A shortage of SAP-certified consultants in the country has prompted a local subsidiary to start offering an e-learning system that was developed in India last year, an executive told INQUIRER last week.

The Philippines will become the first country in Southeast Asia and outside of India to implement eAcademy, a web-based certification program, said Judy Maramo, head of education services in SAP Philippines.

Currently at the pilot stage in the Philippines, the eAcademy program is the business software company's response to the global shortage of SAP consultants, the executive said in an interview.

In the Philippines, Maramo said that there is evident poaching of consultants by its local partners because of the shortage of certified professionals.

"Clients also have a hard time getting SAP consultants," she added, noting that the local subsidiary is also working on alliances with local universities to address the problem.

Migration is also contributing to the shortage of SAP consultants, she said. Filipino SAP consultants are now being offered better opportunities by companies in the United States and Canada, she said.

Kaisa Consulting, a local company that is producing SAP-certified consultants and helping the business software company implement various SAP business software systems, produced around 150 certified SAP professionals last year.

Maramo said that Kaisa Consulting said that last year's number was not enough to deal with the growing demand for more consultants in the country alone.

The eAcademy e-learning program is a web-based equivalent of a 25-day classroom-based program SAP had been offering.

The e-learning program will be offered initially in two Metro Manila centers in Makati and in Quezon City. Two more will be set up in Parañaque and Taguig.

Marama explained that the SAP eAcademy program will be offered through centers to prevent "piracy" of its content. This was a lesson SAP learned in India, she added.

The pilot run of the eAcademy will end on April 30. Technology company HP was among the first companies to enroll in the eAcademy program in the country.

In India, SAP found that about 78 percent of those who took the eAcademy program passed certification.