Corporates in Oman are increasingly adopting business software solutions like SAP
Global enterprise solutions provider SAP and its strategic partner Satyam Computer Services (SCS), who have been eyeing Oman for sometime now, have added one more company, Khimji Ramdas, to their portfolio recently. In the sultanate, at least half a dozen business houses have already implemented SAP and a few more are in the process of doing so.
Sergio Maccotta, managing director, SAP, MENA, says with the sultanate achieving more than two times the average economic growth of Europe in recent years, it is a good market to concentrate on. "Oman is experiencing rapid growth and people are recognising the power of enterprise applications. Many are adopting SAP applications. We are confident that we will have lot more business from this market."
Since the sultanate has focused on manufacturing as an engine of growth, SCS believes there is immense potential for enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, both from the private and government sectors. Manish Mehta, head- SAP competency unit, SCS, says Oman has great potential. While economic growth in the Middle East region is being primarily driven by petro-dollars, Oman is different.
"The government wants to make the country a manufacturing hub for achieving better growth. SAP is one of the best solutions for manufacturing companies," says Mehta. SAP provides a comprehensive range of enterprise software applications and business solutions to empower every aspect of the business.
In other words, it enables the organisation to pool knowledge available within the organisation and equip the management to take business critical decisions more efficiently, accurately and quickly. SAP business solutions cover several areas including finance and controlling, treasury management, materials management, sales and distribution and customer service.
Saytam has seen immense potential in Oman and the region and has started investing in developing SAP-focused composite solutions for major verticals such as the automotive, retail, engineering, construction and oil and gas industries. "We have started investing in the Middle East region. We have a global solutions centre in Cairo. As a result, Satyam's order book for SAP in the region has tripled in the last six months," says Mehta.
Satyam's SAP implementation contract with Khimji Ramdas has been designed to help the company achieve standardisation and automation of business processes across their divisions, while equipping its management team with tools to make critical decisions quickly and accurately. The project implementation will include several SAP business solutions in different areas, including finance and controlling, treasury management, materials management and sales and distribution.
Upon implementation, SAP solutions will provide various divisions within Khimji Ramdas with timely and accurate information at different business levels. In addition to enhancing the visibility of its operations and flexibility in identifying profitable areas, SAP implementation is also expected to support sustainability and growth of the group.
"The SAP ERP solution will help us to manage inventories efficiently. If I am carrying out the business with 30 days' inventory and if I know that I can run the same business with an inventory of 25 days, I am blocking less money in that business. I can use that fund for some other business," says Pankaj Khimji, director, Khimji Ramdas group.
He says with a diverse portfolio of products and services like theirs, the company needs that edge to become more productive, efficient and up-to-date. "It helps us take business decisions more accurately." He says it will take 15-18 months to implement the enterprise solution in his organisation.
Mehta points out that the requirement for enterprise solutions could be customised for each customer. Saying that Satyam's focus is towards the segment with sizable turnover and more complex business, Mehta notes that this segment is growing rapidly in the region, if the orders the company got in recent months are any indication. "A multi-business group requires a little more complex system to take care of their whole business."
Globally, Satyam has 250 SAP customers with installations running to over 500 places. About market competition, Mehta notes that the enterprise solutions market is primarily a two-product one, dominated by SAP and Oracle. There are, however, several small-time players and Microsoft has its own enterprise solution. "When we look at the global market share, it is 2:1 in favour of SAP."
That he says is the reason why SAP will remain the leader for a long time. He points out that when a customer chooses an enterprise solution, it is not a choice for one or two years. It is a choice for the future growth of the organisation.
By A E James
© businesstoday 2008
