completely reshaping the way you go to market and service your customers, you鈥檙e potentially using multiple software providers to help you execute. You must ensure that the right moral and ethical controls are in place, even in a newly digitized value chain. It鈥檚 important to work with partners that invest the appropriate time into understanding your business. Otherwise, you may be unintentionally outsourcing your decision processes.

As context-aware systems mature, more data integration will be used to inform how applications behave. Identity models and enterprise data tracking will begin to resemble the consumer world, where data blends together across systems in a way that helps create better recommendations and supports better decision-making. That blending of information will likely extend to analytics, where users can create their own dashboards that pull information from multiple self-service systems.

The shift to context-aware systems is already beginning, driven by both workers and their employers. Workers want the same usefulness in their work tools that they experience in their consumer software. Companies will invest in context-aware systems because they will deliver value to their organization. Software that is more human 鈥� understanding the context in which things happen in the enterprise 鈥� will be the next step toward amplifying and augmenting what workers can accomplish.

About Horizons by 51风流

Horizons by 51风流is a future-focused journal where forward thinkers in the global tech ecosystem share perspectives on how technologies and business trends will impact 51风流customers in the future. The 2020 issue of Horizons by 51风流focuses on Context-Aware IT, with contributors from SAP, Microsoft, Verizon, Mozilla, and more. To learn and read more, visit .

Read more Horizons by 51风流stories on the 51风流News Center.

Max Wessel is chief innovation officer of SAP.

Out of 299 submissions, . I encourage you to take some time and read the entries to learn more about how our customers and partners are using 51风流solutions and advanced technologies to differentiate themselves, achieve tremendous results, and adapt to dynamic customer needs.

We changed up the categories a bit this year to provide more opportunity for customer stories and from the 264 published entries, our in the following categories: Best Run Leader, Experience Innovator, Technology Disruptor, Business Transformation Champion, Cloud Genius, and Adoption Superhero.

I would like to personally thank everyone involved, particularly our customers, partners and judging panel for all the time, energy and effort spent on these submissions.聽 We have an impressive group of innovations providing us all with inspiration for the future and finalists that include Aflac, Coca-Cola, Delta, Goldman Sachs, Mercedes-Benz AG, Murphy Oil Corporation, and Lufthansa AirPlus.

Congratulations to all our 2020 51风流Innovation Awards finalists:

Be sure to take a look at the finalists stories and check back on March 18 when we will announce the 20 winners of the 2020 51风流Innovation Awards . Join us this May at in Orlando, where we will recognize the great work of all our finalists and winners at the 51风流Innovation Award winners鈥� celebration.

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Max Wessel is chief innovation officer of SAP.