1 An Employer Perspective on Higher Level skills & learning Stephen Kelly CEO, Micro Focus International PLC 3 rd December 2008

Micro Focus Leading Applications Modernisation software company Founded in 1976 Global company with 800+ employees world-wide Top 5 UK software Company UK listed (FTSE250) FY2009 double revenues, tripled profits in 3 years Blue chip customer base 25,000 current customers 91 of the current Fortune 100 Global Strategic Partnerships with IBM, Microsoft, Oracle Financial Services Manufacturing Health Care Telecom Retail / other

IT Education in UK : 7 years of ‘famine’ in land of plenty…. Only 11% (approx) graduates in UK graduate in IT related degree compared to 83% in Vietnam Sources: CPHC, HESA, UCAS, NASSCOM, UKTI

& Micro Focus Research Only 13% of CFOs are very confident that knowledge and skills exist in their organizations to maintain core IT assets in the future!

The weakest link – skills? Experience (years) IT Success Drivers Organizations focus too much on technology and too little on the Business knowledge required to apply it! Employee Value

Why graduates – Micro Focus ? Prepared to Learn Grow & adapt to your organizations culture Fresh perspective Can be shaped and mentored Graduates are the key to ensuring transition of your organizational IT Business knowledge! Develop to take over from retiring experts

ACTION Outreach (ACademic ConnecTION) 140 Countries Over downloads > concurrent licenses Over 7000 graduates every year 78 ACTION partners worldwide – 15 countries Supporting academic partners worldwide to meet the skills requirements of Business IT systems worldwide!

The missing Link? IndustryUniversities Demand Supply Communication & Collaboration

The Missing Link Work Directly with Universities Employer Advisory Councils Employer Strategy Forum (e-skills UK) Work with Vendor Programs Micro Focus ACTION Program IBM Academic Initiative Microsoft MSDN – Academic Alliance Etc… Active communication and collaboration ensures that the graduates entering the market have the skills that are most important to the success of your business.

Employer Contributions to HE Influence and Inform the curriculum Find graduates with the correct skill set Scholarships & Sponsorships Mentoring students Establish early relationship with future recruits Establish or Cooperate with Vendor Academic Programs Support universities with tools and resources

‘Wake up’ call ‘wasted’ years Ticking ‘timebomb’ Recession reality Skills shock Solutions not ‘talking shops’ Colleges/employers Skills alignment Back to basics and fundamentals ‘Famine to feast’ – no quick fixes

12 An Employer Perspective on Higher Level skills & learning Stephen Kelly CEO, Micro Focus International PLC 3 rd December 2008

Backup slides

Post Crunch Recession – impacting skills landscape IT contractors rate dropped by 12% Ebay announces 10% job cuts in global staff Bank mergers cause widespread IT job loses Lehman brothers HBOS Good experienced IT people are in shortage and will be absorbed by other organisations. Mergers eventually mean BIG IT projects and IT skills demand will climb exponentially when they come to execute.

The Micro Focus Academic Connections (ACTION) Program 94% use COBOL in Production Systems 75% say COBOL skills key to their IT in future 1000 Business Managers