To support health ministry initiatives in IT infrastructure upgrade

Riyadh, KSA, 08 May 2006

Sage Software, one of the world's leading vendors of HRMS, ERP & CRM solutions to medium and large organizations will showcase Sage Abra, its award winning HR management solution at Saudi eHealth, the largest Healthcare Informatics conference in the region. The conference is being held from May 8th - 9th, in Riyadh.

Some 500 Senior Healthcare Executives will be attending the conference, whose main objective is to expand general awareness about health informatics in the Kingdom. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of enhancing the quality of healthcare delivery and ensuring efficient utilization of resources. Delegates will also explore eHealth trends and the latest technologies.

Marc Van der Ven, Managing Director, Sage Software Middle East said: "The healthcare industry in the region is under served in terms of business management solutions such as HRMS and eProcurement. The Kingdom however is taking initiative, as the Ministry of Health have recently announced its plans to upgrade the IT infrastructure of 150 clinics around the country - centralizing medical records and providing overall better healthcare to its residents.  There is also a need for a powerful and standardized HRMS solution in the region and we have invested heavily in localizing our award winning Sage Abra HRMS solution for the Middle East. Healthcare organizations in Saudi Arabia can now introduce international Best Practices in HR management while supporting compliance of local labor laws. "

While targeting the needs of medium to large organizations, the Sage Abra family of HR management solutions provides a comprehensive and robust set of tools to streamline HR, recruitment, training and payroll processes. It allows organizations in the Middle East a chance to implement international standards in HR management for recruitment, training, HR and payroll management. Sage ABRA is fully Arabized and supports the Hijri calendar.

There are a number of recruitment and employee management issues that HR managers face, especially with the increasing need for finding and retaining good talent. We recognize that HR managers require a range of features and technology options to choose from. One of our key goals with Sage Abra is to bring to the market all the functional depth, along with the appropriate technology for large organizations such as Healthcare. Sage has a number of large Healthcare institutes using products such as HRMS and e-Procurement including University Hospital Birmingham UK, South Bedfordshire CHC Trust UK, Hertford Partnership NHS Trust UK, Lowell Community Health Center US, Washington County Psychotherapy Associates US, Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network US, Al Mana Hospitals Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. 

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About Sage Accpac ME:
SageAccpac offers leading business management software and services that support the needs, challenges and dreams of medium sized organisations. Its parent company, The Sage Group plc (London: SGE.L), supports 4.7 million customers worldwide. For more than 25 years, Sage Software has delivered easy-to-use, scalable and customizable software for enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management and human resources. It products are used by a range of industries including Manufacturing, Wholesale Distribution, Trading, Banking & Financial Services, Transportation & Logistics, Telecommunications, Oil & Gas, Healthcare, Chemicals, Consumer Products, Defense & Security, High Tech, Government/ Non-profit, Services, Retail, Utilities, Construction/ Real Estate and Education.

For more information, please visit the Web site at www.sage.com

Press Release 2006