Under the umbrella of the European Research Center of Information Systems (ERCIS) Competence Center Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) an international team of seven students from University of Münster, Germany; and the Higher School of Economics, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, is working together with SAP AG to develop an innovative curriculum for teaching the business management system SAP Business One to university students around the globe. On Wednesday, June 04, 2014, the team got the chance to travel to Waldorf, Germany, and present its intermediary results at the SAP Headquarters to Dr. Kristof Schneider, Global SAP University Alliance Program Manager. The final results will be presented to the academic community in the first week of September at the SAP Forum in Berlin, Germany.

About the project
The CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) region is currently among the fastest growing
economies in the world. In particular, more than 50% of Russian organizations today are small and
medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Since IT plays a decisive role in managing business operations,
SAP addresses this sector with their SAP Business One solution that is designed to meet the needs of
dynamically growing SMBs. In order to promote economic growth, SAP is dedicated to support
universities from around the globe for many years in educating and empowering the future workforce. However, “traditional education material for ERP systems such as SAP Business One is typically product-centric, highlighting the system capabilities, but not specifically tailored to the needs and expectations of university students,” Dr. Dr. Victor Taratoukhine, Head of the ERCIS Competence Center ERP, described the aim of the project.

On April 06, 2014, the team was invited to visit the SAP Labs in Moscow, Russia, to kick off the project with first level discussions and also take part in SAP Code Jam, an event where students need to design solutions for real world issues. This laid the foundation of an innovative way of teaching SAP Business One, and the team got trained in applying Design Thinking methodology that specifically aims at creating creative and user-centric solutions for a given problem.
The eSMB team participated in SAP Forum held at Moscow, to present their solutions designed during code jam event to the audience. “The course material is cross-functional and deals with both how organizations work and how SAP Business One work can support business operations.” Dr. Bernd Welz, Executive Vice President Solution and Knowledge Packaging of SAP, at the SAP Forum that took place in Moscow on April 10, 2014.

About the ERCIS
Founded by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2004 and headquartered at University of Münster, Germany, the ERCIS is an international research network that links world-class Information Systems faculties and industry partners from around the globe with a focus on Europe. In particular, the ERCIS employs its combined expertise in information systems, practical computer science, quantitative methods, business administration and law to promote contemporary research on interdisciplinary questions. Both the University of Münster and Higher School of Economics are members of the ERCIS network, and SAP AG is a member of the Advisory Board.

If you are interested in the project or introducing SAP Business One to your university, please send us
an email (esmb@ercis.org) or find us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/eSMB2014) for
continuous updates on the project.