The
direct presence of business software giant SAP
in the region – a result of SAP AG buying out
SAP Arabia's exclusive distribution rights for
the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) – is
expected to boost its footprint significantly.
The company expects to register at least 65 per
cent compounded annual growth of regional
revenues in the next three years, up from last
year's 45 per cent, says SAP Mena Vice-President
Ayman Abouseif.
"As a relatively young company in this part of
the world we feel that SAP needs to regain its
rightful position as the number one in the
market and in every other market in the world,"
he said.
SAP Arabia held the contractual rights to
distribute SAP's software for 13 years until
September last year. SAP AG acquired all of SAP
Arabia's existing software licence and customer
maintenance contracts as well as SAP trademarks
and other selected assets.
The Germany-based company has increased its Mena
workforce threefold since the takeover. But to
cater to its clients' growing needs Europe's
largest software enterprise plans to double its
enlarged workforce in the region by the end of
this year.
What have you achieved since SAP AG bought out
SAP Arabia's distribution rights?
On the customer side, we have established
contacts with all our existing customers and we
are starting to work through all our strategic
plans for the future. We have gained a
significant number of new customers in various
countries and industries – in the UAE, Kuwait,
Saudi Arabia and Egypt. We are currently
building our team, our customer base and our
network of partners.
How have users of your software in the region
responded to the transition? Do you have
difficulties finding staff?
We ran a very successful user group meeting in
March that was the highest attended ever for SAP
in this part of the world. We had significant
support from SAP in Europe but, more
interestingly, the users showed a huge amount of
interest and enthusiasm for the new SAP
presence. We always have the problem that people
have so much expectation but we weren't able to
hire fast enough. We insist on hiring the best
talent in the market. It's not easy to hire tens
of people every week but we're closing the gap.
Would we be in a better shape if we had hired
200 people by now? Of course. But can you hire
that many people in a very short time span, run
the interviews and check the qualifications? Of
course not. The IT industry is struggling to
find skilled personnel.
How many employees do you have in the Middle
East and how many more do you want to recruit?
Currently we have more than 100 people from a
base that was just below 40 – the number of
people SAP had immediately after the takeover.
It's not really a numbers game but our target is
to exceed 200 people this year. We have grown
threefold and will double again by the end of
the year.
The plan to double your workforce in less than
six months is challenging considering the acute
shortage of talent here, especially in the IT
sector. Where will you find these additional
people?
We are looking everywhere – the US, Europe, the
Subcontinent, it's a big mix. When you are
insisting on hiring the best the people then you
can't limit yourself. We have very talented
people who are moving from other companies as
well as from within SAP in other parts of the
world.
The region is flush with job applications from
investment bankers in the US and Europe due to
the effects of the economic slowdown. Is it the
same with the IT sector here?
It depends on the type of work. For instance, we
have an inflow of people from South Africa, from
different parts of Europe and we also have an
inflow of people from the US. It's really hard
to come up with percentages in the overall
market. Anyway, in SAP, nationality is not an
issue.
Part of your new IT team, you said, would be
coming from other companies. The region,
particularly the UAE, has been suffering from
constant poaching and high attrition rates. What
are your general rules for recruiting – is
poaching allowed?
We try not to acquire people from our customers
because we don't want to destabilise our
customer environment. But people approach us. We
also search for people through agencies and
through our websites and other websites that
target jobseekers. We are not targeting any
particular segment, we are looking for the best
people.
You wish to strengthen your small and medium
enterprise portfolio. Why?
SME is an unlimited market segment that everyone
today wants to go after. There also has been a
shift in the level of adoption of IT within SMEs,
which makes it the right time for us to put more
effort into the segment.
Are SMEs more profitable than the large
companies or corporations?
Even if I knew I would not tell you. Every
company looks at balancing revenue growth with
profits and sometimes if you don't grow your
revenues you can't sustain your profits. As a
relatively young company in this part of the
world we feel that SAP needs to regain its
rightful position as the number one in the
market and in every other market in the world.
We'll do that through revenue growth, which
means new customers and the enhancement of
add-ons for existing customers.
What is your largest market and what is your
share of the Mena region?
The US is the largest market for everybody and
Germany is a very significant market for SAP. We
are not allowed to give out breakdowns or
disclose revenue per country but the Middle East
is the fastest growing market in Europe, the
Middle East and North Africa. It's a very
significant market for us and very senior people
visit us here on a regular basis.
What is your goal for the next two to three
years?
We've recorded 45 per cent revenue growth in
Mena, year on year. Our target is to achieve 65
per cent compound annual growth in the next
three years.
What are the drivers of growth?
For one, customers have been waiting for SAP. We
are flooded with requests for new solutions, for
engagement with our people, for building short
and long-term strategies for our customers.
Secondly, SAP has products that are specialised
and meet the industry's requirements.
How come customers have been waiting for you
when SAP Arabia was here for 13 years?
When SAP made an investment in this market by
acquiring its contract back from SAP Arabia it
was driven by customer's wishes and we try to
meet their expectations.
Why do the customers prefer SAP AG to SAP
Arabia?
If you look around the industry you will find
that all major players are directly represented.
Whether its hardware vendors, consulting vendors
or software vendors, they have all, at one point
or another, decided to have a direct presence in
the market to be closer to their customers, to
have a watchful eye over the performance of
their partners. SAP was in a contractual
situation that didn't assist decision-making.
PROFILE: Ayman Abouseif, Vice-President, SAP
Mena
Abouseif is responsible for driving the growth
and success of SAP's sales operation in the
region. His focus is both to acquire new
customers and continue to provide value to
existing ones by delivering innovative solutions
and maximising results through SAP's partner
network. Abouseif was previously Oracle's
managing director for Gulf states. Before that
he held a number of sales management posts. He
has a bachelor's degree in science from Ein
Shams University in Egypt and a masters in
business administration from Edinburgh
University in the UK.
The
direct presence of business software giant SAP
in the region – a result of SAP AG buying out
SAP Arabia's exclusive distribution rights for
the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) – is
expected to boost its footprint significantly.
