The University of Surrey joined the UKI University Alliances Programme in December 2006 http://www.som.surrey.ac.uk/news/sapalliance.asp. The principle relationship is with the School of Management which has strong historical engagements with the business world and has established a number of high-educational partnerships with firms such as Tesco, Whitbread, Thomas Cook, BHA, JHIC, Templeton College Oxford, TRI Consulting, NHS, Tourism Society and the British Institute of Retailing.

The main focus for SAP at the University of Surrey is through the highly regarded MSc in Management Information Systems which uses SAP as a means to illustrate MIS concepts in a business context and with an emphasis on understanding the integration between modern business processes and their underlying systems.

http://www.som.surrey.ac.uk/catalogue/programmeinfo.asp?progcatid=40&progstructid=175

The MSc is directed by Professor Hans Van Der Heijden who as well as being Head of Division of Management and Professor of Management Information Systems is also the Chair of the UK and Ireland University Alliances Steering Group.

http://www.som.surrey.ac.uk/profile/details.aspx?id=363

Students of operations and logistical concepts are also getting exposed to SAP as a tool for managing business processes via the MSc in Operations and Logistics Management.

http://www.surrey.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/coursedetails.php?url=operationslogistics

Martin Gollogly, Director of University Alliances for SAP UK and Ireland states “The University of Surrey is a superb partner with a firm understanding of the need to teach concepts to students that enable them to understand highly complex issues in an engaging and enjoyable way. They also understand that modern business employs modern tools and that students that have access to cutting edge, sophisticated MIS software will not only be able to recognize the value of the theoretical concepts being taught but that they will also be able to immediately draw on that understanding when entering the workplace.”