We have over 28,000 SME customers, and over the next few years, this is likely to go up by 40 to 45 percent

Nagaraj Bhargava is excited about the rate at which SME customers are
adopting SAP solutions in India. He feels that the upcoming SAP Summit will be
the right platform for partners and customers to strengthen their relationship
with SAP even further

What is the objective behind holding the SAP Summit?

The event is being held in Mumbai from June 4 to 6. This year's theme is
'Open technologies and business networks that can help Indian companies create
business beyond boundaries'. The summit will showcase keynotes, 175 sessions
covering a diverse range of subjects across verticals, solutions and segments
and a large exhibition/demo arena.

An area of special interest would include the experience sharing by 40 to 50
SAP customers. Some of the verticals that would be focused upon during the
summit include automotive, consumer products, banking and insurance, telecom and
media, utilities, pharma, retail, professional services, government, chemical,
engi­neering, construction and operations, industrial machinery and components.
The summit will focus on how SME's can take advantage of technology for business
benefits. The event will provide an opportunity to engage with SAP spokespeople
and leaders from India and worldwide.

When you talk of Indian companies, are you targeting SMBs specifically?

We offer a complete portfolio of solutions for organizations of every size
(small, midsize and large enterprises) and for over 25 industries. With SAP, our
customers are buying over 30 years of industry expertise.

Nagaraj Bhargava VP-Marketing, SAP India

In 2007, 30 percent of SAP's global software orders were from SME customers.
At present, we have over 28,000 SME customers, which translates into 70 percent
of our overall customer base. Over the next few years, this is likely to go up
to anywhere between 40 to 45 percent, as more SMEs around the world get access
to enterprise software solutions from SAP. In India too, we forecast the same
figures for our business.

It is important to note that growth in SME business for SAP is not coming at
the cost of other businesses. In many areas, SMEs having SAP are creating newer
addressable markets through our product and marketing strategies. As a result,
instead of merely shifting revenue ratios between custo­mer categories, we are
expan­ding the pie and gaining a bigger share of it too.

SAP has announced an increased focus on SMBs, what are the products and
solutions that you are betting on for this segment?

SAP solution portfolio for SMBs include:
 

• SAP Business One-An affordable, single system to cover the core operations
  necessary to run and grow a successful small business - including financials,
  sales, customers and operations. This can be deployed on-premise, typically in
  less than one month and is sold exclusively through a network of distributors
  and resellers. We have one SAP business distributor in India and about
  
  80 resellers
• SAP Business All-in-One-This is for small to mid-size companies with deep
  industry-specific needs, multiple divisions and a mature IT infrastructure,
  and can be deployed on-premise through pre-configured business scenarios and
  implementation accelerators.
• SAP Business ByDesign-It is a new addition to the SAP portfolio of
  solutions for SMBs. SAP Business ByDesign complements the existing portfolio
  of SMBs. The on-demand business software solution complements other solutions
  in the SAP portfolio.

Do you see any specific industry vertical that promise greater growth for
you in terms of adoption and implementa-tion of SAP in India?

Several market pressures present both challenges and opport-unities for SMEs.
Coping with these challenges and turning them into an advantage requires speed,
innovation, responsive-ness and adaptability. While maintaining these attributes
becomes even more difficult as a company grows and expands into new regions or
lines of business and opens new plants-the right IT infrastructure can make all
the difference.

SMEs are increasingly depen­­ding on an effective business solution to
streamline operations, improve efficiency and bring in innovation. Automation
enables them to redirect resources away from administrative tasks to focus on
activities that can differentiate their products or services in the marketplace.

The demand for enterprise solutions in the SME segment is rising rapidly. In
FY '07, we saw a 230 percent growth in our revenues from the SME segment. We
have over 2,300 customers in the SME segment today.

Our solution portfolio recog­nizes the differing requirements among the vast
number of companies in the small and mid-size segment, and offers distinct
solutions relevant to each segment.

How can channel benefit from the increased adoption of SAP-based
technologies by Indian SMBs? What are the challenges thereof?

At SAP, we recognize the vital role our partners play in our ecosystem,
focused on a common goal-customer success. Our partner programs provide a strong
foundation of support and collaboration that fosters value and mutual business
success for our customers, our partners and SAP.

A SAP channel partner enjoys access to new business-enabling resources and
all the benefits of our SAP PartnerEdge program.

As a SAP partner, one can tap into resources that will help them grow and
maximize business results. Benefits of becoming a SAP partner include access and
exposure to SAP's customer base; access to our partner portals for product,
marketing, sales and sales and marketing assistance, etc.

Apart from this, we have the SAP Referral program designed for partners to
earn big on business opportunities they share with us. SAP is committed to
supporting its partners through its recognized partner programs like SAP
Partner­Edge-the framework built and designed to ensure success for SAP channel
partners. These partner programs focus on greater market exposure and expanded
business opportu­nities; technical expertise on SAP platforms and solutions;
co-development; and collabora­tive planning and execution.

ERP was synonymous with SAP at one time. Now there are other vendors in
this space. How is SAP trying to differentiate itself from these players?

In India, SAP is the market leader, far ahead of the rest of the competition
and it continues to increase that distance with each passing quarter due to the
trust its customers place in SAP solutions. While the market grows at between 18
to 20 percent per annum, we have constantly been growing at multiples of that
figure, and increasing our marketshare at the same time.

Subbalakshmi BM


subbalakshmibm@cybermedia.co.in